In an article published on 1 August 2025, the VEROT section of Taloustaito addressed the VAT treatment of repair services carried out in Finland on movable goods, where the customer is a foreign EU company. The case concerned a Finnish company that had performed warranty repair services on a machine located in Finland. The machine had been sold to a Finnish customer by a French company, and the Finnish service provider invoiced the French seller for the repair work.
The machine was not permanently installed in a building. According to the response provided by tax lawyer Miika Härkönen, the repair service should be invoiced without Finnish VAT, provided that the French seller does not have a fixed establishment in Finland. In that situation, the service is not considered to be supplied in Finland for VAT purposes. The service is classified as an EU cross-border supply of services between taxable persons (B2B).
For services relating to movable tangible property supplied to a business customer, the general place-of-supply rule applies. As a result, the place of supply is the country where the customer is established, and VAT is accounted for by the customer under the reverse-charge mechanism. Accordingly, Finnish VAT is not charged on the invoice, and the French customer is responsible for declaring and paying VAT in France in accordance with its national VAT rules.
The article highlights the importance of verifying whether a foreign customer has a fixed establishment in Finland, as this may alter the VAT treatment of repair and maintenance services performed on goods located in Finland.
