UK VAT Registered Business with EU VAT registrations, questions on B2B sales invoices and VAT

AmyVT

I'm working with a UK VAT registered business, who does B2B only sales all over the world. Some of their sales go directly from an Italian supplier, so they have an Italian VAT registration. I have a couple of questions in this area for which I am really struggling to find clear guidance on:

1. For sales made under the Italian VAT registration, does the net element go into box 6 of the UK VAT return. I know that exports go into box 6, but if the sale is made from the Italian VAT number surely these sales are nothing to do with the UK VAT number for which the UK return is for and should therefore be excluded entirely?

2. When making a sale to an Italian customer, where the goods go direct from the Italian supplier, the sale is being made under the Italian VAT registration (place of supply rule) and this customer is currently zero rating. I can't understand why though, surely it should be at the Italian VAT rate (the goods are vatable)?

3. When making a sale to an Italian customer, where the goods are being shipped from the UK, does this mean that they have to make the sale from the UK VAT number due to the place of supply rule? At which point they can zero rate as it's an export.

Any help is much appreciated.