The situation
A German online shop’s consumer sales by country, uploaded as a spreadsheet
Your client sells garden furniture online from Freiburg. Sales to consumers in France and Spain were small last year and have grown fast since spring. The managing director has read about the OSS and wants to know whether she must charge French and Spanish VAT, from when, and whether a planned warehouse near Lyon changes anything.
The rule is short. The time goes on the numbers: adding up last year’s and this year’s cross-border consumer sales from the shop export, finding the order that will cross the threshold, and separating sales shipped from Germany from those that would ship from a French warehouse, which the OSS does not cover.
What the research has to settle
The rules behind the answer
- One threshold for the whole EU
- For a seller established in one Member State only, distance sales of goods and certain electronic services to consumers in other Member States stay taxed at home while their combined EU total does not exceed €10,000 in the current or previous calendar year. Above it, VAT is due in each customer’s country.
- The switch can happen mid-year
- If the threshold is exceeded during the year, destination taxation applies from the supply that crosses it. A seller below the threshold can also opt for destination taxation, and that choice binds for a minimum period.
- OSS changes how you pay, not what
- The Union OSS lets the seller declare and pay French and Spanish VAT through one quarterly return in Germany instead of registering in each country. French and Spanish rates and rules still apply to each sale.
- Stock abroad needs a local registration
- Goods sold from a warehouse in France are French domestic supplies, not distance sales, and moving the shop’s own stock from Germany to France is itself a reportable transaction. Neither goes through the OSS, so a French VAT registration would be needed.
How it runs in azta
From the question to the document
The question, as you would type it
German online shop, established only in Germany. Consumer sales to France and Spain: €7,800 last year, €9,600 this year to date and rising. Plans a warehouse near Lyon next year. When do French and Spanish VAT apply, how does OSS registration work, and what changes with the warehouse?
You start with
A German online shop’s consumer sales by country, uploaded as a spreadsheet
- 01
Upload the sales export
Add the shop’s order export by country and date. azta reads it and refers back to the rows it used, so you can check the totals against the file.
File upload· Pro - 02
Check the threshold and the start date
Ask when destination taxation applies on these numbers. azta cites the VAT Directive and the German VAT act, and sets out how registration for the OSS takes effect.
Cited research· Free - 03
Ask about the warehouse
Describe the planned stock in France. azta researches the stock transfer, the French domestic sales and the registration they require, with the French provisions cited.
Cited research· Free - 04
Write the letter
Ask for a plain-language client letter with the dates and next steps. Edit it in Canvas and export it to Word.
Canvas · Ask azta· Pro You send
A client letter on the distance-sales threshold, OSS registration and stock held abroad
What you get
A client letter on the distance-sales threshold, OSS registration and stock held abroad
Client letter · draft
VAT on your sales to customers in France and Spain
Your sales to consumers in other EU countries are close to €10,000 for this year. From the order that takes them over that amount, French VAT applies to sales to French customers and Spanish VAT to Spanish customers, at the rates of those countries.
You do not have to register in France and Spain for these sales. You can declare and pay the VAT for both countries through the One-Stop Shop, with one quarterly return filed in Germany. We recommend registering now; the date from which the registration takes effect depends on when it is made, and we will confirm it with you.
The planned warehouse near Lyon is different. Sales shipped from stock in France are French domestic sales, and moving your own goods into France must be reported too. Neither can go through the One-Stop Shop, so you would need a French VAT registration before the first stock arrives.
Outcomes on your numbers
What azta is worth on this task
Pro pays for itself after
12 minutes a month
At €140 an hour, that is all the time Pro (€27 a month) has to take off your desk to cover its price.
Example figures. Replace them with your own.
- Hours back a year
- 27
- Capacity at your rate
- €3,780
- More OSS letters a quarter
- 2.3
- Return on Pro
- 11.7×
- Research
- Drafting
- Your review
A scenario you set, not a promise. The hours that come back go to another client, or deeper into this one.
Want these numbers on your team’s real workload?
Book a demoSources azta searches here
- EUR-Lex · Curia
- Gesetze im Internet
- Légifrance
- BOE
What stays with you
- Checking that the export covers every sales channel, including marketplaces.
- Confirming that the customers are consumers and not businesses.
- Registering the client and signing the letter.
Frequently asked questions
- Can azta read the shop’s export as it is?
- Yes. Upload the spreadsheet or CSV. azta reads it and refers back to the rows it used, so you can check the totals against the file.
- Does azta file the OSS return?
- No. It researches, cites and drafts. Registration and returns stay with you or the client’s bookkeeping.
- What about sales to business customers?
- They are outside the OSS and follow the business-to-business rules. Put them in the question and azta researches them separately.
