When you sell to a business in another EU country, the sale is generally VAT-free in Finland and the buyer accounts for the VAT in their own country. This is the reverse charge (käännetty verovelvollisuus). For goods, it requires the buyer to have a valid VAT number, the goods to be shipped from Finland to another EU country, and you to report the sale on an EC sales list (yhteenvetoilmoitus). The EC sales list is due by the 20th of the month after the month of sale. Goods exported outside the EU are also VAT-free, provided you can prove they left the EU.

For many international founders in Finland, cross-border sales are the default. For the rest of the system, see the complete guide to VAT in Finland.

When is a sale to an EU business VAT-free?

An intra-community sale of goods (yhteisömyynti) is VAT-free when four conditions are met at the same time.

The seller is a business, the buyer is a business or legal person in another EU country with a valid VAT number, the goods move from Finland to another member state, and the seller reports the sale on the EC sales list. If any condition fails, Finnish VAT applies.

Why should you check the buyer's VAT number before invoicing?

Check that the buyer's VAT number is valid before you send the invoice, because the exemption rests on it.

Use the European Commission's VIES service and save the result for every new customer. If the number was not valid, the VAT falls on you, and collecting it from the customer months later is hard.

Your own Finnish VAT number is FI followed by the eight digits of your business ID (Y-tunnus), without the hyphen. That is what your EU customers check.

What does the reverse charge mean on the invoice?

Under the reverse charge, the invoice carries no VAT and the buyer accounts for the tax in their own country.

The invoice must show both parties' VAT numbers and a reverse-charge note. Simplified invoice details are never allowed here, whatever the amount. The full list of invoice details is in what a valid invoice must show for VAT.

When is the EC sales list due?

The EC sales list is due by the 20th day of the month following the month of sale.

That is a different deadline from the VAT return, and it comes first.

Filing schedules for the VAT return are in Finnish VAT return deadlines and late-filing penalties.

How are services to an EU business taxed?

The main rule for business-to-business services is that they are taxed in the buyer's country, and the buyer accounts for the VAT under the reverse charge.

For consulting, software development, design and marketing, you invoice without VAT, add a reverse-charge note and report the sale on the EC sales list. Services to a business outside the EU are generally outside Finnish VAT too, and are not on the EC sales list. Exceptions exist: services connected to real estate are taxed where the property is, so check anything tied to a physical place.

How are sales to consumers in other EU countries taxed?

There is no reverse charge on sales to consumers, because a consumer is not liable for VAT.

For distance sales of goods and electronic services to consumers, there is a €10,000 annual threshold for all EU sales combined. Below it, you can charge Finnish VAT. Above it, the buyer's country rate applies, and you can report it centrally through the One-Stop Shop (OSS) instead of registering in every country.

How are sales outside the EU taxed?

Selling goods to a buyer outside the EU is an export, and it is VAT-free when the goods are transported out of the EU.

You need proof the goods left the EU: keep the Finnish Customs (Tulli) export declaration with the sales record. Exports are not reported on the EC sales list.

What is the EU SME scheme and its €100,000 limit?

The EU-wide small business scheme lets a Finnish small business apply small-business VAT exemptions in other EU countries too, as long as its EU turnover is €100,000 or less.

The scheme took effect on 1 January 2025. You must also stay under each member state's own national threshold.

Keep this apart from Finland's €20,000 domestic threshold. Going over the EU limit ends the exemption in other member states, but your Finnish exemption can continue while domestic turnover stays under €20,000. The domestic threshold is covered in when you must register for VAT in Finland.

How do you keep EU sales VAT right without separate tracking?

EU trade is hard because the same sale must be right in four places: the invoice, the books, the VAT return and the EC sales list.

NoCFO is the all-in-one AI-native finance platform for entrepreneurs and founders. Invoicing and bookkeeping sit in one platform, so the EU sale details carry from the invoice into the books, and the figures for each VAT period build up from the bookkeeping automatically. Luca, AI CFO, tells you what the numbers mean and what to do next.

In cross-border trade a good accountant is a valuable partner. The problem is founders not seeing their own position until someone compiles it for them.

FAQ

When is an EU sale VAT-free in Finland?

When the buyer is a business in another EU country with a valid VAT number, the goods are shipped from Finland to another member state, and the seller files an EC sales list.

When is the Finnish EC sales list due?

By the 20th day of the month following the month of sale.

What does reverse charge mean?

The buyer accounts for VAT in their own country. The seller invoices without VAT, with a reverse-charge note.

Are sales outside the EU VAT-free?

Yes, when the goods leave the EU and you can prove it, for example with the Finnish Customs export declaration.

What is the EU €100,000 VAT limit?

The turnover limit for the EU SME scheme. Below it, a registered business with an EX number can sell VAT-exempt across the EU.

See what EU sales look like when the invoice details, the books and the VAT period figures all come from the same transaction. Start for free at nocfo.io.

Sources (checked 28 September 2026)

• Verohallinto: VAT in EU trade in goods (conditions for VAT-free intra-EU sales, buyer's VAT number, refusal of exemption)

• Verohallinto: VAT exemption for small businesses (EU SME scheme, €100,000 limit, EX number, 35 working days, quarterly report due by the last day of the month after the quarter, 15 working days notice, relation to €20,000 threshold)

• Verohallinto: Invoicing requirements in VAT (reverse-charge note, no simplified invoices for intra-EU and distance sales)

• Verohallinto: When to file and pay (VAT return due 12th of the second month after the period)

• Verohallinto: Rates of VAT (exports outside the EU and intra-EU sales to VAT-liable buyers at 0%)