Page 57 - Cross-Border Magazine Nr.3

~ Mini One Stop Shop ~

ccording to Ecommerce Europe’s Cross-border has sold e-services to consumers. Therefore, starting from the
E-commerce Barometer 2016, VAT still repre- established MOSS, EU policymakers proposed last December
Asents one of the top-3 barriers when selling online to extend this portal, intended for suppliers of e-services, to
cross-border in the European Union. Indeed, dealing with 28 online sellers of goods as well.
Spotlight on ... different VAT rules and tax administrations is complicated
and burdensome for online merchants, especially for SMEs. To conclude, Ecommerce Europe is convinced that the exten-
To reduce VAT-related burdens when selling online cross- sion of the One Stop Shop to the distance selling of goods
border, the European Commission unveiled in December will be a game changer for online merchants and therefore
2016 a series of measures that aimed to allow consumers and strongly supports the European policymakers in their efforts.
companies, in particular start-ups and SMEs, to buy and sell
A move to the single EU VAT portal, or One Stop Shop
THE EXTENSION OF goods and services more easily online. (OSS), will be 95% less costly for these online merchants,
according to the estimations of policymakers. Without the
One of the biggest hurdles is that, under the current frame-
extended portal, online merchants selling abroad will be
obliged to register for VAT, file returns and make payments
work, EU online merchants selling goods in other Member
States are obliged to regis-
in each EU Member State
in which they sell their
ter for VAT in all the oth-
“EVEN IF THE PRINCIPLES
THE VAT MINI ONE er EU countries in which OF VAT ARE BASICALLY THE products.
they sell goods to consum-
It is essential that the EU
ers, and exceed the sales
properly informs online
threshold set forth by the
EU destination country.
merchants about the VAT
This means that merchants
changes, once fully adopt-
STOP SHOP must deal with foreign SAME ACROSS THE EU, THE ed by the Member States.
tax authorities and, most
A portal which provides
probably, in a language
information to merchants
PRACTICALITIES ARE VERY
that they do not speak.
already exists for e-servic-
es, and it clearly explains
This clearly represents an
administrative burden and
Shop. The Commission
can be very costly. The DIFFERENT COUNTRY BY how to use the One Stop
estimation made by the is improving this portal
European Commission is and a new version will be
COUNTRY”
that the costs for comply- launched in the second
ing with VAT obligations quarter of 2017, before the
are, on average, 8,000€ new system is extended to
Text: Alan Rhode, Taxmen & Luca Cassetti, Ecommerce Europe
per year for each Member goods sold online. The ex-
State to which an online merchant sells goods. tension of the new One Stop Shop is expected to take effect
in 2021, so that e-commerce businesses will have the time to
This figure was also confirmed by some of the members of prepare and be ready for the changes.
Ecommerce Europe, who were interviewed in the past few Ecommerce Europe is developing an in-depth position paper
months about VAT hurdles. One of them acknowledged that on the VAT Reform proposed last December in cooperation
even if the principles of VAT are basically the same across the with Taxmen, which will be published in March 2017 on
THE EXTENSION OF THE VAT MINI ONE EU, the practicalities are very different country by country. Tax www.ecommerce-europe.eu. ••
authorities’ websites are complex and companies often have to
use Google Translate to find their way around, provided that it
STOP SHOP TO THE DISTANCE SELLING is technically feasible, which is often not the case.
OF GOODS: WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR Under the new rules introduced in January 2015, companies
that sell e-services can already sell to customers in other
ONLINE MERCHANTS? Member States while only registering for VAT in their home
Member State. They account for all their VAT in a single
quarterly return, through an online portal hosted by their
home tax administration, such as the Mini One Stop Shop
(MOSS). This means that the portal is also in their own
language, which already represents a great advantage. VAT
revenues are then transferred from the home tax administra-
tion to the relevant Member States to which the company

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