Selling to a consumer
Destination VAT applies once cross-border consumer sales pass €10,000 in the calendar year, declared through OSS. Below the line, home-country VAT can still apply.
Thresholds and the reverse charge
For consumer sales the EU-wide line is €10,000 of cross-border sales in a calendar year: below it you may keep charging home-country VAT, above it the customer's country rate applies and the One Stop Shop is the portal. For business customers there is no threshold at all — the reverse charge moves the tax to the customer from the first invoice, provided their VAT number validates in VIES.
01
Every member state draws its own line — from a few thousand euro to roughly €200,000 in Poland and CZK 1,000,000 in Czechia. The full map sits on the thresholds page.
02
For business customers the tax moves to the buyer from the first invoice, with no threshold at all. Validation through VIES is what makes a 0% invoice hold.
03
One portal for consumer sales of services and digital goods inside the EU, another for imported goods up to €150. The two ceilings — €10,000 and €150 — decide which one a sale meets.
Sell to consumers across an EU border and one number decides the regime: €10,000 of cross-border sales in a calendar year.
Below that line, a small supplier may keep charging its home-country VAT on cross-border sales of services and digital goods to EU consumers. Above it, the tax follows the customer: the destination member state's rate applies to every consumer sale, and the One Stop Shop is the single portal for declaring it.
The line counts worldwide cross-border sales to consumers, not sales per country, and it resets each calendar year. A seller established in a 17% country and a seller in a 27% country face the same €10,000 test — what changes is which rate book they open once they pass it.
Domestic exemption thresholds are a separate layer and should not be confused with this one. They run from a few thousand euro in the lowest member states up to roughly €200,000 in Poland and CZK 1,000,000 in Czechia, so the same turnover can be taxable in one country and exempt in the next.
Destination VAT applies once cross-border consumer sales pass €10,000 in the calendar year, declared through OSS. Below the line, home-country VAT can still apply.
No threshold, no OSS: validate the customer's VAT number in VIES, invoice at 0% with the number and country noted, and the customer accounts for the tax.
IOSS collects the VAT at checkout on consignments up to €150 of intrinsic value. Duty and handling fees sit outside the scheme.
Import VAT at the destination rate is due at the border, alongside any customs duty. A €100 parcel into a 19% country means roughly €19 of VAT before duty.
The old Mini One Stop Shop survives only for supplies to certain non-EU destinations such as Norway and Switzerland, and for Northern Ireland. Intra-EU consumer sales go through OSS alone.
Exemption lines run from a few thousand euro to about €200,000 in Poland. Under the line, no registration; over it, the national rate book and filing calendar attach.
The same turnover can be taxable in one member state and exempt in the next — the threshold, not the seller, decides.
A VIES mismatch usually means a company registration number was supplied instead of a VAT number.
| What is measured | Value | Where it applies |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest standard VAT rate in the EU | 17% | Luxembourg |
| Highest standard VAT rate in the EU | 27% | Hungary |
| Typical reduced-rate band | 5% – 18% | Most member states |
| Cross-border B2C sales line for OSS | €10,000 per calendar year | Intra-EU consumer sales of services and digital goods |
| IOSS import ceiling | €150 intrinsic value per consignment | Goods imported from outside the EU |
| Largest small-business exemption | about €200,000 turnover | Poland |
| Czech small-business exemption | CZK 1,000,000 turnover | Czechia |
| Usual VAT payment window | 15th – 25th of the following month | Most member states |
The list points to the primary rulebooks — EU VAT legislation, national threshold schedules and the VIES format specification — rather than to commentary.