IOSS: how does VAT work for imported e-commerce parcels?
Adopted 2026-06-16 · ≈ 2 min read · 
edited by Dirk Baaijen
The IOSS lets you collect VAT at the point of sale for imported parcels worth up to 150 euro. You file one monthly return, and the parcel clears customs faster without import VAT. Without IOSS, the customer pays VAT on delivery.
Short answer: With the Import One-Stop Shop (IOSS), the seller or platform collects the VAT at the point of sale for goods imported from a non-EU country with an intrinsic value of no more than 150 euro. You file a monthly IOSS return, and the parcel clears customs faster without import VAT. Without IOSS, the customer pays the VAT, and often handling fees, only on delivery.
What the IOSS is
The IOSS has been part of the VAT e-commerce package since 1 July 2021. It is an optional, simplified scheme for distance sales of goods that you import from a non-EU country or territory and supply to EU consumers.
- Value threshold: the IOSS applies only to consignments with an intrinsic
value of no more than 150 euro. Above that threshold, or for excise goods, the normal import and VAT rules apply.
- Who uses it: sellers supplying directly to EU consumers, and electronic
platforms that, as a deemed supplier, facilitate the sale and then owe the VAT themselves.
- One registration: you register in a single Member State and thereby handle
the VAT for all your IOSS sales across the EU, instead of country by country.
How it works in practice
- VAT at sale: in the webshop you charge the VAT rate of the customer's EU
country and collect it at payment, so the price is all-inclusive.
- IOSS number in the chain: you pass your IOSS identification number to the
carrier or customs agent so it appears on the customs declaration.
- Monthly return: each month you submit a single IOSS VAT return and remit
the collected VAT, filed through your Member State of registration.
- Faster release: because the VAT is already paid, the parcel is released at
the border without import VAT being charged again.
Link with the customs declaration
For low-value consignments up to 150 euro there is a simplified import declaration with a reduced dataset, in practice the H7 declaration. If you use IOSS, your IOSS number is stated on that declaration and the parcel stays free of import VAT. Without a valid IOSS number, VAT is charged at import and paid by the recipient, often with extra handling fees from the carrier. So make sure the number is passed correctly to everyone in your logistics chain.
Read more: the Transport & Logistics overview. Take the scan.
Sources
- https://vat-one-stop-shop.ec.europa.eu/index_en
European Commission — Import One-Stop Shop (IOSS) and VAT e-commerce.
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