Selling into Europe: VAT, Fiscal Representation and VIES

The European Union is a single market of 27 countries and roughly 450 million consumers, but it is not a single tax jurisdiction. VAT — Imposta sul Valore Aggiunto in Italy, the same tax under 27 national names — is harmonised by EU directive yet administered country by country, with standard rates ranging from 17% in Luxembourg to 27% in Hungary. For a seller established outside the EU, the question is never simply “do I charge VAT”: it is where am I registered, who is liable, and which simplification scheme applies to each flow of goods.

We help non-EU e-commerce operators enter Europe through Italy, the natural gateway for sellers shipping into Southern Europe and the Mediterranean, and one of the member states where a foreign business cannot operate without a local representative.

The compliance picture for a non-EU seller

Three facts decide almost everything for a business based outside the EU.

First, the €10,000 distance-selling threshold that lets small sellers postpone foreign VAT registration applies only to businesses established within the EU. A seller established outside the Union does not benefit from it. The moment your goods are sold to, or stored within, a member state, a VAT obligation can arise from the first euro.

Second, holding stock inside the EU creates an immediate, unavoidable VAT registration. If you place inventory in a fulfilment centre — Amazon FBA, a third-party logistics warehouse, a bonded facility released into free circulation — you must hold a VAT number in every country where that stock physically sits, regardless of turnover. Movements of your own goods between member states are intra-community transfers that must be declared on both sides.

Third, in most member states a non-EU business is not allowed to register on its own. It must appoint a rappresentante fiscale — a fiscal representative.

Fiscal representation: not optional in Italy

A fiscal representative is a locally established entity that registers for VAT in the name of the foreign seller and is jointly and severally liable with that seller for the VAT due. It is the mechanism the tax authority uses to keep an enforceable counterpart inside its borders.

The requirement is not uniform across the EU. Germany and the Netherlands generally allow a non-EU business to register directly. France, Spain and Italy require a fiscal representative for non-EU sellers in nearly all circumstances. Because the representative carries real liability, serious firms underwrite that exposure: our group backs its representation mandates with a €2 million state-recognised guarantee, which is also what the Italian Agenzia delle Entrate expects to see before activating a non-resident position.

In Italy the practical sequence is: appointment of the fiscal representative, application for an Italian partita IVA (the VAT number), and — separately — enrolment in VIES.

VIES: the registration inside the registration

A great many sellers assume that “having a VAT number” is the finish line. It is not. The VAT Information Exchange System (VIES) is the EU-wide database through which a VAT number is validated for cross-border transactions. An Italian partita IVA that is not enrolled in VIES is valid for domestic operations but invisible to the rest of the Union.

VIES enrolment matters in concrete situations:

• Intra-community B2B sales. To apply the zero-rate (reverse charge) on a sale to a business in another member state, both parties must hold VIES-valid numbers, verified at the time of the transaction.
• Moving your own stock across borders. Transferring inventory from an Italian warehouse to a German one is an intra-community supply and acquisition; it cannot be reported correctly without a VIES-active number on each side.
• Buying from EU suppliers without paying VAT upfront on intra-community purchases.

In Italy, enrolment is not automatic — it is requested and granted by the Agenzia delle Entrate, historically after a verification window. We complete VIES activation as part of the registration package, typically within 48 hours of the partita IVA being issued.

OSS and IOSS: simplification, not exemption

Two One-Stop-Shop schemes reduce the number of VAT returns a seller files, but neither removes the underlying obligations.

The Union OSS lets a seller declare all B2C distance sales of goods across the EU through a single quarterly return in one member state, instead of registering in every country of destination. A non-EU seller with stock inside the EU can use it — but only in addition to the local VAT registrations required by where the stock is held. OSS covers the cross-border B2C sale; it does not cover the warehousing footprint.

The Import One-Stop-Shop (IOSS) applies to B2C consignments with an intrinsic value of €150 or less imported from outside the EU. It allows VAT to be charged at checkout and remitted through one monthly return, so the parcel clears customs without the customer being billed import VAT on delivery. A non-EU seller using IOSS must act through an EU-established intermediary, who registers the seller and is co-responsible for the filings.

Imports and the end of the low-value relief

The EU abolished the old €22 import-VAT exemption in July 2021: essentially every commercial parcel entering the Union now carries VAT. The remaining €150 customs-duty relief is being phased out as well, with a transitional simplified customs charge on small parcels and, under the EU customs reform, full removal of the threshold. The direction of travel is unambiguous — all imports, of any value, will be taxed and declared.

Marketplaces are increasingly drawn into this. Under the “deemed supplier” rules, an online marketplace is treated as the seller for VAT on imported consignments up to €150 and on goods of non-EU sellers already located in the EU — meaning the platform collects and remits the VAT. This does not erase your obligations: you still need registrations for your stock, correct invoicing, and reconciliation between what the platform collected and what your returns report.

What is coming: VAT in the Digital Age

The EU’s VAT in the Digital Age (ViDA) package, adopted in 2025, will reshape compliance through 2030 and beyond: mandatory structured e-invoicing and near-real-time digital reporting for cross-border B2B transactions, a wider single VAT registration to cut the number of country registrations, and an extended deemed-supplier role for platforms in the short-term accommodation and transport sectors. Sellers who build a clean VAT setup now will adapt to ViDA with minimal friction; those who improvise will not.

Two typical scenarios

A US or Chinese brand launching on Amazon Italy with FBA. Stock enters an Italian fulfilment centre, so an Italian partita IVA is required from day one. Because the seller is non-EU, a rappresentante fiscale must be appointed. VIES enrolment follows, so the brand can both move stock to other EU fulfilment centres and sell B2B. Pan-EU distribution then layers additional registrations for each country of storage, with Union OSS handling the cross-border B2C returns.

A non-EU seller shipping direct to EU consumers, parcel by parcel. No EU stock, order values mostly under €150: IOSS through an EU intermediary is the efficient route — VAT charged at checkout, one monthly return, fast customs clearance and no surprise charges for the buyer. Orders above €150, or any decision to pre-position stock in Europe, change the picture and trigger local registration.

How Servix International helps

We are the global division of Se&Se Auditors & Chartered Accountants S.p.A. STP, an Italian regulated accountancy firm with more than 20 years of practice and over 30,000 VAT registrations completed. For sellers entering Europe we act as fiscal representative in Italy, obtain the partita IVA, secure VIES enrolment within 48 hours, structure OSS and IOSS where they fit, and run the ongoing VAT returns and Intrastat reporting. One regulated counterpart, full liability cover, and a compliance setup built to survive an audit — and the next decade of EU reform.