Prices and payment

How does VAT work when you sell tuning files in Europe?

Selling files to businesses and to people across borders: the usual VAT rules in plain words, what a portal can do for you, and when to ask your accountant.

Updated 4 November 2026 3 min read By the team behind TunerEngine

In short

In the EU, a sale to a VAT-registered business in another country is usually reverse charged, while a sale to a private person is usually taxed at that person's local rate. Get your own accountant to confirm how this applies to you, and let your portal do the sums.

A file service sells across borders from its first week. The file weighs nothing, the customer is on the other side of Europe, and VAT is the last thing either of you is thinking about. It still needs to be right, because the mistakes only appear much later.

This is a general guide and not tax advice. Rules change and differ by country, so ask an accountant who knows your situation.

Are tuned files goods or services?

A file sent over the internet is normally treated as a digital service, not as a product shipped in a box. That is why the rules below apply, and why the customer's location matters more than yours.

What are the usual rules in the EU?

You sell to	Usually
A business in your own country	Your normal VAT rate
A VAT-registered business in another EU country	Reverse charge: no VAT on your invoice, and the customer accounts for it
A private person in another EU country	VAT at the customer's rate, once you pass the EU threshold
A customer outside the EU	Often no EU VAT, though local rules can apply

Private sales of digital services across the EU have a shared threshold, above which you charge the customer's local rate and can report through the One Stop Shop. Ask your accountant whether you have reached it.

What do you need to apply the reverse charge?

A valid VAT number for the customer, checked rather than just typed. Tax authorities expect you to have checked it, and the EU's VIES service lets you do so. Keep the result along with the invoice, and put the wording your country requires on the invoice itself.

A VAT number a customer typed is a claim. A VAT number you checked is evidence.

How do credits affect VAT?

This is where it gets awkward. Credits that can only be used with you may be taxed when they are bought or when they are spent, depending on how they are set up and where you are. Decide with your accountant, then apply it the same way to everyone.

What about the UK?

Since Brexit the UK has its own VAT system. A UK business selling to EU customers, or an EU business selling to UK customers, has separate rules to follow, including registering in some cases. If you sell on both sides, get advice specific to that.

What can a portal do for you?

The arithmetic and the paperwork. A TunerEngine portal applies the right VAT per country, uses the EU reverse charge for businesses, checks VAT numbers, and sends an invoice in your name for every top-up and every job. You still decide your own settings with your accountant, but no one has to type an invoice at the end of a long day.

What should you keep?

The invoice, the customer's country, the VAT number and its check, and evidence of where the customer is. A job that keeps all of this together makes the quarter-end an afternoon rather than a week.

Questions

Do I charge VAT on a file sold to another country?

It depends on whether the customer is a business and where they are. See the table above, and confirm it with your accountant.

Does the portal check VAT numbers?

Yes. VAT numbers are checked, and the EU reverse charge is applied for businesses.

Is this tax advice?

No. It is a general guide. Rules differ by country and they change, so ask an accountant who knows your business.

Just need a file tuned? Our own engineers tune a read from any tool for £50 a file, every extra included. Our file service ›

Name your portal. It is ready in under a minute.

Your name and logo
Files from any tool
Updates done for you
Moving from another portal, free