Irish ecommerce VAT depends on what you sell, who buys it and where the goods start and finish their journey. The Union One Stop Shop (OSS) lets you report qualifying EU consumer sales through Revenue instead of separate destination-country registrations for those sales. The €10,000 EU threshold is combined, not per country, and has conditions. OSS does not replace your domestic VAT return or every overseas registration.
You compare warehouse charges and delivery times. A mainland European fulfilment centre looks like the sensible next move.
It may be. But moving the stock also changes the VAT questions. Your company can be Irish, your bank account can be Irish, and the sale can still be taxable elsewhere.
Work that out before you sign the warehouse agreement. It is manageable when the registrations, checkout settings and reporting are ready. Finding out after the orders have shipped is the expensive version.
Start with the goods, customer and delivery route
Before choosing a VAT rate or scheme, map the transaction. Where is the stock when dispatch starts? Where does it arrive? Is the buyer a consumer or a business? Who is responsible for the import where one is involved?
| Sales route | Main VAT question |
|---|---|
| Irish stock to an Irish customer | Irish domestic VAT rules and registration position |
| Irish stock to an EU consumer | Combined €10,000 test, destination VAT and Union OSS |
| Stock held in another EU country | Local obligations as well as any OSS-covered cross-border sales |
| Goods sent from outside the EU to an EU consumer | Import VAT and possible IOSS, not the ordinary Union OSS route |
| Goods exported to Great Britain or another non-EU destination | Export evidence, import responsibility and destination-country rules |
This guide focuses on an Irish-established retailer selling ordinary physical goods. Digital services, installed goods and unusual supply chains need a separate assessment.
Selling to Irish customers
Your Irish registration position is separate from the EU cross-border test. The main domestic thresholds are €85,000 for goods and €42,500 for services, with extra rules for mixed supplies and certain manufactured goods.
These are turnover tests, not profit tests. See our Irish VAT threshold guide for the calendar-year test, eligibility and the sale that takes you over.
Once VAT applies, check the rate for the product rather than assuming every item uses the standard rate. How you set a VAT-inclusive selling price affects the amount left to cover product costs and margin.
Below the threshold, there is still a business decision. Before a large stock order or fit-out, compare the purchase VAT you could recover by registering voluntarily with what registration does to your customer’s price. Selling to a VAT-registered business and selling to a consumer are different pricing conversations. Work through the actual costs and recovery conditions rather than waiting for turnover alone to decide.
Business customers need a separate treatment
A wholesale order to a VAT-registered EU business is not the same as a consumer order reported through OSS. For goods dispatched from Ireland to another Member State, zero-rating requires the customer’s VAT registration, the correct invoice details, movement of the goods and a correct VIES return. Keep the supporting evidence. Revenue lists the conditions.
Do not apply a consumer checkout rule to every wholesale order, or zero-rate an order simply because someone typed a VAT number into a field. Confirm the customer status and the actual supply.
Selling to EU consumers: the €10,000 test
For an eligible business established only in Ireland, the test combines cross-border EU consumer sales of goods dispatched from Ireland with qualifying cross-border telecommunications, broadcasting and electronic services. It excludes VAT. It is one €10,000 total across the relevant countries and supplies, not €10,000 for each country or channel.
To use the home-country treatment, that combined amount must not exceed €10,000 in either the current or previous calendar year. You can elect destination-country treatment earlier, with a two-year commitment.
As soon as the threshold is exceeded, destination-country treatment applies. Do not wait for the quarter to end. The European Commission explains the threshold and conditions.
For example, €6,000 of qualifying French consumer sales plus €4,500 of German consumer sales is €10,500. Splitting the sales between countries does not keep the business below the combined threshold.
If you charge one VAT-inclusive price across the EU, destination VAT changes your net sales revenue. On a €123 price, with the standard rate applying to the same product:
| Destination standard rate | Sales revenue excluding VAT |
|---|---|
| Ireland, 23% | €100.00 |
| Hungary, 27% | €96.85 |
| Luxembourg, 17% | €105.13 |
The same price leaves €8.28 less net revenue on a Hungarian order than a Luxembourg order. With the other costs unchanged, that difference comes straight off your margin. These are rounded illustrative figures, not a pricing recommendation; the product’s actual VAT rate needs checking. The EU’s standard-rate table supplies the rates used here.
Before expanding into a market, ask what its VAT rate does to your margin at the price you plan to charge. A checkout that calculates tax correctly does not answer the pricing question.
The test is not a €10,000 VAT exemption. Nor does it automatically apply to stock dispatched from a foreign warehouse.
Small-business exception: the separate EU VAT SME scheme can allow eligible small Irish businesses to use exemptions in other Member States. It has a €100,000 Union turnover ceiling, local thresholds and a separate application. Do not assume eligibility or confuse it with OSS. An established retailer above that ceiling needs a different plan.
What Union OSS does
When destination VAT is due on qualifying EU consumer sales, you can use Union OSS to declare it through Ireland. That avoids separate registrations solely for the sales covered by the scheme. OSS is optional; accounting for VAT where it is due is not.
An Irish-established business registers through the VAT OSS section of ROS. Once registered, all supplies covered by the scheme go through it. You cannot select a few countries and leave other covered sales outside. Revenue sets out the scope and registration route.
Your Irish domestic return remains separate. OSS is an additional return, not a replacement for VAT3. It also does not turn every sale into an Irish VAT sale.
Put OSS into the reporting routine
Union OSS returns and payment are due by the end of the month after each calendar quarter. For October to December, that is 31 January. File a nil return where required even if no covered sales were made. See the Commission’s filing and payment guidance.
Your quarterly report should separate destination country, applicable rate and taxable amount. Keep orders, refunds and VAT adjustments traceable to the return. Retain the required OSS records for ten years; the Commission explains the record requirements.
Input VAT is not deducted on the OSS return. Recovery uses the appropriate domestic return or refund process, subject to eligibility.
Registration normally takes effect from the first day of the next calendar quarter after you notify Revenue that you wish to register. To use OSS from an earlier first qualifying sale, notify Revenue by the 10th day of the following month. Miss that deadline and you must account for the earlier sales directly in the destination countries until OSS starts. Revenue’s Union OSS manual explains the timing and consequence.
Set aside the VAT as sales happen. A quarterly deadline does not make the money available to fund the next stock order.
A warehouse abroad creates a separate question
Take an Irish retailer holding stock in the Netherlands. Some orders ship to Dutch consumers, others to German consumers.
The Netherlands-to-Germany sales can fall within Union OSS. The ordinary retailer’s Netherlands-to-Netherlands sales are domestic supplies there and are generally outside it. Holding and moving stock can also create local registration and reporting obligations.
OSS therefore does not give you a blanket escape from Dutch VAT administration. Have the stock movements and domestic sales assessed before the warehouse starts dispatching. Special marketplace deemed-supplier rules need their own check.
The practical point is the same whether you use a 3PL or Amazon FBA: know where your stock is allowed to move. A setting that sends inventory into another country is a tax decision. Selling through Amazon or TikTok Shop does not, by itself, settle which VAT obligations remain yours.
OSS and IOSS are different
Union OSS can cover eligible goods moving between EU Member States. IOSS concerns certain goods outside the EU when sold and imported in consignments with an intrinsic value no more than €150, excluding excise goods. It uses monthly returns.
Revenue’s current IOSS guidance also records the customs changes from 1 July 2026. Do not treat the €150 IOSS limit as a general duty-free allowance. Work out both the VAT and customs treatment for an imported-goods model.
Dropshipping is not one VAT treatment. The route, seller’s role and import arrangements matter more than the label.
Selling to Great Britain and other export markets
Great Britain is outside the EU OSS route. Confirm who imports the goods, who bears the import VAT and duties, and whether you make taxable supplies requiring UK registration. Do not assume the UK domestic turnover threshold protects an Irish business making taxable supplies there. HMRC explains the non-established trader registration rule.
Northern Ireland has separate goods rules. Keep it distinct from Great Britain when mapping your sales and checkout settings.
For exports beyond the EU, keep the evidence needed to support Irish zero-rating. Destination-country tax, customs and delivery obligations still need assessment. Revenue explains VAT on exports.
Your store settings need to match the tax position
Shopify or another platform can apply the settings you give it. That does not prove that the registrations, fulfilment locations and returns are correct.
Bring sales data, payment settlements and VAT reporting together. Check refunds and corrections as well as new orders. Our Shopify and Xero integration guide explains why the connection needs testing, and the inventory guide covers stock records.
Before opening a market or warehouse, ask your accountant to set out the registrations, reporting responsibilities and effect on your prices. If the first VAT conversation happens after fulfilment starts, it came too late.
We provide accounting for Irish ecommerce businesses. If you turn over €250,000 or more and need your VAT, stock and accounts to work together, Book a Finance Fit Call.
FAQs
Is the €10,000 EU threshold per country?
No. It combines qualifying cross-border EU consumer goods sales and telecommunications, broadcasting and electronic services, excluding VAT. Current and previous calendar years matter, and the eligibility conditions must be met.
Must I register for OSS once I pass €10,000?
OSS is optional. Where destination VAT becomes due, OSS is one way to account for it. Without it, local registration may be needed. A qualifying SME exemption is a separate route with separate conditions.
Does OSS replace my Irish VAT return?
No. Your domestic VAT obligations remain separate. OSS reports the sales within that scheme.
Does OSS remove the need to register where I hold stock?
Not necessarily. Stock movements and ordinary domestic sales in that country can create obligations outside OSS. Review the warehouse arrangement before moving inventory.
Can I use the same rules for B2B and consumer sales?
No. Establish the customer’s status and meet the conditions for the relevant treatment. A VAT number alone does not settle every supply-chain question.
