EU VAT Registration: OSS, Fiscal Representation, and Filing

EU VAT registration is required whenever your business’s sales cross the point where an EU member state expects you to collect and remit its value-added tax — for cross-border sellers established in the EU, that point is €10,000 in combined annual sales of goods and digital services to consumers in other member states; for businesses based outside the EU, it is the first euro of taxable sales.¹ Most cross-border sellers register through the One-Stop Shop (OSS), which lets you handle VAT for all 27 member states through a single portal, though some situations still call for registering directly in an individual country.

Who Has to Register

The EU treats VAT as a destination-based tax: the tax follows the buyer, not the seller. That means where your customer is located generally determines where VAT is due.²

If your business is established in a single EU member state, you charge your home country’s VAT on cross-border consumer sales until your combined sales of goods and telecommunications, broadcasting, and electronic (TBE) services to consumers in other member states exceed €10,000 in a year. Above that, VAT is owed in each customer’s country. The threshold is cumulative across all cross-border sales, not per country.¹

If your business sits outside the EU, that threshold does not apply to you. Sell to an EU consumer, owe VAT. This catches many non-EU sellers off guard because there is no minimum sales volume that exempts them.

The place-of-supply rules decide where each sale is taxed. Goods are generally taxed where they are when shipping begins, or where delivery ends in the case of cross-border and distance sales. B2B services are taxed where the customer is. B2C services are usually taxed where the supplier is established, but TBE services — software, streaming, digital advertising, and similar — are always taxed where the consumer is.²

Every taxable person whose transactions give rise to a right to reclaim input VAT must have an individual VAT identification number in the relevant member state.³

Registering Through the One-Stop Shop

Registering separately in every EU country where you have customers is possible but rarely sensible. The One-Stop Shop lets you register in one member state and use that single registration to declare and pay VAT for taxable sales across the entire EU.⁴

The OSS has three schemes, and which one fits depends on where your business is established and what you sell.

The Union scheme is for businesses established in the EU, or for non-EU businesses with a fixed establishment there. It covers cross-border sales of goods and services to consumers in other EU countries.¹
The Non-Union scheme is for businesses with no establishment or fixed presence in the EU, and it covers all services supplied to EU consumers. Using it is optional; the alternative is registering directly in each member state.¹
The Import One-Stop Shop (IOSS) applies when you import goods to EU customers in consignments worth no more than €150. Both EU and non-EU businesses can use it, and it lets you collect VAT at the point of sale rather than making the customer pay at the border.⁴

When you register through the OSS, you must apply the correct VAT rate for each customer’s country, not your own. Standard rates range from 17% in Luxembourg to 27% in Hungary, with Germany at 19%, France at 20%, and Italy at 22%. Most countries also apply reduced rates for specific categories like food, books, or medical supplies.⁵ Applying the wrong rate is one of the more common compliance failures, and tax authorities do check.

When You May Not Need to Register

Two situations can remove or delay the registration obligation.

The first is the reverse charge mechanism. If you sell services exclusively to VAT-registered businesses in the EU, your EU business customer often accounts for the VAT instead of you. You issue an invoice without charging VAT, include a note that the reverse charge applies, and the customer self-assesses on their own return. This typically applies when the supplier is not established in the country where the VAT is due, and it covers most cross-border B2B service supplies. Services tied to a physical location — real estate work or admission to live events — follow the standard rules and are taxed where the service takes place, regardless of where the customer is based.² Reverse charge only works for B2B. If you sell to consumers, the obligation stays with you. And you will still need a VAT number if you make other taxable supplies in a member state, such as shipping goods from a local warehouse.

The second is the SME exemption scheme, which took effect in January 2025. Qualifying small businesses can sell goods and services without charging VAT if total annual turnover across all 27 member states does not exceed €100,000 in either the current or the preceding calendar year. Each member state also sets its own domestic exemption threshold, which can be up to €85,000.⁶ The trade-off: exempt businesses cannot reclaim VAT paid on their own purchases and expenses. A service business with few input costs may benefit; a product business buying inventory usually loses more in unclaimed deductions than it saves in paperwork.

Documents You Will Need

Whether you register directly in a member state or through the OSS portal, expect to provide:

Company formation documents — a certificate of incorporation, articles of organization, or equivalent proof that the business legally exists.
Your national tax identification number from your country of origin.
Bank account details, including IBAN or SWIFT code, for VAT payments and refunds.
Evidence of business activity, such as contracts with EU suppliers or customers, purchase orders, invoices, or a business plan showing intent to trade in Europe.

For the OSS specifically, you choose your scheme during the application and register through the portal of a single member state. The electronic forms require correct product codes for what you sell. Any mismatch between application data and supporting documents tends to trigger rejection or extended review.

Public documents from one EU member state are generally accepted by another without an apostille, and a multilingual standard form can serve as a translation aid. Authorities may still ask for a certified translation if they cannot understand the content.⁷ Non-EU businesses should check whether the member state wants translated or notarized versions of formation documents, since requirements vary.

Fiscal Representation for Non-EU Businesses

Many EU member states require non-EU businesses to appoint a local fiscal representative before they can register for VAT. The representative acts as the business’s local agent and, in most countries, is held jointly and severally liable for its VAT obligations. That shared liability means the representative bears financial risk if the foreign business fails to pay.

Because of this exposure, fiscal representatives routinely require a full bank guarantee from the foreign business. These guarantees can run into tens of thousands of euros depending on expected tax volume. Austria, Belgium, Italy, Poland, Portugal, and Spain are among the countries that impose the requirement, and the specific rules differ in each.

A fiscal representative is not the same as a tax agent. A tax agent handles paperwork — filing returns, managing documentation — while the VAT liability itself stays with your business. Where a country only requires a tax agent, the cost and complexity drop considerably. EU-based businesses and non-EU businesses from countries with mutual tax assistance agreements may qualify to use a tax agent instead.

If you use the Non-Union OSS scheme, you generally do not need a fiscal representative, because the OSS is designed to let non-EU businesses comply without a local establishment. The fiscal representative requirement applies mainly when you register directly in a member state, for example when you store goods in a local warehouse.

Submitting the Application and Getting Your Number

Applications go through the digital portal of the member state where you are registering. For OSS registrations, you use the portal of your member state of identification: for EU businesses, that is your home country; for non-EU businesses under the Non-Union scheme, it can be any member state you choose. The portal will ask you to upload PDFs of your documents and usually requires a digital signature or electronic certification.

Processing times vary. Some jurisdictions issue a VAT identification number within two weeks, others take up to three months. Status updates and requests for additional documents usually arrive through the portal’s messaging system or the email you provided.

Once approved, you receive a unique VAT identification number that begins with a two-letter country prefix, such as “DE” for Germany or “FR” for France. Any EU VAT number can be verified through VIES (the VAT Information Exchange System), a search tool maintained by the European Commission that queries national databases in real time. An invalid result means the number does not exist, has not been activated for cross-border transactions, or is still being processed.⁸

If You Import Physical Goods: EORI

Importing physical goods into the EU requires an Economic Operators Registration and Identification (EORI) number in addition to your VAT registration. The EORI is a customs identifier used to track shipments in and out of the EU, and it is required for customs declarations, entry and exit summary declarations, and temporary storage declarations.⁹

Non-EU businesses request their EORI from the customs authority of the member state where they intend to carry out their first customs operation. The format mirrors VAT numbers: a two-letter country code followed by up to 15 alphanumeric characters. EORI numbers do not expire, though they can be invalidated if business activities cease.⁹ As a general rule, EU importers need to be established in the EU as a company or permanent business establishment, which includes being VAT-registered.¹⁰ Sellers using the IOSS for low-value consignments can collect VAT at the point of sale, which simplifies the customs process for the customer.

Ongoing Compliance

Getting the number is the easy part. Staying compliant means keeping up with returns, invoicing rules, and record retention.

Filing Returns

Standard VAT registrations in individual member states typically require monthly or quarterly returns reporting all taxable sales and deductible input VAT. OSS returns follow a fixed schedule: quarterly for the Union and Non-Union schemes, due by the end of the month after each quarter, and monthly for the Import scheme. A Union scheme return for January through March is due April 30.¹¹

Invoicing Rules

The VAT Directive sets out what every invoice must contain. Required elements include the date of issue, a unique sequential invoice number, and the VAT identification numbers of both supplier and customer. Invoices must also show the unit price before VAT, the applicable VAT rate, and the total VAT amount payable.¹² Failing to meet these standards can cost the buyer their right to deduct the input VAT and expose the seller to administrative fines. For reverse charge transactions, the invoice shows the VAT amount for informational purposes but does not charge it, and must include a clear statement that the reverse charge applies.

Record Retention

Businesses must keep accounts in enough detail for VAT to be applied and checked by tax authorities. Each member state decides how long invoices and records must be stored; most require between five and ten years. Some member states also restrict where records can be stored, particularly if the storage location is outside a country with a mutual assistance agreement.¹³

Penalties and OSS Exclusion

Penalty rules are set by each member state, not by EU-wide law, so consequences depend on where you are registered. Common triggers include late registration, late or missing returns, incorrect invoicing, and failure to charge or remit the correct VAT. In most member states, late filings attract interest that accumulates daily, and fixed penalties for individual violations often run into the low thousands of euros per infraction. Deliberate fraud or sustained negligence can escalate into criminal prosecution in many jurisdictions.

The risk most often overlooked is OSS exclusion. If you repeatedly miss filing or payment deadlines under the One-Stop Shop, the member state of identification can remove you from the scheme. You then have to register individually in every country where you have taxable sales, which is a far heavier compliance load than the one the OSS was designed to prevent.

1
European Commission. VAT e-Commerce – One Stop Shop
2
European Commission. Place of Taxation
3
European Commission. VAT Identification Numbers
4
European Commission. VAT e-Commerce – One Stop Shop
5
European Union. VAT Rules and Rates: Standard, Special and Reduced Rates
6
European Commission. VAT Rules for Small Enterprises – SME Scheme
7
European Union. Getting Your Public Documents Accepted in the EU
8
European Union. Check a VAT Number (VIES)
9
European Commission. Economic Operators Registration and Identification Number
10
European Commission. Guide for Import of Goods
11
European Commission. Declare and Pay in OSS
12
European Union. Council Directive 2006/112/EC on the Common System of Value Added Tax
13
GOV.UK. Council Directive 2006/112/EC – Title XI