Can anyone shed some light regarding this email I have received from a buyer in France. I have only recently been registered for VAT so this in new to me, but I did not think we were liable for VAT charges/refunds.
Can’t the buyer just claim the VAT they have paid back themselves on their own VAT return using the invoice I supply.

Basically, am I legally obliged to provide these refunds to this customer?

Thanks…

Our company ***** a company registered in France under the company number SIRET ****** and VAT number FR *****, has purchased goods from your company in which the VAT was included in the purchase price.

As we are a company based in France and have purchased goods from your company which were delivered to France, article 138 of VAT Directive 2006/112/EU stipulates that -Member State shall exempt the supply of goods dispatched or transported to a destination outside their respective territory but within the Community…for another taxable person…-

Based on article 138 above, your company should exempt from VAT any sale of goods made to I-Plus which are delivered to France and as a consequence, your invoices should not include any VAT.

Therefore, I am writing to request a refund of the VAT charged on the invoices regarding the orders listed at the end of this message. You will have to issue credit notes to cancel the original invoices and reissue new invoices quoting our French VAT number shown above and the wording -VAT exempt , art 138 EU VAT Directive-. You will be able to declare the credit notes on your domestic VAT return in order to recover the VAT you already paid to your local tax authorities