How do I report VAT on my online sales across the European Union?
One threshold decides everything: €10,000 of distance sales to all other member states combined over the year. Below it nothing changes. Above it, the customer’s country VAT applies.
Short answer
- Under €10,000 of B2C distance sales in the EU you charge French VAT on every sale.
- The threshold is the total across all EU countries, not per country.
- Above it, you apply the destination country’s VAT rate from the sale that crosses the threshold.
- The OSS one-stop shop lets you declare and pay everything from France in a single quarterly return.
- You register in your professional account on impots.gouv.fr, with no need to register in each country.
Which VAT applies
VAT on intra-EU distance selling
| Situation | VAT charged | Reporting |
|---|---|---|
| EU sales under €10,000/year | French VAT | Usual French VAT return |
| EU sales above €10,000/year | Customer’s country VAT | OSS one-stop shop, quarterly |
| Sale to a VAT-registered business | Reverse charge by the customer | Outside OSS |
| Import under €150 to a consumer | Customer’s country VAT | IOSS one-stop shop |
A real example
Example: a French shop sells €6,000 to Belgium and €5,500 to Spain in one year. The total reaches €11,500, so the threshold is crossed. From the sale that passes €10,000 you must charge 21% in Belgium and 21% in Spain, then report both countries in a single OSS return filed from France.
Common mistakes
- Counting the threshold country by country when it applies to total EU sales.
- Still charging 20% after crossing the threshold, which distorts both the price paid and the return.
- Forgetting the rate also depends on the product: books, food and clothing follow different rates by country.
- Not keeping evidence of the destination country, which is required in an audit.
How 4shopy helps
- The VAT rate can be set per destination country and per product category.
- The delivery country is stored with each order, which feeds the OSS breakdown directly.
- An export of sales by country and rate is generated for the reporting period.
- The shop is multilingual and multi-currency, so opening a second market needs no second website.