Find out what your shop needs in Europe

1. VAT numberYou keep stock in an EU country where your company is not registered. The European Commission’s guidance says a business that holds stock in an EU country will normally be required to register for VAT there. Source: European Commission: Explanatory Notes on VAT e-commerce rules, section 3.5
2. VAT numberYou keep stock in an EU country, and your answers do not show whether your company is registered in that same country. If it is a different country, you will normally be required to register for VAT where the stock sits. Source: European Commission: Explanatory Notes on VAT e-commerce rules, section 3.5
3. VAT numberA business based outside the UK that supplies goods there must register for UK VAT, whatever its turnover. If all your UK sales are of UK stock sold to consumers on a marketplace, the marketplace accounts for the VAT and you can ask HMRC for exemption instead. Source: GOV.UK: Register for VAT, when to register and exemption from registration
4. VAT numberIf you ship from abroad direct to consumers in Great Britain, you charge UK VAT at the point of sale on consignments worth £135 or less, and you register for VAT to do so. Excise goods are excluded. Sales through an online marketplace follow different rules. Source: GOV.UK: VAT and overseas goods sold directly to customers in the UK
5. OSSIf you ship from your home EU country to shoppers in other EU countries, VAT is due where the goods arrive once those sales pass €10,000 a year. The optional OSS scheme lets you declare that VAT in one quarterly return. Source: European Commission: One Stop Shop
6. OSSIf you ship from EU stock to shoppers in other EU countries, the optional OSS scheme lets you declare the VAT on those sales in one quarterly return. Without it, you would have to register in each EU country where you have customers. Source: European Commission: One Stop Shop
7. IOSSIf you ship to EU shoppers from outside the EU, the optional IOSS scheme lets you collect VAT at the sale on consignments worth €150 or less (not excise goods); the import is then exempt from VAT. On marketplace sales, the marketplace accounts for that VAT. Source: European Commission: Explanatory Notes on VAT e-commerce rules, sections 2.1 and 4.2
8. EPR numberIf your company is outside Germany and you ship packaged goods directly to end users in Germany, you are the producer of the shipping packaging you use, boxes included. You must register in the LUCID Packaging Register and appoint an authorised representative. Source: Zentrale Stelle Verpackungsregister: mail order companies and online retailers
9. EPR numberPackaging used to ship goods to end users in Germany must always be covered by a recycling scheme. Since August 12, 2026, an online seller has to work out whether it is the producer who must register in the LUCID Packaging Register and pay for that. Source: Zentrale Stelle Verpackungsregister: mail order companies and online retailers
10. EPR numberA company outside Germany that sells electrical or electronic equipment to end users in Germany counts as its producer under German law. A producer’s obligations start with registration at stiftung ear. Source: stiftung elektro-altgeräte register: obligations as a producer
11. EPR numberA company outside Germany that sells batteries, including ones built into appliances, at a distance directly to end users in Germany is their producer under EU law. It may sell them there only if it, or its authorised representative, is registered in Germany. Source: Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 on batteries, Articles 3(1)(47) and 55(2)
12. EPR numberWhether you register electrical goods or batteries with stiftung ear depends on your role. Producers include brand owners selling in Germany, importers first placing goods there, and sellers outside Germany selling online directly to end users there. Source: stiftung elektro-altgeräte register: obligations as a producer
13. EPR numberCompanies subject to a French producer-responsibility (REP) scheme, which can include sellers and importers, must be registered and hold a unique identifier for each scheme. Household packaging is one of them. Source: Service Public Entreprendre (French government): REP schemes
14. EPR numberYou sell clothing or textiles in France. New clothing, shoes and household linen sold to consumers are one of France’s producer-responsibility (REP) schemes, separate from packaging, with a unique identifier of its own. Source: Service Public Entreprendre (French government): REP schemes
15. EPR numberAcross the EU, a business that places packaged goods on the market must help pay for recycling the packaging and follow the national registration rules of the country where it is likely to become waste. Check the rules in each country you sell in. Source: European Commission: extended producer responsibility for packaging, a guide for small businesses
16. EPR numberUK packaging rules (EPR) apply to a business established in the UK that supplied or imported more than 25 tonnes of packaging there in the previous year and has worldwide turnover of £1 million or more. A UK warehouse or returns address counts as established. Source: GOV.UK: Check if you must comply with EPR for packaging
17. EU RepA product under the General Product Safety Regulation may be placed on the EU market only if an economic operator based in the EU is responsible for set compliance tasks. Its name and contact details go on the product, packaging, parcel or a document with it. Source: Regulation (EU) 2023/988 on general product safety, Article 16
18. EU RepToys, electrical and radio equipment and other products under the laws listed in Article 4 may be placed on the EU market only if an economic operator based in the EU is responsible for them. It keeps the declaration of conformity for the authorities. Source: Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 on market surveillance, Article 4
19. EU RepProducts placed on the market in Great Britain must meet GB rules, even if they were sold in an EU country before. What you need to do depends on the type of goods. Placing a product on the GB market from outside the UK brings importer responsibilities. Source: GOV.UK: Placing manufactured products on the market in Great Britain
20. TrademarkAmazon Brand Registry asks for a trademark. To enrol, your brand must have an active registered trademark or a pending trademark registration, from a government intellectual property office that Amazon approves. Source: Amazon: requirements for enrolling a brand in Brand Registry

Last checked October 15, 2026. This is a guide, not tax or legal advice.