Import One Stop Shop (IOSS) benefits 8,000 businesses selling into the EU

From July 1, 2021, the VAT exemption for low value imports into the EU’s 27 countries was removed. As a result, VAT is now due on all sales of goods into the EU regardless of the value of the package. In order to simplify registration and remittance of tax and improve the customer experience, the Import One-Stop Shop (IOSS) was introduced. This allows businesses selling goods to European consumers from outside the EU to avoid having to register for VAT in multiple European countries (a poor seller experience) or leaving the customer to physically pay import VAT at the border (a poor customer experience).

IOSS can be used to sell goods from a location outside of the EU (e.g. the UK, the US, China and Taiwan) direct to European customers with a consignment value up to €150.

Top six benefits of using IOSS

  1. Better customer experience with price transparency and cost certainty
  2. A single VAT registration number (avoiding the need to separately register for VAT in every EU country)
  3. A single VAT return and VAT payment in a single currency
  4. Appointment of just one intermediary to act as tax representative in Europe
  5. Green channel into the EU and faster customs clearance and release of goods
  6. Easier to process VAT refunds on returned goods

In the first six months since the launch of IOSS

  • Over 8,000 businesses have now registered for IOSS
  • EU customs handled c.500 million items covered by the new customs simplified dataset
  • 94% of low value imports into the EU are being declared using an IOSS number
  • €1.9 billion in VAT was collected via IOSS.

Take advantage of IOSS with Avalara to unlock EU markets and make it easier to sell your products to customers in the world’s largest trading block.

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