In January 2010, the rules relating to the charging of VAT for services sold into the EU changed. The basic rule is now that VAT is determined by where the recipient resides rather than the provider. However, there are a number of exceptions which need to be reviewed in detail. For services, VAT does not generally have to be charged if there is a perceived export of the services, but only in the case where the recipient of those services is a business user. There is no actual requirement to quote the recipient’s VAT number on the invoice, as is the situation with goods, but this does assist. Otherwise, where a VAT number is not quoted, the provider needs to have sufficient detail to justify that he is making supplies to a business rather than to an individual privately.