"VAT is not applied where the sale taxes place, but where the company is"
Wrong. Depends if it is a B2B sale or a B2C one, if you're selling goods or services, and the total amount of your sales in a year in a given country. For B2C sales:
"If you sell goods and send them to consumers in another EU country, you usually need to register your business there and charge VAT at the rate applicable in that country - unless the total value of your sales to that country within the respective tax year falls below the limit set by the country"
https://europa.eu/youreurope/business/taxation/vat/cross-border-vat/index_en.htm
The limit is usually a few tens of thousand euros - some countries 100K - to help smaller business to avoid more complex VAT management. Apple, Amazon & C. are quite above the limit....
Anyway what a "single market" means may not apply to taxation - and VAT is an example.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
