HM Revenue and Customs is urging businesses to register for a new VAT service that will help them comply with pending tricky EU-wide VAT rules.

Around 34,000 UK small businesses will be impacted by the rules, which apply to broadcasting, telecommunications and ‘e-service’ businesses selling to customers outside the UK.

Examples include telephone services, app developers, music downloads and films and games created for consumption over the internet.

The rules, hitting businesses from 1 January 2015, will mean business must pay VAT on sales at the rate where the customer lives, not where the business is based.

Called VAT MOSS, business in EU member states will be able to use the service to avoid painful administrative and cost burdens – by avoiding the need to register for VAT in each EU member state where products are sold.

Sally Beggs, deputy director for Indirect Tax at HMRC, said: “The VAT MOSS will save digital services suppliers from having to register for VAT in every Member State where they do business, removing a significant administrative burden.

“Businesses with their main operation or headquarters in the UK will register with HMRC to use the service.”

To help businesses understand the changes and the help at hand, HMRC has published a video explaining everything – click the link below to watch.