Reverse-charge invoices: billing EU businesses without VAT

What is reverse charge?

When you provide a B2B service to a business in another EU state, you do not charge Austrian VAT — the tax liability shifts to the customer (Übergang der Steuerschuld). The customer accounts for VAT in their own country.

The three conditions

1. Both parties hold a valid VAT ID (your ATU…, and the customer's from their country). Check it in [VIES](https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/vies/).
2. The customer is a taxable person (a business, not a private individual).
3. The place of supply is, under the main rule, the customer's country (usually the case for B2B services).

The mandatory clause

The invoice must state:

"Steuerschuldnerschaft des Leistungsempfängers / Reverse Charge"

…and both VAT IDs. You add no VAT line (0%, so net = gross).

Do not forget the ZM

Reverse-charge transactions must be reported monthly/quarterly in the recapitulative statement (Zusammenfassende Meldung, ZM) via FinanzOnline — separate from the UVA!

Goods vs. services

For goods sold within the EU the rule is not reverse charge but intra-Community supply (tax-free, with conditions) — a different clause and requirements.

In Billtree the invoice automatically gets the correct clause based on the customer's VAT ID, and the VAT line is removed.