New VAT rules for trade with other EU countries

What do the new VAT rules mean for me as an e-retailer? New VAT rules for trade to other EU countries From 1 July 2021, new VAT rules will apply to you if you sell goods or services to EU countries other than Sweden. Here we go through what applies and what you need to consider. In short, if you sell to other EU countries and exceed the threshold, you'll have a simpler procedure for handling your VAT. Instead of having to keep track of and follow up on the VAT rules in each EU country, you can do it all through one single e-service, namely OSS. The Tax Agency takes care of the rest and you avoid the extra work.

MOSS and OSS - what is it?

For the activities that fall within the scope of electronic services, telecommunications services and radio and television broadcasting, there is an e-service provided by the Tax Agency, called MOSS. MOSS is an abbreviation of Mini One Stop Shop. Through MOSS, these businesses can file their VAT returns in one place and avoid having to register for VAT in each EU country in which they sell their goods or services. 

With the change in VAT rules on 1 July, MOSS will be replaced by a new e-service, OSS (One Stop Shop). OSS works in a similar way to MOSS, with the difference that the service is available to all businesses subject to the new VAT rules, not just those selling electronic services, telecommunications services or broadcasting.

Changed rules and new threshold

By 1 July 2021, businesses that do not have access to MOSS will need to be VAT registered in each EU country where they sell goods or services. The new VAT rules will change this and simplify the whole procedure. Provided that the total amount of sales to other EU countries exceeds the new threshold of €99,680 excluding VAT per calendar year, you as an e-merchant can manage your VAT reporting via the new OSS e-service. Please note that the threshold applies to your total sales in all EU countries in which you sell, so the value is not SEK 99 680 per country but in total. If your business does not meet the threshold, you still need to register for VAT in the country to which you sell goods or services.

Once you have registered your business in OSS, the Swedish Tax Agency forwards your declaration details to the authority responsible for VAT and tax in the country where the customer who bought your services or goods lives. 

Registration for OSS opened on 1 April this year, so you can and should register as soon as possible if you haven't already done so.

Settings to make in the Abicart platform

Our platform has always supported VAT by country, but to double-check that everything is in order, do this:

1. Go to Settings > VAT > General. Here you set your prices to be entered exclusive/inclusive VAT.
2. In the VAT by country of delivery section, activate the countries where you want to sell your goods or services, and enter the VAT rate for each country. These settings become global settings and are then automatically applied to all your products in your webshop.
3. If you need to make specific changes, you can do so at product level afterwards.

Read more at the Swedish Tax Agency

More information about the new VAT rules is available at Skatteverket's website, where you will also find notification to OSS. 

Look forward to hearing from you and please let us know if you have any concerns or questions!