OSS - how will it work?
Hi,
I’m trying to get my head around how OSS will work. We are registered in France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Poland and Czech. I’m thinking if we sign up for OSS in France or Germany, then they split it up into each of the EU countries the stock was sent. Sounds easy enough.
BUT does Amazon still provide the VAT report telling us the origin and destination country, and VAT paid? I’m trying to get my head around it before its the nth hour, and everyone is clambering to get it all setup!
I’m also thinking it may be worth us re-evaluating our VAT registrations in PL, ES, IT and CZ. We only signed up to them as we were forced to so we could make user of PAN-FBA. But my understanding is that:
- This isn’t required now (you can sign up for as many or few countries as you want, and store in just those you want)
- With OSS - it will simplify our payments to each of the countries (PL for example we send about £30 a quarter, but I have to make VAT payments, invoices in our accounts, and file with our VAT agents… all stuff I could do without!)
Thanks
Andy
78 replies
Seller_esvgLzKXw2YAl
It took me a few minutes to actually work out what you mean by OSS. Might be better to at least put the full title in, so not everyone is clueless.
I have just found the below article, which goes into some detail about it. You may find it of help.
Seller_PUgTge8LPB8FY
FWIW, my understanding is that iOSS will only be relevant for FBM sales, i.e. for when you’re sending from the UK direct to a customer in an EU country.
In respect of FBA, nothing will change. You will still be required to register for VAT wherever your stock is held or stored prior to being sold.
(If I’m wrong, an expert will no doubt correct me!)
Seller_iYCrwoyqEYtxD
OK, it’s late, and I have had a glass of wine, it’s been a long day with these flippen restock levels…but,
I had a telephone meeting with Simply VAT (who do my EU vat returns) -and from memory (my notes are at work),
Marketplaces become the deemed supplier in EU - (ie Amazon / ebay) - THEY are required to take the VAT and pay it to the DESTINATION country in EU on their own OSS (or whatever their form will be called), for all sales IN EU. (we as retailer are underlying supplier it was explained it is like we sell the item to Amazon VAT free, they collect VAT and pass on),
(We have always used Destination tax as it was easier to add into my account system, but we had to register and tell them this, - the default position for VAT was departure tax - so it may also be a change in accounting for some people)
You STILL need to keep your EU Vat registrations as you will store stock in EU, You STILL need to do the filing for VAT
If you ONLY sell on Marketplaces, then you have no need to register for OSS or IOSS. (as the marketplace does the VAT payment) -
IF you sell on your own website - you DO need to register in ONE EU country for OSS or IOSS (the difference between these two is depending if you are sending the stock from UK or EU) - You will need to file this monthly. - You only register in one country, put all the info on, and then pay that one country (ie Germany), they will then send Fr / IT, etc their monies.
OSS / IOSS - is Voluntary in some cases, it is designed to make things easier for sellers (not necessarily Pan EU) - however you CANNOT reclaim Import VAT back on it - that & the fact we store stock in Pan EU is the reason you have to keep all the VAT reg.
We do not know if Amazon will just stick to the new EU regime and become the tax collector for EU (as they have to) -or whether they will do UK as well.
remember this also applies to Ebay and other marketplaces.
This does make me nervous, I sell kids clothing - 0% rated in UK, as well as Std rate adults clothing - I know this, my accountants and accounts package know this… we also know that this does not apply in EU countries, … do I trust Amazon to get every item correct % in each EU country? - that an item that is 0% rate in UK can be 19% in Germany, c21% etc Italy (I cannot remember the other rates off the top of my head)… This is also why I want Simply VAT to continue to file the returns, then at least I am right with the various VAT men.
A lot of countries have not got their portals ready yet, Germany were first, France went on this week, some of the others are saying June.
You can choose which country you register for OSS / IOSS in, but makes sense to do one you have VAT reg / want to reclaim VAT in,
Other bits I have remembered are:
- No idea what happens if customer buys to EU from Amazon UK (ie Ireland), - waiting clarity on that. (either FBA or FBM)
2. The Threshold for each country disappears, it is now, €10,000 ACROSS THE WHOLE OF EU (not per country) - apparently Germany and France are having an argument about the interpretation of this - This is big for those of us that were below thresholds in countries like Austria / Sweden / Netherlands, .as we are likely to have to register in more (as we will all hit €10,000 ACROSS EU)
- the LVE disappears, so ALL sales to EU are charged VAT etc (not just over €22 for Germany)
There were other queries / odds and sods, but notepad at work.
Seller_EF14dECYFNDCW
Hi Thingimijigs,
Many thanks for the post which has clarified a few of the things relevant to us. I read all the info at Amazon’s new OSS, link below, & I was left with a few questions. I opened a Seller Support case on 11th May but to date “they are still researching the issues raised”.
https://sellercentral-europe.amazon.com/gc/vat-education/eu-dr?ref=sc_vat_ed_iossemail1
Our situation is we ONLY sell on marketplaces & only hold stock in the UK. We do use UK FBA FC’s & FBM. We stopped selling on the Amazon EU websites end of Dec as it was not viable/too much hassle for us to VAT reg in each EU country. We could have have only sold items under €22 but it was too difficult for a non tech person to only actinate these & no way to stop multi buy orders which would then need splitting for shipment.
Our EU business was 30% of our revenue so we wish to resume EU sales. So my understanding is from 1st July;
- we can resume selling on ALL EU marketplaces as of 1st July & do NOT need to reg for OSS as Amazon essentially buys from us at 0% & charges & submits relevant destination rate.
The questions I wanted answers to are;
-
If an EU customer makes a purchase on .co.uk and we ship to an EU country I assume Amazon will still act as a Marketplace Facillatator and collect the necessary VAT?
-
From the 1st July will it be possible again to send stock to a UK FBA warehouse and for Amazon to fulfil FBA orders across the UK/EU border to EU customers? Amazon zero rate the sale and collect the appropriate VAT.
-
What selling fees will Selling Partners be charged on a UK to EU transaction if sold on .co.uk or an EU website? Items are listed VAT inclusive but as a sale to the EU is an export sale at 0% VAT and Amazon are responsible for the VAT then I assume Selling Partners will only be charged selling fees on their VAT exclusive price? Is that correct?
-
In the link above (top of page) it says sellers should not combine or split orders as each shipment requires a single Amazon order number.
Different carriers have different size and weight/limitations, eg Royal Mail have a weight limit of 2kg for International Parcels. In the situation where an EU customer orders several items which can NOT be shipped in one parcel what is the correct procedure?
Should sellers request the buyer cancels the order and then place mutiple orders which will then meet carrier restrictions? Or will there be another procedure in Amazon’s workflow to split an order?
Also sometimes different items in an order may ship from different locations/warehouses. This situation doesn’t affect us much but will do sometimes.
Thanks.
Seller_sg54Fq7GfBZzn
I was reading up on this last night.
My understanding is Pan European is excluded from this as any country you hold stock on triggers reporting and VAT numbers instantly required.
So if I have it right, if you sell to the EU so have Amazon DE enlisted then your supplying to the EU and any sales would trigger the OSS, so once a quarter you pay each member state the money they are due in VAT.
Simple upto that point
The question I have is then, what happens when you sell only on Amazon UK but a customer from Germany buy on Amazon.co.uk
Do we then have to register for this simply by virtue of them buying from a UK supplier on a UK site, but then that also brings into the equation the responsible person registration.
So if someone from Germany Buys an item on Amazon UK and it goes to Germany, even though listed on UK, then would that apply or do we need to turn off all ability for any EU states buying anything
Seller_qYWBbVqeAGVy5
Can anybody help?
When working out if you fall within 10,000 Euro threshold, would your Amazon EU FBA sales constitute towards that amount for potential application for an IOSS for sales on your website?
Seller_s0q4eT0IHyb5N
Has anyone even found the UK’s IOSS sign up form yet? All I have found is something on their forum saying “the form should be up by the 1st of July”… which is ridiculous as I’m sure they don’t give it to you right away, so we are going to be days/weeks/months without it 
Seller_LLJCDLGULQmGa
Good Morning all, I was expecting that from 1 July, Amazon will take care of all the VAT responsibility for any EU sales under EUR 150. Based my AVTR report, more than half of the transactions are Seller’s Responsibility and associated Tax Scheme was regular. Could anyone please explain under what circumstances EU sales under EUR150 becomes seller responsibility?
Seller_845rNvV7AMWf8
Amazon Invoicing are producing two invoices for OSS sales. They explained it like this:
(1) An invoice between you and Amazon for your tax filing purposes (Deemed supply)
(2) a VAT invoice from Amazon to your customer (Deemed resale)
However the (1) invoice between Amazon and us does not mention Amazon, and is still showing the end customer as the customer and us as the seller (and 0% VAT). Is this correct, is this what you other guys are also getting?
I’m wondering if these invoices will be enough evidence to show that we should not charge VAT as Amazon has charged VAT for these sales.
Seller_845rNvV7AMWf8
I’ve done a new round with Amazon support, and the outcome is that we have to remain VAT registered in Germany in order to sell on Amazon.de
I had already applied for VAT de-registration, so I hope that it can be stopped. Alternatively we will have to register again (but will then not fulfilled the requirements to register in Germany as we are not storing any goods there or making any taxable supplies).
It’s strange that Amazon makes up their own tax rules, but I guess everyone is used to that by now.
