As a Finnish business operator when can I sell service to a foreign company without VAT and when do I have to charge the service with Finnish VAT?

Essential in VAT is to understand what is the place of sale of the service. When selling to business operators, the place of sale of the service is Finland if the service has been delivered to a fixed establishment in Finland. If the service has not been delivered to a fixed establishment, the service is being sold in Finland if the domicile of the buyer is in Finland. This is the general rule in selling services.

If the seller is not liable for VAT in Finland and does not have fixed establishment in Finland, reverse charge is applied. This means that liable for VAT is the buyer , not the seller as usual. To prove that your transaction is intracommunity trade you need buyer's VAT id.

A Finnish company A sells consulting service to a foreign company C. Place of sale of the service is NOT Finland. The buyer is liable for VAT. The seller sends an invoice without Finnish VAT.