I (European) didn't know about it either until recently :-). It is strange though, because it seems to keep the EU, and national VAT registrations quite busy [

I (European) didn't know about it either until recently :-). It is strange though, because it seems to keep the EU, and national VAT registrations quite busy [1][2], while no one on the outside seems to be aware of it, nor is anyone enforcing it. [1] http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageOnlineServices_ShowContent&propertyType=document&id=HMCE_CL_001460 http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPort... [2] http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/vies/faqvies.do http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/vies/faqvies.do