OSS vs IOSS vs local VAT registration: which one?

OSS and IOSS sound alike and do different jobs. Pick the wrong one and VAT can go undeclared in a country where you owe it. The rules are short, and the European Commission publishes them on one site. This guide follows that site.

The one-line answer for each

OSS (the Union scheme of the One Stop Shop) is for goods you ship from one EU country to consumers in another. You register in one EU country and declare the VAT on those sales there, in one return each quarter.

IOSS (the import scheme) is for goods you ship from outside the EU to EU consumers in parcels worth €150 or less. You collect the VAT at the sale, and the import is then exempt from VAT. You file each month.

A local VAT number is a registration in one country. It covers the sales that start and end in that country. The Commission’s guidance says a business that holds stock in an EU country will normally be required to register for VAT there.

All three are separate from the UK, which has its own VAT system.

Side by side

OSS, IOSS and a local VAT number compared

	OSS (Union scheme)	IOSS (import scheme)	Local VAT number
Who can use it	Businesses established in the EU, and businesses outside the EU for goods they ship from one EU country to another	Businesses in or outside the EU. A business outside the EU normally has to appoint an intermediary established in the EU	A business that registers in that country
What it covers	Goods shipped from one EU country to consumers in another	Goods shipped from outside the EU to EU consumers, in consignments worth €150 or less. Excise goods are left out	Sales that start and end in that country, and anything the schemes leave out
The limit	An EU business established in one country and shipping from there charges its home VAT until these sales pass €10,000 a year. Businesses outside the EU get no such threshold	€150 per consignment. Goods already in an EU warehouse are not covered	Stock in the country normally means registering there, the Commission says
How often you file	Every quarter	Every month	Set by that country’s VAT rules
Deadline	End of the month after the quarter	End of the month after the month	Set by that country’s VAT rules
Optional?	Yes. Once in, you declare every sale it covers, in every EU country	Yes. Once in, you declare every sale it covers	No, where the rules require it

The Commission’s One Stop Shop page adds that OSS returns come on top of the VAT return you file in a country where you are registered. They do not replace it.

Three sellers, three answers

Your company is in one EU country, and you ship from your own warehouse there to shoppers across the EU. Under €10,000 a year of cross-border sales, you charge your home country’s VAT. If 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. With OSS and no stock abroad, you need no VAT number in your customers’ countries.

Your company is outside the EU, you keep FBA stock in two EU countries and you sell on Amazon to shoppers across the EU. You will normally need a VAT number in each country where your stock sits. For your marketplace sales, the Commission’s notes treat Amazon as the seller, so Amazon accounts for the VAT. OSS comes in only for goods you sell outside the marketplace, such as through your own website, and ship across a border from that stock. If 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.

Your company is outside the EU, and you ship parcels from your own warehouse abroad to EU shoppers through your own web shop. If 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. Without IOSS, the VAT is paid when the parcel is imported. To use IOSS, you normally have to appoint an intermediary in the EU. Parcels over €150 are outside the scheme and go through the normal import VAT and customs duty rules.

Your shop may mix these cases. The five-question checker shows which rules your answers trigger, and says so when your case needs a closer look.

What none of them covers

• The UK. OSS and IOSS are EU schemes. Our guide on VAT numbers for Amazon sellers has a section on the UK.
• Sales from local stock to local buyers. The Commission’s example: goods shipped from Cyprus to a buyer in Cyprus go on the Cypriot VAT return, not in OSS.
• VAT on your costs. You cannot reclaim it through an OSS return.
• Customs duty. Since July 1, 2026, the Commission says, a fixed €3 customs duty applies to each item sold at a distance and imported in a consignment worth €150 or less, until June 30, 2028. Parcels worth more than €150 go through the normal import VAT and customs rules.

The rules will move again. The Commission’s notes say further changes to the single VAT registration take effect, for the most part, on July 1, 2028. This page shows the date we last checked the sources.