Tax guide to selling in Europe from your online store
Everything tax-related about selling to other EU countries from Spain, in one guide: VAT, OSS, stock abroad, marketplaces, imports, EPR and accounting. Read it here or get it as a PDF.
In short
The tax side of selling to other EU countries from Spain, in one guide: the five questions that decide your taxes, OSS and the €10,000 threshold, stock abroad, sales to businesses, marketplaces, goods from outside the EU, EPR and your store's accounting.
Read it here or get it as a PDF. At the end, a checklist to make sure you have everything covered.
Get it as a PDF
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1. The five questions that decide your taxes
- Where is your business? In Spain (mainland Spain or the Balearic Islands), in another EU country or outside the EU. The Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla are a separate case.
- Where is your stock? Only in your own country, also in warehouses in other EU countries (your own, a logistics provider's or Amazon's) or outside the EU.
- Who do you sell to? Consumers, businesses or both.
- How much do you sell to consumers in other EU countries? Below or above €10,000 a year, adding them all together.
- Where do you sell? In your own store, on marketplaces or both.
With those five answers you know almost everything. The tool tells you in a minute.
2. Selling from Spain to EU consumers
As long as your sales to consumers in other EU countries do not exceed €10,000 a year, neither this year nor the previous one, adding all countries together, and everything ships from Spain, you can apply Spanish VAT. As soon as you exceed it, or if you hold stock in another country, each sale carries the VAT of the customer's country.
To avoid registering in each country there is the OSS: a quarterly return from Spain (Form 369) with the VAT of all of them, by the last day of the month following the quarter. That deadline is not extended if it falls on a weekend. In Shopify, the prices and taxes of each country are set up so that the customer pays the correct VAT.
3. Stock in other countries
If you store goods in another EU country, you need a VAT number in that country and must file its returns there: for sales to customers in that country and for the arrival of your goods. Sales from that warehouse to consumers in other countries go through OSS, from the first euro.
Each shipment of your stock from Spain to another country is a transfer: it is declared here, on Form 349 and with ROI registration, and there as an acquisition. Some countries also require businesses from outside the EU to have a fiscal representative.
4. Selling to businesses
Goods you sell to businesses in other EU countries that leave Spain are exempt: it is an intra-EU supply and the customer declares the VAT in its own country. Conditions: ROI registration, the customer's number valid in VIES (keep the proof), proof of transport and Form 349.
5. Marketplaces
In two cases the VAT on the sale is charged and declared by the marketplace itself: imports of up to €150 to consumers and sales to consumers by non-EU sellers with stock inside the EU. In all other cases, the VAT is still yours.
Marketplace fees carry their own VAT: if the marketplace invoices them to you from another EU country, with ROI registration they arrive without VAT and you declare it yourself under the reverse charge. And every January, the platforms report what you have sold (DAC7) if you reach 30 sales or exceed €2,000 in the year: those established in Spain, to the Spanish Tax Agency on Form 238; the rest, to their own tax authority, which passes it on to the Spanish Tax Agency. Your returns have to say the same.
6. Goods from outside the EU
If you sell to EU consumers goods shipped from outside the Union, VAT is paid on import. For consignments of up to €150, IOSS lets you charge it on the sale and declare it every month; above that, import VAT and duties at customs, paid by you through the carrier (DDP) or by the customer on delivery (DAP). Since 1 July 2026, the EU charges a flat duty of €3 for each type of item, according to its tariff heading, on consignments under €150 that used to enter duty-free. To import in your own name you need an EORI.
7. Packaging and EPR
Selling to another country makes you the producer of the packaging that arrives there, including shipping boxes. Each country has its own packaging register and compliance scheme and, depending on the product, also those for electrical equipment, batteries or textiles. In Germany, all packaging is registered in LUCID, even if you only sell to businesses, and without that registration marketplaces won't let you sell.
8. Your store's accounting
Sales are booked at their gross amount and the platform's fees as an expense: Shopify Payments, PayPal or Stripe pay out net, and every payment has to be reconciled with the bank. Every refund gets its own credit note, and the VAT on each sale goes where it belongs: Spain, OSS or the VAT number of the country where the stock is.
9. Deadlines
Every quarter, Forms 303 and 349 (from the 1st to the 20th of the following month; in January, until the 30th) and the OSS return (by the last day of the following month, with no extension). Every month, IOSS if you are registered for it. Every year, Form 390 in January and Form 347 in February, if you are not on the SII. If you are self-employed under the equivalence surcharge scheme (recargo de equivalencia), you do not file Form 303 for your sales; you file Form 309 when you buy in the EU or pay fees under the reverse charge. All of it in the tax calendar, ready to download.
10. Checklist
- I know how much I sell a year to consumers in other EU countries, adding them all together.
- If I exceed €10,000 or hold stock in another country, I am registered for OSS and charge each country's VAT.
- I have a VAT number in each country where I store stock, and I file its returns there.
- I am registered in the ROI and file Form 349 if I sell to EU businesses, transfer stock or pay fees and advertising to businesses in other EU countries.
- I know which sales the marketplace declares and which I declare, and the VAT on its fees is correct.
- If I import, I have an EORI and, if I sell consignments of up to €150, I have chosen between IOSS, DDP or DAP.
- I am registered in the packaging (and product) schemes of every country I sell to.
- Every payment matches the bank and every refund has its credit note.
Frequently asked questions
Who is this guide for?
For online stores and marketplace sellers with a business in mainland Spain or the Balearic Islands (self-employed or companies) who sell, or want to sell, to other EU countries.
Does the guide replace an adviser?
No. It explains the general rules; every store has its own nuances. For your case, a 15-minute call.
How often is it updated?
Whenever the rules change: VAT rates, thresholds, duties or what marketplaces require. The date of the last review is at the bottom of the page.
Tell us about your store
Book a 15-minute call or write to us. We'll tell you what you need: VAT registration in whichever country, OSS and IOSS, EPR, US sales tax or your store's accounting. No obligation.