Which Member State is the Member State of identification?
A taxable person who opts to use one of the OSS schemes is only required to register in one single Member State, the Member State of identification.
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For the non-Union scheme, a taxable person (who has neither established his business nor has a fixed establishment in the EU) can choose any Member State to be the Member State of identification. That Member State will allocate an individual VAT identification number to the taxable person (using the format EUxxxyyyyyz). This VAT identification number can only be used to declare supplies falling under the non-Union scheme.
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For the Union scheme, the Member State of identification is the Member State in which the taxable person has established his business. If a taxable person has not established his business in the EU, but has a fixed establishment in the EU, the Member State of identification is the Member State in which he has that fixed establishment. If the taxable person has fixed establishments in different EU Member States, he is entitled to choose one of those Member States to be the Member State of identification. In this case, the taxable person is bound by that decision for the calendar year in which he makes that decision, plus the two following calendar years and cannot change Member State of identification, unless the fixed establishment of his current Member State of identification is dissolved or is moved to another country.
If a taxable person is not established in the EU, he can only use the Union scheme to declare supplies of goods that fall under the scope of the Union scheme. In this case, the Member State of identification is the Member State in which the dispatch or the transport of the goods begins. Where there is more than one Member State from which goods are dispatched or transported, the taxable person can choose any of those Member States as Member State of identification. He will be bound by this decision for the current calendar year and the two following calendar years.
In the Union scheme, the taxable person will be identified for the One Stop Shop with the same individual VAT identification number with which he is identified for his domestic VAT obligations. In case the taxable person is not established in the EU, he will be allocated a VAT number by the Member State of identification before registering for the scheme.
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For the import scheme, the Member State of identification is the Member State in which the taxable person has established his business.
However, if the taxable person has not established his business in the EU, the Member State of identification is a Member State in which the taxable person has a fixed establishment. Where the taxable person has more than one fixed establishment, that taxable person can choose any Member State in which he has a fixed establishment to be his Member State of identification. In this case, the taxable person is bound by his decision for the current calendar year and the two following calendar years, unless the fixed establishment of his current Member State of identification is dissolved or moved to another country.
If the taxable person is established outside the EU, but in a third country with which the EU has concluded an agreement on mutual assistance for the recovery of VAT and makes distance sales of imported goods from that third country, he is free to choose any Member State as Member State of identification. In this case, there is no need to appoint an intermediary to be able to use the import scheme. However, if such a person makes distance sales of imported goods from other third countries, he does have to appoint an intermediary in order to use the import scheme.
For example, a Norwegian supplier makes distance sales of imported goods in consignments up to EUR 150 to customers that take place in the EU. An agreement on mutual assistance for the recovery of VAT has been concluded with Norway.
- Such sales are made/goods depart from Norway only, no need to appoint an intermediary
- Such sales are made/goods depart from China only. need to appoint an intermediary
- Such sales are made/goods depart from Norway and China, need to appoint an intermediary
That Member State of identification will allocate an individual IOSS VAT identification number to the taxable person (using the format IMxxxyyyyyyz).
If the taxable person is established outside the EU, he needs to appoint an intermediary to be able to use the import scheme. An intermediary has to be a taxable person established in the EU. Member States may impose further conditions at national level for a taxable person to act as intermediary (e.g. requirement of guarantees). The Member State of identification of the taxable person for the import scheme is the Member State in which the intermediary registers as such:
The Member State of identification of the intermediary is the Member State in which the intermediary has established his business - i.e. where he has his place of business.
If the intermediary has not established his business in the EU, the Member State of identification is a Member State in which the intermediary has a fixed establishment. Where the intermediary has more than one fixed establishment, he can choose any Member State in which he has a fixed establishment to be his Member State of identification. In this case, the intermediary is bound by his decision for the current calendar year and the two calendar years following, unless the fixed establishment of his current Member State of identification is dissolved or moved to another country.
If the intermediary is not established in the EU, he cannot act as intermediary.
An intermediary first registers in the Member State in which he is established (Member State of identification) to be able to act as intermediary. That Member State of identification will allocate an individual identification number, which is not a VAT number, to the intermediary to be able to act as such (using the format INxxxyyyyyyz).
The intermediary then registers the taxable person(s) he represents for the import scheme in this same Member State. That Member State of identification will allocate an individual IOSS VAT identification number to the intermediary for each taxable person he represents (using the format IMxxxyyyyyyz).
A taxable person can only have one Member State of identification per scheme. Note that following the above-mentioned rules, the Member State of identification might differ according to the scheme the taxable person is using.
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Member State of identification (MSI) Non-Union scheme
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Taxable persons established in the EU |
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Taxable persons not established in the EU |
Free choice of MSI |
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Taxable persons not established in EU but in 3rd country with mutual assistance agreement |
Free choice of MSI |
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Intermediary |
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Member State of identification (MSI) Union scheme
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Taxable persons established in the EU |
Member State where business is established If business outside EU, Member State of fixed establishment |
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Taxable persons not established in the EU |
Member State from which goods are dispatched |
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Taxable persons not established in EU but in 3rd country with mutual assistance agreement |
Member State from which goods are dispatched | ||
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Intermediary |
- |
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Member State of identification (MSI) Import scheme
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Taxable persons established in the EU |
Member State where business is established If business outside EU, Member State of fixed establishment |
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Taxable persons not established in the EU |
MSI is MSI of intermediary Need to appoint an intermediary to use import scheme |
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Taxable persons not established in EU but in 3rd country with mutual assistance agreement |
Free choice of MSI |
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Intermediary |
Member State in which business is established If business outside EU, Member State of fixed establishment |
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There are three different schemes available:
Non-Union scheme:
Any taxable person, not established in the EU, who supplies services to non-taxable persons taking place in the EU, can register in the non-Union scheme.
Union scheme:
The following taxable persons can register for the Union scheme:
Any taxable person established in the EU who
supplies services to non-taxable persons taking place in a Member State where that taxable person has no establishment and/or
carries out intra-Community distance sales of goods;
Any taxable person not established in the EU who
carries out intra-Community distance sales of goods;
Any taxable person who is a deemed supplier who
carries out intra-Community distance sales of goods and/or
domestic supplies of goods
Import scheme:
Any taxable person who carries out distance sales of goods imported from a third territory or a third country in consignments not exceeding EUR 150 can register for the import scheme. If that person has no establishment in the EU, he needs to appoint an intermediary to be able to use the scheme.
Non-Union scheme | Union scheme | Import scheme |
Taxable persons established outside the EU |
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In order to register for one of the schemes, the taxable person is required to provide certain information to the Member State of identification. Member States are free to choose how they collect this information from the taxable person, but it must be provided electronically. In practice, Member States will provide a web portal for the submission of this information.
The information will differ depending on whether the taxable person is registering to use the non-Union scheme, the Union scheme, or the import scheme.
Once the Member State of identification has received and validated the required registration details, these are stored in its database and forwarded to the other Member States as well as any update to this information. A taxable person using the non-Union scheme or the import scheme will, at this point, receive an individual VAT identification number from the Member State of identification. For the Union scheme, no separate individual VAT identification number will be attributed. The national VAT identification number already allocated to the taxable person will be used.
The Member State of identification will carry out certain checks on the registration information provided to ensure that the taxable person meets the conditions for using the scheme. It will, at minimum, check whether the taxable person is already registered for the same scheme in another Member State, or whether a possible quarantine period (see the section on exclusion) is still in effect.
As a result of these checks, the Member State of identification may refuse registration to a scheme of the One Stop Shop. The taxable person has recourse to the national procedures in appealing against this decision.
Yes, because the schemes cover different supplies and are open to different taxable persons.
A taxable person established in the EU can use the Union scheme and the import scheme.
A taxable person not established in the EU could possibly use all three schemes.
| Non-Union scheme | Union scheme | Import scheme |
Taxable person established in the EU | Cannot use this scheme |
| Distance sales of imported goods in consignments not exceeding EUR 150 |
Taxable persons not established in the EU | B2C supplies of services in the EU
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| Distance sales of imported goods in consignments not exceeding EUR 150 |
Under the Union scheme, the individual VAT registration number is the same as that which is already allocated to the taxable person by the Member State of identification for domestic supplies. If a taxable person does not have a VAT registration number yet, he will need to obtain one before he can register for the Union scheme. A taxable person cannot register for the Union scheme without this number or if this number is not valid anymore.
Under the non-Union scheme and the import scheme, the Member State of identification will allocate an individual VAT identification number (using the format EUxxxyyyyyz for the non-Union scheme and the format IMxxxyyyyyyz for the import scheme) to the taxable person. If a taxable person has appointed an intermediary to use the import scheme, this number will be allocated to the intermediary for the taxable person he represents. If an intermediary represents more than one taxable person, he will get a different VAT identification number per person he represents.
The intermediary himself will get an individual identification number to be able to act as such from the Member State of identification (using the format INxxxyyyyyyz). Please note that this number is not a VAT identification number.
In a normal situation, the registration to the non-Union or the Union scheme will take effect from the first day of the calendar quarter following that in which the taxable person informs the Member State of identification that he wishes to start using the scheme. If, for example, on 15 February 2022, a taxable person informs the Member State of identification that he wishes to start using the scheme and he provides the required information, the taxable person will be able to use the scheme as from 1 April 2022, i.e. for supplies made on and after 1 April 2022. 1 April 2022 will be the commencement date to use the scheme.
However, there may be situations in which a taxable person starts making supplies under the scheme before this date. If this is the case, then the taxable person can start using the scheme from the date of that first supply, provided he has informed the Member State of identification that he has started activities under the scheme by the tenth day of the month following that first supply. If the taxable person fails to meet this deadline, he is required to register and account for the VAT in the Member State(s) of consumption directly.
As an example, the same taxable person mentioned above makes his first supply to a non-taxable person on 1 March 2022. As long as the Member State of identification is informed of this by 10 April 2022, the taxable person can use the special scheme as from 1 March 2022 and all subsequent supplies will be covered by that special scheme. This applies for both the Union scheme, and the non-Union scheme. In this case, the commencement date of the scheme will be 1 March 2022.
The registration to the import scheme will take effect from the day the taxable person or his intermediary has been allocated the individual VAT identification number to use this scheme. This day is the date of commencement of the scheme.
Annex 2 to the Guide to the VAT One Stop Shop contains three boxes which relate to the date of registration. This is included in the registration information, which the Member State of identification will send to the other Member States:
Box 17: Date of commencement of using the scheme
This is the date when the taxable person starts using the scheme.
Box 18: Date of request to be registered under the scheme by the taxable person or the intermediary acting on his behalf; or date of request to be registered as intermediary
This is the date on which the taxable person informs the Member State of identification that he wishes to start using the scheme, and the required information is sent. In practice, it is the date the taxable person provides all the required registration details on the web portal.
For the intermediary, this is the date on which he informs the Member State of identification that he wishes to start acting as intermediary and the required information is sent.
Box 19: Date of registration decision by the Member State of identification
This is the date on which the Member State of identification, having checked that the information provided by the taxable person or the intermediary acting on his behalf is valid, makes the decision to register the taxable person for the respective special scheme (or to register the intermediary to act as such).
The Member State of identification will confirm to the taxable person/intermediary the date of the registration decision by electronic means (this could possibly be on the national One Stop Shop web portal).
If a taxable person using the Union scheme or the import scheme has fixed establishments outside the Member State of identification, the One Stop Shop registration details have to include the VAT identification number or tax reference number, and name and address of each of these fixed establishments in those other Member States. This is required irrespective of whether or not the fixed establishment will carry out supplies that can be declared under the respective scheme. The requirements for this information can be found in Boxes 13.1 and 14.1 of Annex 2 to the Guide to the VAT One Stop Shop.
In addition, under the Union scheme, the taxable person must provide the VAT identification number or tax reference number of any Member State where goods are dispatched or transported from (other than the Member State of identification or Member States of the above-mentioned fixed establishments).
Moreover, if a taxable person is registered for VAT in another Member State, but is not established in that Member State, that VAT identification number must also be included in the One Stop Shop registration details (Box 15.1 of Annex 2 to the Guide to the VAT One Stop Shop).
The taxable person is legally obliged to inform the Member State of identification of any changes to the registration information, at the latest on the tenth day of the month following the change.
Amendments can be made to certain elements of the registration information, such as postal addresses, email addresses, contact details, list of fixed establishments, list of VAT identification numbers in other Member States etc. Member States will define more precisely how and what amendments to registration details can be made.
The registration information, including any amendments made to this information, is stored in a database of the Member State of identification and is transmitted to the other Member States.
If, prior to 1 July 2021, a taxable person is registered in the Union or the non-Union scheme of the MOSS, he will continue to make use of that same special scheme in the OSS after that date.
However he will be invited by his Member State of identification to update his registration data in order to provide, if needed, the following information:
Individual VAT identification number(s) or, if not available, tax reference number(s) allocated by the Member States where goods are dispatched or transported from (Union scheme only);
Electronic declaration that the taxable person is an electronic interface acting as deemed supplier (Union scheme only);
Individual IOSS VAT identification number allocated by the Member State of identification if the taxable person is also registered in the import scheme (both Union and Non-Union schemes).
Supplies from that fixed establishment cannot be declared on the One Stop Shop VAT return of the VAT group.
Similarly, supplies from the VAT group to the Member State of that fixed establishment shall be declared via the One Stop Shop VAT return, and not via the domestic VAT return of that fixed establishment.
Therefore, a VAT group cannot include any fixed establishments in other Member States in its One Stop Shop registration. Whilst it is acknowledged that Member States legislate for VAT groups at domestic level, as a practical solution for the particular circumstances of the One Stop Shop, a VAT group shall be treated in the following way:
A VAT group can use the One Stop Shop, but when it registers, it must indicate that it is a VAT group (see the registration information);
A VAT group registers under the VAT identification number with which it is registered for its domestic supplies; where group members are also given separate numbers at domestic level, the single number allocated to the VAT group should be used for the One Stop Shop registration.
If a member of the VAT group has, or will have, a fixed establishment in another Member State, the ties with that fixed establishment are broken and for One Stop Shop registration purposes, the supplies from that fixed establishment cannot be declared on the One Stop Shop VAT return of the VAT group.
A taxable person making use of the non-Union scheme may change his Member State of identification at any time. Such a change will take effect at the end of the calendar quarter.
A taxable person using the Union scheme can only change his Member State of identification voluntarily in two situations:
The taxable person has established his business outside the EU, but has fixed establishments in at least two different Member States:
He can choose a different Member State in which he has a fixed establishment as Member State of identification. This change will take effect at the end of the calendar quarter and the taxable person will be bound by this decision for the calendar year concerned and the two following calendar years.
The taxable person is not established in the EU (no business establishment or fixed establishment in the EU), but has a stock of goods in at least two different Member States:
He can choose a different Member State from which he dispatches or transports goods as Member State of identification. This change will take effect at the end of the calendar quarter and the taxable person will be bound by this decision for the calendar year concerned and the two following calendar years.
- A taxable person using the import scheme may change his Member State of identification if he has established his business outside the EU, but has fixed establishments in at least two different Member States:
- He can choose a different Member State in which he has a fixed establishment as Member State of identification. The exclusion from the import scheme in the former Member State of identification will be effective from the first day of the month following the day on which the exclusion decision has been sent. The taxable person can use the import scheme in the (new) Member State of identification as from the day he has been allocated an individual IOSS VAT identification number. The taxable person will be bound by this decision for the calendar year concerned and the two following calendar years.
In any case, this is a voluntary deregistration followed by a registration. The taxable person therefore needs to get deregistered in the former Member State of identification and follow the registration procedure in the new Member State of identification according to the normal rules.
A taxable person who is established in the EU does not need to appoint an intermediary to be able to use the import scheme, but he is free to appoint an intermediary. He can choose his intermediary and is not obliged to appoint an intermediary established in the Member State in which he is established himself.
The Member State of identification for the taxable person represented by the intermediary will be the Member State in which the intermediary has established his business or if he has established his business outside the EU, the Member State in which the intermediary has a fixed establishment.
Any taxable person established in the EU can make use of the Union scheme to declare supplies of goods and services covered by the scheme. A taxable person who is using the special scheme for SMEs is not excluded and can therefore register for the Union scheme. He needs a national VAT identification number from the Member State in which he is established (Member State of identification) to register for the Union scheme, but does not have to opt out of the special scheme for SMEs to use the Union scheme.
Any taxable person carrying out sales of goods imported from a third territory or a third country to a customer in the EU can use the import scheme to declare and pay VAT for these sales. A taxable person using the special scheme for SMEs however, has to opt out of the SME scheme to be able to use the import scheme and will need a VAT identification number of the Member State in which he is established to register in the import scheme. The reason for this condition is to avoid the risk of non-taxation.