Hi again Rachel,

I can appreciate the confusion, and you make a good point about “how do you prove a sale is B2B?” As a (non-VAT-registered) voice-over artist, I provide audio files of scripts, etc., and as a general rule they are ordered by media production businesses for their clients for whom they’re creating web videos, corporate presentations, radio/TV commercials etc. – but I suppose it’s always possible that I might be approached directly by a private individual who would like to book my voice-over services for (say) something on their own web site. It’s never happened – in fact, I must admit to never having actually done business with any EU countries up to this point (and I’ve been at it for over 30 years now), and this new ruling only makes me more determined to stay well away from it, as it’s too stressful to deal with!

One area I’ve just recently been considering is putting myself up for reading audio books – and this IS a field where the sale of the end product could well be considered a B2C activity, if the audio material is uploaded to a web portal where the global public can purchase the product – so it looks like THAT embryonic idea has been knocked on the head, too, by this arcane ruling!