EU 2021 IOSS VAT Intermediary

What is the role of the EU IOSS Intermediary for VAT, and who must appoint one?  Contact Avalara for details of its Intermediary and other Fiscal Representative services.

The EU will reform VAT on e-commerce on 1 July 2021 in its e-commerce VAT package. This will include a new pan-EU import VAT return, Import One-Stop-Shop IOSS return. This will enable sellers or facilitating marketplaces to report VAT charged at the point-of-sale on distance sale import consignments not exceeding €150. Non-EU businesses will have to appoint an EU-resident Intermediary, a type of VAT agent, to represent them to use IOSS. The Intermediary shares responsibility for returns submissions and VAT payments.

The decision to impose guarantees on Intermediaries is left to the member states where the Intermediary is resident and registered. It is expected it will reflect the VAT Fiscal Representative country rules.

Role of a IOSS Intermediary

Non-EU sellers or facilitating marketplaces from countries without a ‘mutual assistance’ EU agreement opting to use IOSS will have to appoint an Intermediary. The Intermediary shares the responsibilities for the supplier under the IOSS regime – submissions of returns and VAT payments.

An Intermediary should be registered with the tax authorities of their country of establishment to obtain their unique identification number to use with customs clearance processes. The Intermediary also registers the name of all sellers / marketplaces they represent with their home tax office, and will receive in return a IOSS VAT identification number for each sellers.