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Who is affected?

All players in the e-commerce supply chain are affected, from sellers and marketplaces/platforms, both within and outside the European Union, to postal operators and courier companies, customs and tax authorities in the various Member States of the European Union, and consumers.

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Sellers

Any seller doing business over the internet, irrespective of the goods and services they sell and the market in which they operate (EU or non-EU) can benefit from the changes to the VAT e-commerce rules, designed to simplify their VAT obligations.

If so, see the sections on the new special one-stop-shop schemes (OSS and IOSS) to find out what they are for, how they work, who they affect, how to register for them and what you need to do when you start using them.

Link to section "The new one-stop shop regimes"

The new rules will make it possible to:

  • Ensure that VAT is paid where the consumption of goods and services occurs;

  • Create a uniform and transparent VAT system for cross-border deliveries of goods and services;

  • Establish fair competition between European and foreign players in the e-commerce market, and between e-commerce and traditional shops;

  • Offer companies a simple and uniform system to declare and pay their VAT in the EU through the Single Window of the VAT (OSS) / Import Single Window (IOSS).

1. New single threshold throughout the EU.

The existing thresholds for distance sales of goods to buyers from other Member States of the EU (35,000 or 100,000 euros, depending on the Member State) will be removed and replaced by a new threshold of 10,000 euros for the entire European Union. Below this threshold, you can continue to apply the Spanish VAT regulations to your cross-border sales. If your sales exceed this threshold, you will be required to pay VAT in the Member State where your buyers are located. But you can easily register at the Single Window (OSS), where you can declare and pay the VAT due in other Member States.

2. End of VAT exemption on imports.

The VAT exemption will be eliminated for the importation of goods whose value does not exceed 22 euros. Consequently, all goods imported into the EU will be subject to VAT. The Import Single Window (IOSS) is created to facilitate and simplify the declaration and payment of VAT on distance sales of goods imported into the EU whose value does not exceed 150 euros. By registering with IOSS, your customers will appreciate that the price they pay represents the final price, including VAT , with no additional fees or charges.

If you do not register with IOSS, VAT will be paid by your customer when importing the goods into the EU. Postal operators or courier companies may charge the customer an additional clearance fee to collect this VAT and carry out the necessary procedures at the time of import of the goods.

As EU customers are accustomed to prices including VAT , paying additional fees at the time of import could cause The customer will reject the package in question.