The European Commission has released its 2022 revenue figures for the One Stop-Shop return and Import One Stop-Shop returns, amounting to €17 billion and €2.5 billion respectively. This represents a significant increase of 26% compared to 2021. With nearly 130,000 sellers and marketplaces already registered, these new VAT systems have proven to be highly successful.
Read the EU news article on the updated revenue figures.
In addition, the revenues collected also include the elimination of the €22 import VAT exemption on small consignments from non-EU countries, largely attributed to the IOSS system. These reforms were implemented in July 2021 as part of the e-commerce VAT package.
Looking ahead, the European Commission plans to expand the OSS return to include movements of own stocks for both B2C and B2B businesses across internal EU borders. This extension is a key pillar of the VAT in the Digital Age reforms, aiming to simplify VAT registration and generate even more revenue for e-commerce sellers and marketplaces by streamlining their registration process.
Furthermore, the EC is proposing to make IOSS mandatory for marketplaces that act as deemed suppliers, facilitating small value imports within the EU. This change would require marketplaces to use the IOSS system, whereas it was previously optional under the 2021 e-commerce package.
As part of the proposed EU Customs Union reforms in 2028, the EC aims to raise the IOSS threshold for VAT on imports to €150, covering all transactions. This change would also allow deemed importers to utilise the IOSS for customs payments for all consignments below €150, providing greater efficiency and convenience.
The future of VAT in the digital age is bright, with these proposed reforms set to simplify processes and increase revenue while benefiting businesses and consumers alike. These reforms also levels out the unfairness of foreign sellers not applying VAT to their products and hence creating an unfair competitive advantage to EU sellers. They complement the DAC 7 tax directive that extends the EU's standards on tax transparency.
