VAT single window (OSS-IOSS) — selling to consumers across the EU
Since 1 July 2021, distance sales of goods to non-taxable persons are, for most transactions, taxable in the member state of CONSUMPTION. Without the single window, a seller would have to register with the tax authority of every country where it has customers. The VAT single window — OSS-IOSS, for "One-Stop-Shop" and "Import One-Stop-Shop" — is the OPTIONAL scheme that avoids this: you identify yourself only in the member state where you are established, report all eligible transactions there, and the VAT due in the other countries is reported and paid in a single return from your business account. It covers three regimes — OSS EU, non-EU OSS, and IOSS for imported goods with an intrinsic value of no more than €150 — and it is open to any taxable business, including one under a derogating regime such as the French VAT registration threshold.
Up to date for 2026 — verified on September 11, 2026Official procedure, no printed formGuide: about 40 min
Deadlines
- Sign-up: the activation code is RECEIVED within two weeks
- The activation code is received by post within two weeks of signing up, and the registration application can only be filed once the sign-up has been activated. That delay therefore comes before every deadline below.
- Registration: before the quarter you want to start in
- The application must precede the calendar quarter in which you want to start reporting. Registration takes effect on the first day of the quarter following the application.
- Registering mid-quarter
- You may register during the quarter in which you make your first supply, provided registration comes BEFORE that supply.
- Derogation: the 10th of the following month
- You may start supplying under the scheme before registration takes effect, provided you sign up no later than the 10th of the month following that of the first supply.
- IOSS return: every month
- Under the import regime the return and the payment are MONTHLY, not quarterly as under the other two regimes.
- OSS return: before the end of the month following the quarter
- The return for a quarter is filed before the end of the month following the quarter of activity — for example before the end of October for VAT due for the third quarter.
Documents to prepare
- The business's individual VAT identification number
- The company's registered name
- Postal and telephone contact details
- Email address and website
- The name of the contact person
- Bank details
- The date the regime starts to apply, which governs the registration timetable
- The nature of the transactions supplied: services to non-taxable persons, intra-Community distance sales, or imported goods worth no more than €150
- VAT identifier and postal details of any fixed establishments or storage sites in other member states
- The list of VAT registration numbers in other member states
- The list of identifiers allocated in other member states for past or current registrations, under MOSS or the single window
- Access to the business account on impots.gouv.fr, through which the whole procedure runs
- Details of the intermediary established in the EU, if the import regime requires one
No form is attached to this procedure: the link leads to the official page that describes it.
What this page gives you
The guide above and the link to the official site. ActioFin does not produce any document for this page: whatever you fill in or file is done on the official medium.
Who this applies to
- Taxable persons established in the European Union supplying services to non-taxable persons in a member state where they are not established
- Taxable persons, established in the EU or not, making intra-Community distance sales of goods to non-taxable consumers
- Suppliers of goods imported from third countries in consignments with an intrinsic value of no more than €150, to non-taxable persons in the EU
- Electronic interfaces facilitating distance sales for sellers not established in the EU — "deemed suppliers"
- Any taxable business, whether under a standard VAT regime OR a derogating one such as the French registration threshold
Worked example
Example: Savonnerie du Causse sells to Belgium and Luxembourg, and its neighbour misses the derogation by three weeks
Savonnerie du Causse, established only in France, sells from its French warehouse to Belgian and Luxembourgish consumers — intra-Community distance sales of goods. Without the window it would have to register for VAT in Belgium AND Luxembourg. So it opts for the OSS EU regime: it submits its registration in June, states a start date of 1 July, the first day of the following calendar quarter, and files its first return before the end of October for the third quarter. Its neighbour, by contrast, started selling on 15 October and only submitted its registration on 1 December: the derogation of the 10th of the month following the first supply has passed. It must therefore register for VAT and report in EACH member state where its customers are for the period from 15 October to 31 December, and can only opt into the window from 1 January, with a first OSS return by 30 April for the first quarter. The derogation expired on 10 November; a registration validated on 1 December arrives three weeks late, and those three weeks cost it two foreign registrations.
How to fill it in, step by step
- Check that your transactions are eligible: services to non-taxable persons in a member state where you are not established, intra-Community distance sales of goods, or sales of goods imported from third countries in consignments with an intrinsic value of no more than €150.
- Take the measure of what the scheme replaces: without it, you must register in EVERY member state where you are liable for VAT. Using the window is optional; the registration it avoids is not.
- Choose the regime: OSS EU if you are established in the EU and supply services to non-taxable persons in another member state, or if you make intra-Community distance sales; non-EU OSS if you are not established in the EU and supply services only; IOSS for imported goods with an intrinsic value of no more than €150.
- Note that you can register for several regimes at once, but that this requires SEPARATE registrations and procedures.
- Work out whether an intermediary is compulsory: for IOSS, a taxable person established neither in the EU nor in a third country with a mutual assistance agreement on VAT with the EU MUST appoint an intermediary established in the EU; those established in the EU are free to do so.
- Count the THREE preliminary steps, in this order: 1) online sign-up to the "Guichet de TVA UE" service from your business account, under "Gérer les Services" then "Adhérer aux services en ligne"; 2) ACTIVATION of that sign-up with an activation code you RECEIVE by post within two weeks of signing up; 3) filing the registration application for the chosen regime through the "Guichet de TVA UE" service. That postal delay runs BEFORE the timetable below, since the registration application can only be filed once the sign-up has been activated.
- Register through your business account on impots.gouv.fr, keeping to the timetable: the application must precede the calendar quarter in which you want to start, or be signed no later than the 10th of the month following that of the first supply.
- State the start date that matches your case — the first day of the following quarter, or the actual date of the first transaction if the derogation applies.
- Then file a single return from your business account for the VAT due in the other EU countries — under the EU and non-EU regimes before the end of the month following the quarter of activity, under the IMPORT regime every month —, and manage your own account to update your registration details or deregister.
The form, line by line
- OSS EU regime
- For a taxable person established in the EU supplying services to non-taxable persons in a member state where they are not established; for a taxable person, established in the EU or not, making intra-Community distance sales of goods; and for an electronic interface facilitating such sales for sellers not established in the EU.
- Non-EU OSS regime
- Reserved for those NOT established in the EU — no registered office or fixed establishment in a member state — and covering only services supplied to non-taxable persons.
- IOSS regime
- For distance sales of goods imported from third countries with an intrinsic value of no more than €150. A supplier established outside the EU uses it directly if selling from a third country with a mutual assistance agreement on VAT with the EU, and indirectly through an intermediary established in the EU otherwise.
- Member state of identification
- The country where you are established, and the only one where you identify yourself. A taxable person not established in the EU may choose their country of identification among the member states.
- Start date
- The field registration asks for, and it is not always today's date: the first day of the calendar quarter following the application in the general case, the actual date of the first transaction where the derogation applies.
- Intermediary
- They take on all the import-regime obligations of the supplier who appointed them, including filing returns and paying the VAT. The supplier nevertheless remains JOINTLY liable: on default, the French tax administration first seeks the VAT from the intermediary, then directly from the supplier.
Good to know
- The scheme is OPTIONAL: registering in each member state of consumption is the default position, and the window is what avoids it.
- Taxation in the member state of consumption applies to MOST transactions, not to all: the rule is conditional. Before concluding that you must report VAT in another member state or register there, check your case on the impots.gouv.fr page for the procedure — the sources cited here do not say what sets apart the transactions that remain taxable in France.
- It is open to any taxable business, including under a derogating regime such as the French VAT registration threshold — being under the threshold does not shut the door.
- Taxable persons who had joined the earlier MOSS scheme before 1 July 2021 were automatically carried over into the corresponding OSS regime.
- The €150 import-regime threshold is measured on the INTRINSIC value of the goods in the consignment.
- Registering for several regimes is possible — for instance the non-EU regime for services and, through an intermediary, the import regime — but each regime has its own registration and procedures.
- The official documentation provides a guide to the single window, the European explanatory notes, the VAT rates applied in other member states, and the European Commission's One-Stop-Shop portal.
- You manage the account yourself: updating registration details and deregistering are both done from the business account.
Common mistakes
- Signing up at the last moment on the assumption that registration is immediate: the activation code arrives by post within two weeks, and the registration application can only be filed afterwards. It is that delay, not the timetable itself, that makes people miss the quarter.
- Assuming the window is compulsory: it is optional. What is not optional is registering in every member state if you do not join it.
- Registering AFTER you have started selling: outside the derogation, registration only takes effect on the first day of the quarter following the application, and the earlier period forces registration in each member state concerned.
- Missing the derogation of the 10th of the month following the first supply: a few days' delay tips a whole quarter into the default regime.
- Assuming you are shut out because you are under the registration threshold: the window is open to any taxable business, whatever its VAT regime.
- Confusing the three regimes: OSS EU, non-EU OSS and IOSS share neither scope nor conditions of access.
- Registering for several regimes assuming one procedure covers them: each regime requires a separate registration.
- Appointing an intermediary and assuming you are off the hook: the supplier remains jointly liable, including for paying the VAT.
- Applying the €150 threshold to the sale price rather than to the intrinsic value of the goods in the consignment.
Frequently asked questions
What is the VAT single window for?
For no longer having to register with the tax authority of every member state of consumption: the VAT due in the other EU countries is reported and paid to a single member state, in one return from the business account.
Which transactions does it cover?
Services supplied to non-taxable persons in a member state where the supplier is not established, intra-Community distance sales of goods, and sales of goods from third countries in consignments with a value of no more than €150 to non-taxable persons in the EU.
Can a business under the registration threshold use it?
Yes. Any taxable business may use this service, whether under a standard VAT regime or a derogating one such as the registration threshold.
When must you register?
The application must precede the calendar quarter in which you want to start reporting, registration taking effect on the first day of the following quarter. You may also register within the quarter of the first supply if registration comes before it, or, by derogation, sign up no later than the 10th of the month following that of the first supply.
When is the return due?
It depends on the regime. Under the EU and non-EU regimes, before the end of the month following the quarter of activity — for example before the end of October for VAT due for the third quarter. Under the import regime (IOSS) the return is MONTHLY, and so is the payment — it is due even where there was no taxable transaction in the period, as a nil return.
When is an intermediary compulsory?
For distance sales of imported goods worth no more than €150, where the taxable person is established neither in the EU nor in a third country with a mutual assistance agreement on VAT with the EU. Those established in the EU may appoint one but need not.
Go further
Compute the related amounts
Understand this form: the related course
Official sources
- impots.gouv.fr — Je déclare et je paie (VAT single window), read on 2026-09-20 for the FILING RHYTHM, which the three earlier sources did not distinguish: "soumettre une déclaration trimestrielle à l'État membre d'identification via le guichet unique" (l. 92, EU and non-EU regimes) against "déposer une déclaration mensuelle via le guichet unique pour les importations" (l. 102, under the heading "Si vous utilisez le régime importation", l. 95); the payment follows the same rhythm (l. 93 and l. 103) — September 20, 2026
- impots.gouv.fr — Using the VAT single window (IOSS-OSS) (published 22/04/2021, amended 23/04/2025): rules on the place of distance sales since 1 July 2021 and taxation in the member state of consumption, the OPTIONAL nature of the scheme, exemption from registering with each member state of consumption, scope (services to non-taxable persons in a state where the supplier is not established, intra-Community distance sales, sales from third countries in consignments worth no more than €150), registration, account management and single return from the business account — September 11, 2026
- impots.gouv.fr — Registering for the VAT single window service (published 22/04/2021, amended 22/03/2024): identification in the single member state of establishment, automatic carry-over of MOSS members from before 1 July 2021, registration timetable (application preceding the calendar quarter, effect on the first day of the following quarter, mid-quarter registration if before the first supply, derogation of the 10th of the following month), return filed before the end of the month following the quarter of activity, description of the three OSS EU, non-EU OSS and IOSS regimes with the €150 intrinsic-value threshold, separate registrations per regime, and the intermediary regime with the supplier's joint liability — RE-READ on 2026-09-20 for the THREE PRELIMINARY STEPS, absent from this guide until then (l. 108: "L'accès au guichet unique de TVA nécessite trois étapes préalables et successives"; l. 110: "l'activation de cette adhésion grâce au code d'activation que l'entreprise recevra par voie postale, dans les deux semaines suivant l'adhésion"; l. 112: notification by email of acceptance or rejection at the end of the third step) — September 11, 2026
- entreprendre.service-public.gouv.fr — VAT single window (online service): a service simplifying VAT reporting and payment obligations, three regimes a business may opt into, open to any taxable business whether under a standard VAT regime or a derogating one such as the registration threshold — September 11, 2026
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Guide and document provided for information purposes only; they do not constitute personalised legal or tax advice. Check the recipient organisation's requirements and consult a professional if needed.