# EU VAT Checker for Online Sellers: one-stop-shop, Import scheme and 2026 rates

> Where is VAT due on your online sales into the EU? Check the €10,000 threshold, the one-stop-shop and Import schemes, marketplace rules and all 27 EU VAT rates for 2026. Reviewed by ICPAC and ICAEW chartered accountants in Nicosia.

Publisher: Aqualis Ltd, Nicosia, CY. Members of ICPAC and ICAEW.
Last reviewed: 2026-10-14. Figures marked "Confirm" await adviser sign-off.
Canonical URL: https://vatforonlinesellers.com/

## Short answer

VAT on online sales to EU consumers is due in the customer's country once an EU seller's cross-border sales of goods and digital services pass €10,000 a year across the whole EU. Below that, a Cyprus seller may charge 19% Cyprus VAT. Above it, the customer's rate applies, from 17% in Luxembourg to 27% in Hungary, declared on one quarterly one-stop-shop return due by the end of the following month. Sellers outside the EU get no threshold. Sales to VAT-registered businesses are reverse charged, imports of €150 or less use the Import scheme, and marketplaces collect VAT for non-EU sellers.

## EU e-commerce VAT rules for online sellers, 2026

- **Cross-border consumer threshold**: €10,000 a calendar year, one EU-wide total of goods shipped to consumers in other EU states plus digital services to consumers there. Only for sellers established in a single EU state (In law)
- **Once the threshold is passed**: From the sale that crosses it, VAT is due in the customer's country for the rest of that year and all of the next (In law)
- **Opting in below the threshold**: A seller may choose destination VAT early. The choice binds it for at least two calendar years (In law)
- **Digital services to consumers**: Taxed in the customer's country: software, SaaS, apps, streaming, e-books, telecoms and broadcasting (In law)
- **Services to EU businesses**: Taxed where the customer is established. The customer accounts for the VAT under the reverse charge, and the invoice says Reverse charge (In law)
- **Other services to consumers**: Taxed where the supplier is established, except land, event admission, passenger transport, restaurant services and short-term hire (In law)
- **Union scheme**: EU sellers: consumer services in other EU states, intra-EU distance sales of goods, and marketplace deemed supplies. Filed in the state of establishment (In law)
- **Non-Union scheme**: Sellers established outside the EU supplying any service to EU consumers. Registered in one EU state of their choice (In law)
- **Import scheme**: Distance sales of goods imported in consignments of €150 or less, excise goods excluded. Monthly return. Non-EU sellers generally need an EU intermediary (In law)
- **Marketplace as deemed supplier**: Imported consignments of €150 or less from any seller, and goods already in the EU sold by a seller established outside the EU, at any value (In law)
- **Customer location evidence**: Digital services: two non-contradictory items. One third-party item is enough while cross-border digital sales stay at €100,000 or less in the current and previous year (Confirm)
- **Return frequency and due date**: Union and non-Union: quarterly, by the last day of the following month, payment by the same date. Import scheme: monthly. Nil returns required (In law)
- **Corrections**: Made in a later return, within three years of the original return's due date (In law)
- **Record keeping**: 10 years from the end of the year of the sale, even after leaving the scheme (In law)
- **Customs duty on low-value parcels**: €150 duty relief removed. Flat €3 duty from 1 July 2026 to 1 July 2028, counted per item category in a consignment (Confirm)
- **VAT in the Digital Age**: Extended one-stop-shop and platform rules for short-term accommodation and passenger transport from 1 July 2028. Digital reporting and e-invoicing for intra-EU business sales from 1 July 2030 (Confirm)

## How to set up the EU one-stop-shop from Cyprus

1. **Map every sales flow.** List what you sell, where it ships from, who buys it and through which channel, then total this year's cross-border consumer sales against €10,000.
2. **Register for the right scheme.** Union scheme in Cyprus for EU sellers, non-Union for services from outside the EU, and the Import scheme for parcels of €150 or less.
3. **Set up checkout and invoices.** Load all 27 rates, capture location evidence, validate business VAT numbers on VIES, and set the invoice wording for each flow.
4. **File and pay the return.** Declare VAT by country by the end of the month after the quarter, pay in euro, and reconcile against marketplace and payment reports.

## Free tools on this page

- **EU VAT place of supply checker for online sellers**: For an online sale into the EU, works out which country's VAT applies and at what rate, whether the seller, the customer or a marketplace accounts for it, whether the €10,000 threshold, the Union, non-Union or Import one-stop-shop applies, and the invoice wording.
- **EU VAT rate map and price calculator**: Shows the 2026 standard and reduced VAT rates for all 27 EU member states on a tile map, converts a product price from net to gross or gross to net at any of a country's rates, and shows the net receipt in every member state when one VAT-inclusive price is charged everywhere.
- **EU one-stop-shop return estimator**: Estimates a quarterly Union one-stop-shop return for a Cyprus seller: VAT per member state at standard or reduced rates on net or VAT-inclusive sales, the total payment, the due date for the quarter, and whether the €10,000 EU-wide threshold was crossed.

## Questions and answers

### Is the €10,000 EU VAT threshold per country?

No. It is one figure for the whole EU. A Cyprus seller adds together goods shipped to consumers in every other EU state and digital services supplied to consumers there, for the calendar year. €4,000 to France, €4,000 to Germany and €3,000 to Italy is €11,000, which is over the threshold, although no single country came close.

### Do I need to register for VAT in every EU country I sell to from Cyprus?

Usually not. Above the threshold you owe VAT in each customer's country, but the Union one-stop-shop scheme lets you declare and pay it all on one quarterly return filed in Cyprus. You still need a separate registration wherever you hold stock, for example in a fulfilment warehouse in Germany, because sales from that stock to local customers fall outside the scheme.

### Does a Cyprus company charge Cyprus VAT to customers in other EU countries?

Only while its cross-border consumer sales of goods and digital services stay at €10,000 a year or less, and it has not opted in. Above that it charges the customer's rate, from 17% in Luxembourg to 27% in Hungary. Sales to businesses with a valid VAT number in another EU state carry no Cyprus VAT at all, because the customer reverse charges.

### How do I register for the one-stop-shop in Cyprus?

A business established in Cyprus registers for the Union scheme online with the Cyprus Tax Department, using its existing Cyprus VAT number. The scheme normally starts on the first day of the next calendar quarter. If you make your first qualifying sale earlier, it starts from that sale, provided you notify the Tax Department by the 10th day of the following month.

### When are EU one-stop-shop returns due?

Union and non-Union returns are quarterly, due by the last day of the month after the quarter: 30 April, 31 July, 31 October and 31 January. Payment is due by the same date. Import scheme returns are monthly, due by the end of the following month. A nil return is still required for a period with no sales, and deadlines do not move for weekends or public holidays.

### What VAT do I charge a business customer in another EU country?

None, provided the customer gives you a valid VAT number, which you should check on the EU's VIES system and keep on file. For services the customer accounts for VAT under the reverse charge. For goods you ship, the sale is an exempt intra-Community supply. Either way the invoice needs both VAT numbers and the correct wording, and the sale goes on your Cyprus EU sales statement.

### What counts as a digital service for EU VAT?

Electronically supplied services are delivered over the internet with minimal human involvement: software and SaaS subscriptions, apps, streaming, e-books, recorded online courses, digital downloads and online advertising space. Telecoms and broadcasting are taxed the same way. A live online class or a video consultation is usually not electronically supplied, and follows the rules for other services.

### How do I prove where my customer is for EU VAT?

For digital services, keep two items of evidence that do not contradict each other, such as billing address, IP address, the country of the bank or card, or the country of a mobile SIM. While your cross-border digital sales stay at €100,000 or less in the current and previous year, one item from a third party such as your payment provider is enough. For goods, the delivery address and proof of shipment do the job.

### I sell on Amazon from Cyprus. Who pays the VAT?

Usually you do. A seller established in Cyprus and shipping from EU stock stays liable for the VAT, even on Amazon. The marketplace becomes the deemed supplier only for imported consignments of €150 or less, and for goods in the EU sold by sellers established outside the EU. Check the marketplace's VAT reports each quarter so the same sale is never declared twice.

### Can the one-stop-shop cover stock held in another EU country's warehouse?

Only part of it. Sales from that warehouse to consumers in other EU states can go through the scheme. Sales to consumers in the warehouse country, and moving your own stock into it, need a local VAT registration there. The VAT in the Digital Age package plans to bring more of these supplies into the scheme from 1 July 2028, which the adviser should confirm against national law.

### Does the €10,000 threshold apply to sellers outside the EU?

No. A business established outside the EU owes VAT in the customer's country from its first sale to an EU consumer. A US or UK SaaS company registers for the non-Union scheme in one EU state, which can be Cyprus, and declares every country's VAT there each quarter.

### What happens to orders over €150 shipped into Cyprus from outside the EU?

The Import scheme cannot be used and marketplaces are not deemed suppliers. Import VAT at 19% and any customs duty are charged at the border, normally to the customer through the courier, who adds a handling fee. A seller can ship duties paid to spare the customer that, but must then be registered for VAT in Cyprus.

### Do I charge UK VAT when selling to UK customers from Cyprus?

Since Brexit the UK is outside the EU schemes, so the one-stop-shop does not cover it. Digital services to UK consumers carry UK VAT at 20% from the first sale, and a seller with no UK establishment must register with HMRC because no threshold applies to it. Goods sent in consignments of £135 or less carry UK VAT charged at checkout, by you or by the marketplace. Sales to UK businesses are reverse charged. Northern Ireland still follows EU rules for goods.

### What is changing under the EU VAT in the Digital Age package?

The package was adopted in March 2025 and phases in until 2035. From 1 July 2028, platforms are due to become deemed suppliers for short-term accommodation and passenger transport, though states may delay this, and the one-stop-shop is extended to more supplies. From 1 July 2030, intra-EU business sales move to e-invoicing with near real-time digital reporting. Sources differ on some dates, so all of them are marked Confirm.

### How long must I keep one-stop-shop records?

Ten years from the end of the year of the sale, even after you leave the scheme. The records show the customer's country, what was sold, the date, the price, the VAT, any later adjustment, and the evidence of where the customer was. Tax authorities in any EU state can ask for them electronically.

## Contact

Aqualis Ltd, https://www.aqualis.com.cy