The VAT Place of Supply rules determine where a supply takes place and if it is potentially subject to UK VAT. There have been a number of changes since 2010 and another change is occurring in Jan 2015. There are still a lot of errors being made so I here is a summary of some of the key points to watch out for.
Business to Business – Do you correctly account for VAT on services received from outside the UK

The biggest change to the VAT place of supply rules took place in Jan 2010. This altered the rules that applied to business to business services (b2b). These are services provided to another business, as opposed to an individual consumer. The default rule for b2b is now that the service is supplied where the customer belongs.
The rules mean that if you, for example, provide a service to a business customer based outside the UK then your supply will generally be treated as made outside the UK and no UK VAT will be due. But they also apply to services you buy in. So if you buy a supply from a supplier based outside the UK then the supply is generally subject to UK VAT. If your supplier has no establishment in the UK and you, as the customer, are VAT registered then it is your responsibility to account for the VAT. You can then recover this self accounted input tax on your return in accordance with the normal rules. If you are a charity this often means you suffer a recovery restriction.
Prior to 2010 similar rules applied to certain services such as consultancy and professional services. The 2010 change widened the application so that you have to consider whether to self account for VAT when you buy almost all services from outside the UK. There remain some exceptions such as supplies of land to which different rules apply. You may also buy in services that would be exempt or zero rated if supplied in the UK.
Before 2010 you didn’t need to self account for VAT if the service was purchased for a non business purpose. This changed and a distinction was drawn between private purposes, where you still don’t need to charge yourself VAT and wider non business (e.g. charitable purposes) where you do.
For supplies made to other EU member states the supplier now has to complete an EC sales list which lists the VAT numbers of the businesses they supply. This information is circulated to the various EU tax authorities so they can ensure VAT has been correctly accounted for. So if for example you were to buy advertising from Google in Dublin then HMRC will know this. When they visit you they will check you have self accounted for the output tax and have only recovered the correct amount as input tax. If you have not complied then HMRC have an easy assessment. I have seen too many examples of this recently and you should check you are applying the rules correctly.
Place of Supply Changes for Electronic Services. Are You Ready ?

Electronic Services include automated websites, software and e books. Currently these supplies are treated as made where the supplier is based when supplied to individuals (b2c supplies). It is for this reason you pay a low Luxembourg VAT rate when you buy a Kindle book. This is changing from 1 Jan 2015 when the place of supply changes to the location of the customer.
Following this change the supplier must account for the VAT due in the customers EU home state. So as to avoid suppliers of e services needing to obtain 27 VAT registrations a special Mini One Stop Shop (MOSS) has been introduced which allows you to account for all the VAT on an electronic return made in the UK.
If you do sell electronic services to any EU individual, whatever the scale, get ready for the change. Failure to comply could prove very expensive.