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VAT e-Commerce - One Stop Shop

Deregistration to OSS / Exclusion

Background

A taxable person can leave a scheme voluntarily (deregistration), or he can be excluded from the scheme by the Member State of identification. Similarly, an intermediary can cease to act as intermediary voluntarily or be deleted from the registry by the Member State of identification.  

The taxable person is barred from using all three schemes (non-Union scheme, Union scheme and import scheme) for a certain period if he persistently fails to comply with the rules. Similarly, an intermediary is barred from acting as such if he persistently fails to comply with the rules of the import scheme. This period is called the quarantine period. 

Deregistration

Frequently asked questions

Exclusion

taxable person shall be excluded by the Member State of identification from the scheme he is using for any of the following reasons: 

  • He or his intermediary notifies that he no longer supplies goods and/or services falling under the scheme he is using;  

  • It may be assumed that his activities under the special scheme have ceased 

  • where he has made no supplies under the special scheme for 8 consecutive calendar quarters; 

  • He no longer meets the conditions necessary for using the scheme, for example: 

  • a taxable person using the non-Union scheme moves his business to a Member State or sets up a fixed establishment in a Member State;  

  • an intermediary who has been appointed by a taxable person to use the import scheme has notified that he no longer represents this taxable person. 

  • He persistently fails to comply with the rules relating to the scheme - this is defined as being so in at least the following cases: 

  • Reminders to submit a return have been sent to the taxable person (or his intermediary) for three immediately preceding return periods, and no VAT return has been submitted for the respective return period within 10 days after the reminder has been sent;  

  • Reminders to make a payment have been sent to the taxable person (or his intermediary) for three immediately preceding return periods, and the full amount has not been paid within 10 days of receiving each of these reminders, unless the outstanding amount for each return is less than EUR 100;  

  • Where the taxable person/his intermediary has failed to make his records electronically available to the Member State of identification within one month of the reminder by the Member State of identification. 

If a taxable person is excluded from one scheme for persistent failure to comply with the rules, he will be excluded from all other schemes he is currently using and will not be able to register for any of the three schemes before the quarantine period has come to an end (see quarantine period below). If the taxable person is registered for another scheme in another Member State, that Member State of identification will have to exclude the taxable person for persistent failure as well. The exclusion is communicated by the Member State of identification to all other Member States without delay. 

If a taxable person is excluded from the import scheme, his IOSS VAT identification number will remain valid for a period up to 2 months to allow the import of goods that were supplied prior to the date of exclusion. This does not apply in case the taxable person is excluded for persistent failure to comply with the rules of the import scheme. In this case, the IOSS VAT identification number is not valid anymore as from the day following that on which the exclusion decision is sent to the taxable person.  

An intermediary is deleted from the identification register if  

 

  • for a period of two consecutive calendar quarters (6 months) he has not acted as intermediary on behalf of a taxable person making use of the import scheme or 

  • he no longer meets the conditions necessary for acting as intermediary (for example if the intermediary is no longer established within the EU) or 

  • he persistently fails to comply with the rules relating to the import scheme.  

If an intermediary persistently fails to comply with the rules of the import scheme, he will be excluded from the identification register. The taxable persons he represents will consequently be excluded from the import scheme, because they are no longer represented by an intermediary and therefore do no longer fulfil the conditions to use the import scheme. 

If a taxable person is aware of having appointed an intermediary who is not compliant, he can choose to appoint another intermediary.  

Whilst any Member State can ask the Member State of identification to exclude a taxable person or to delete an intermediary from the register, only the Member State of identification can take the decision on whether or not to exclude. The taxable person or an intermediary can appeal the exclusion decision according to the national procedures that apply in the Member State of identification. 

Date on which deregistration/exclusion becomes effective

Voluntary cessation 

Where the taxable person voluntarily leaves the non-Union or the Union scheme, the cessation shall be effective from the first day of the next calendar quarter. The cessation is effective from the first day of the next month if the taxable person voluntarily leaves the import scheme. Supplies carried out as from that day cannot be declared in the import scheme anymore. 

Where the intermediary voluntarily ceases to act as such, the deletion from the identification register is effective from the first day of the month following the deletion decision. 

Exclusion for a) no longer carrying out supplies eligible for the scheme in use, b) no longer meeting the conditions to use the scheme, or c) for no longer having an intermediary in the import scheme 

In these cases, the exclusion of the taxable person from the non-Union scheme or the Union scheme is effective from the first day of the calendar quarter following the day on which the decision on exclusion is sent by electronic means to the taxable person. 

An exclusion from the import scheme is effective from the first day of the month following the day on which the decision on exclusion is sent by electronic means to the taxable person. 

The deletion of an intermediary from the identification register for not having acted as such for two consecutive calendar quarters or for no longer meeting the conditions necessary to act as intermediary is effective from the first day of the month following the day on which the decision on deletion is sent by electronic means to the intermediary and the taxable persons he represents. 

Deregistration (change of Member State of identification) for moving the place of business or the fixed establishment to another Member State (Union scheme, import scheme) 

If the exclusion of a taxable person/intermediary is due to  

  • a change of the place of business or fixed establishment (Union scheme or import scheme) or  

  • a change of the place from which goods are dispatched or transported (only Union scheme),  

it is effective from the date of that change provided the information about the change is communicated by the taxable person/intermediary to both Member States no later than the tenth day of the month following that change.

Exclusion for persistent failure to comply with the rules 

Where the taxable person persistently fails to comply with the rules relating to the non-Union or the Union scheme, the exclusion shall be effective from the first day of the calendar quarter following the day on which the decision on exclusion was sent by electronic means to the taxable person.  

The exclusion of a taxable person from the import scheme for persistent failure is effective from the day following that on which the decision on exclusion is sent by electronic means to the taxable person.  

The deletion of an intermediary from the identification register for persistent failure to comply with the rules of the import scheme is effective from the day following that on which the decision on deletion is sent by electronic means to the intermediary and to the taxable persons he represents.

Table: Exclusion/Deletion Effective Date

                                 EXCLUSION/DELETION - EFFECTIVE DATE 

 

 

Taxable person in the Non-Union scheme 

Taxable person in the Union scheme 

Taxable person in the Import scheme 

Intermediary 

Voluntary cessation

First day of calendar quarter following notification

First day of month following notification 

First day of month following notification 

Exclusion (no longer any eligible supplies; conditions not fulfilled anymore; no intermediary anymore) 

 

Intermediary (not acting as such for 6 months; conditions not fulfilled anymore) 

First day of calendar quarter 

following exclusion decision

First day of month 

following exclusion decision 

First day of month 

following deletion decision 

Moving place of business/fixed establishment to another Member State 

Not possible 

Date of that change 

Date of that change 

Date of that change

 

Persistent failure 

First day of calendar quarter 
following the exclusion decision 

First day 
following the exclusion decision 

First day 
following the deletion decision 

Quarantine period

The quarantine period is the period during which the taxable person is excluded from using any of the schemes of the One Stop Shop or during which the intermediary cannot act as such on behalf of a taxable person using the import scheme. A quarantine period only applies when 

  • the taxable person persistently fails to comply with the rules relating to a special scheme - there is a quarantine period of 2 years following the (quarterly/monthly) return period during which the taxable person was excluded. He will be excluded from all schemes he is currently using and will remain excluded from using any of the three schemes for 2 years. He can only (re)register for a scheme once the quarantine periods of all schemes have elapsed. 

Example: 

  1. A taxable person has established his business in France. He uses the Union scheme and the import scheme (Member State of identification for both schemes is France).  

  1. He persistently fails to comply with the rules of the Union scheme and is therefore excluded from this scheme on 21 May 2024 (exclusion decision). 

  1. The exclusion from the Union scheme is effective on the first day of the calendar quarter following the exclusion decision, i.e. 1 July 2024. The quarantine period is 2 years following the return period (calendar quarter) during which the taxable person was excluded.  

The quarantine period for the Union scheme is: 1 July 2024 – 30 June 2026

  1. The exclusion from the Union scheme for persistent failure triggers the exclusion from all other schemes and the taxable person cannot (re)register for any of the three schemes while he is quarantined. 

  1. Therefore he will also be excluded from the import scheme on 21 May 2024. The exclusion from the import scheme is effective from the first day following the exclusion decision, i.e. from 22 May 2024. The quarantine period is 2 years following the return period (month) during which the taxable person was excluded.   

The quarantine period for the import scheme is 1 June 2024 – 31 May 2026. 

  1. The taxable person can (re)register for any of the schemes as soon as all quarantine periods have elapsed, i.e. as from 1 July 2026.  

  • the intermediary persistently fails to comply with the rules relating to the import scheme. There is a quarantine period of 2 years following the month during which he was deleted from the register. As a consequence, the taxable person(s) he represents will be excluded as well for not fulfilling the conditions to use the import scheme anymore. They can, however, reregister for the import scheme immediately if they fulfil the conditions to do so, i.e. directly if they are established in the EU or by appointing another intermediary.  

Example: 

  1. A taxable person is registered as intermediary in Belgium. He persistently fails to comply with the rules relating to the import scheme and is excluded by his Member State of identification Belgium. The exclusion decision is sent to the intermediary and the taxable persons he represents on 6 April 2027.  

  1. The deletion of the intermediary from the identification register is effective from the day following that on which the decision on deletion is sent to the intermediary and to the taxable persons he represents, i.e. 7 April 2027.  

  1. The intermediary is not allowed to act as intermediary for 2 years following the month during which he was deleted from that register. The quarantine period is therefore 1 May 2027 – 30 April 2029. 

  1. The taxable person(s) the intermediary represented is excluded from the import scheme. His exclusion will be effective from the first day of the month following the day on which the exclusion decision has been sent. He can reregister via an intermediary to continue using the import scheme. The reregistration will be effective as from the day on which the new intermediary has been attributed the individual IOSS VAT identification number in respect of the taxable person he represents. 

Note that a taxable person who is acting as intermediary and gets deleted from the identification register for persistent failure, is only deleted from this register. If he is using any of the special schemes himself, he will not get excluded from these schemes as a result of that persistent failure.