EU backs one VAT filing route for more online imports

🧾 One filing route across the old ceiling. The Import One-Stop Shop lets a seller or marketplace collect VAT at checkout and declare it in one EU country, even when the buyers live in several. The Council draft removes the €150 ceiling for eligible imports. Goods subject to excise duty, a separate tax on products such as alcohol, stay outside the scheme. Commercial imports have been subject to VAT at every value since 2021. Separately, the EU ended low-value customs duty relief in July 2026.

🛒 Marketplaces would collect VAT on higher-value orders. Discogs’ current policy shows where the handoff happens today. On eligible orders shipped into the EU from outside it, the marketplace collects VAT up to €150. Above that line, its policy puts applicable import VAT and duties on the buyer. Under the draft, a marketplace facilitating a covered sale would handle the VAT as if it were the seller. The Council expects platforms to generally include VAT and duties due in the final checkout price.

📦 A route for stock already inside the EU. The VAT text also covers sales from a specific type of EU customs warehouse. A warehouse under the new Customs Code can hold bulk imports under customs supervision and clear individual orders as they sell. The standard VAT rules still apply to sales from other customs warehouses. The distinction matters for sellers whose existing EU warehouse already holds goods that have cleared customs.

💳 Test the handoff from checkout to customs. Under the new Customs Code, the importer provides customs data tied to the sale. That gives a marketplace a concrete test before moving a higher-value order into the scheme. Can its warehouse or carrier match the parcel to the same order and tax record the buyer paid against? Collecting VAT earlier can make the amount due more predictable. The buyer’s total still depends on VAT, duties and what the seller charges for delivery.

🏬 Model bulk shipping only where the warehouse qualifies. The Customs Code limits this warehouse route to authorised importers using the scheme and holding trusted-trader status, or qualifying representatives. For sellers with steady demand in the EU, it could make sense to ship in bulk and dispatch orders locally. Lower per-order transport costs would have to cover the cost of storage, handling and approval. Test that comparison using a real order mix.

🗓️ Treat July 2028 as a planning date. The draft targets 1 July 2028. It says that if the EU Customs Data Hub’s functions for the import VAT scheme are unavailable by 1 June 2028, the VAT changes would wait until the interim customs system ends. The draft also calls for checks on agents appointed to handle the import VAT scheme for traders based in non-EU countries or territories without a comparable VAT cooperation agreement with the EU. Teams can prepare their order and tax data now and use the final timetable and filing requirements to decide when to switch.