I have a client who is going on a conference to Rome (lucky bugger) in September and his invoice includes vat at 20%. Using Sage I was thinking of using VAT code T8, is this correct
Using T8 seems correct to me. I know at the moment you can't reclaim EU VAT on a VAT Return. I believe it is possible to get the VAT back but you have to submit a claim in the country of origin, in this case Italy, and this is probably not worth the hassle or expense. I've heard this is changing and in the future a claim can be made to HMRC instead.