OSS
The EU One-Stop-Shop scheme that lets a seller declare and pay VAT on cross-border B2C sales to EU consumers through a single quarterly return.
What it is
OSS (One-Stop-Shop) is the EU scheme, live since 1 July 2021, that lets a business register in one member state and report VAT on distance sales of goods and services to consumers across the other 26 member states through a single electronic return. It replaced the narrower MOSS scheme and raised the country-by-country distance-selling thresholds into a single EU-wide threshold of €10,000 per year.
Where you meet it
You meet OSS in your tax-rules engine as a branch that fires when the sale is B2C, the seller and buyer are in different EU member states, and the EU-wide €10,000 threshold has been exceeded. In Stripe Tax, enabling OSS is done on the registrations page by adding an "OSS Union" entry against your home country. In a typed decision payload, the rule surfaces as "scheme": "oss_union" with the destination country's VAT rate applied.
Three OSS schemes
There are three OSS variants, each for a different category of seller:
- Union OSS: for EU-established sellers making intra-EU B2C distance sales of goods and certain services.
- Non-Union OSS: for non-EU-established sellers supplying B2C services to EU consumers (for example, a US SaaS company selling to EU consumers).
- Import OSS (IOSS): a separate registration for distance sales of imported goods up to a per-consignment value of €150. See IOSS for the full mechanic.
The three schemes are reported on different OSS returns; a business may register for one, two, or all three depending on its business model.
The €10,000 threshold
The €10,000 threshold is calculated on the prior calendar year's intra-EU B2C distance sales of goods plus telecommunications/broadcasting/electronic services. Below the threshold, the seller charges VAT at their domestic rate; above it, OSS applies and the destination country's rate is charged. Once a seller crosses the threshold in a year, OSS applies for the rest of that year and the entire following year regardless of subsequent volume.
Common confusions
- OSS is for B2C only. Cross-border B2B inside the EU uses reverse charge instead.
- OSS covers intra-EU sales. Imports from outside the EU to EU consumers are covered by IOSS, a separate registration.
- OSS does not validate the buyer's VAT number; it applies because the buyer is a consumer, not a business.