What changed

DRAFT EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION

on the proposal for adraft Council directive amending Directive 2006/112/EC as regards VAT rules relating to taxable persons who facilitate distance sales of imported goods and the application of the special scheme for distance sales of goods imported from third territories or third countries and special arrangements for declaration and payment of import VAT

(COM(2023)0262(08710/2025 – C90174/2023C100084/2025 – 2023/0158(CNS))

(Special legislative procedure – renewed consultation)

– having regard to the Council draft (08710/2025),

– having regard to the Commission proposal to the Council (COM(2023)0262),

– having regard to Article 113 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union , pursuant to which the Council consulted Parliament (C90174/2023),

– having regard to its position of 22 November 2023,

– having regard to Rule 82 of its Rules of Procedure,

– having regard to Article 113 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union , pursuant to which the Council consulted Parliament again (C100084/2025),

– having regard to the reportRule of84 theand CommitteeRule on86 Economicof andits MonetaryRules Affairsof (A90000/2023),Procedure,

1. Approves the Commission proposal;

– having regard to the report of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (A100000/2025),

1. Approves the Council draft;

2. Calls on the Council to notify Parliament if it intends to depart from the text approved by Parliament;

3. Asks the Council to consult Parliament again if it intends to substantially amend the text approvedits bydraft Parliament;substantially;

4. Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council, the Commission and the national parliaments.

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

This proposal aims to further adapt the EU VAT framework by expanding the range of supplies covered by the IOSS (Import One Stop Shop), Special Arrangements and deemed supplier regime by removing the EUR 150 threshold, which currently limits their application and effectiveness. Therefore, the IOSS could be used to declare and remit the VAT due on all distance sales of imported goods into the EU, irrespective of their value, but not including products subject to excise duties, which remain excluded from the scheme.

On 8 December 2022, the Commission presented the ‘VAT in the digital age’ package (ViDA), which consists of three proposals:

This proposal is positive in more ways than one. It will reduce compliance costs for businesses and create a level playing field for sellers operating online. In addition, the extended IOSS, by reducing the number of local VAT registrations, will give the authorities more time and resources to focus on fighting fraud or providing compliance assistance to honest traders. Finally, combined with the removal of the €150 duty exemption threshold, the reform would have the advantage of combating abuse of the duty exemption by preventing fraudsters from undervaluing goods, thereby avoiding a loss of customs duties and a fall in VAT revenue.

 A proposal for a Council directive amending directive 2006/112/EC as regards VAT rules for the digital age;

This proposal builds on the success of the VAT e-commerce package and the ambition of the VAT in Digital Age proposal (ViDA), as it envisages the further extension of the deemed supplier regime to cover all distance sales of goods imported from third territories or third countries, irrespective of their value.

 A proposal for a Council regulation amending regulation (EU) No 904/2010 as regards the VAT administrative cooperation arrangements needed for the digital age;

As a result, the compliance effort will be even more focussed on a far smaller number of large players in the market, who will account for the majority of distance sales of imported goods into the EU.

 A proposal for a Council implementing regulation amending implementing regulation (EU) No 282/2011 as regards information requirements for certain VAT schemes.

This initiative supports the principle of a single VAT registration in the EU as it will further limit the instances in which a taxable person will need to register for VAT. The extension of the IOSS simplification to cover all distance sales of imported goods, irrespective of their value, along with the extension of the special arrangements to cover certain importations of goods in consignments above EUR 150, will further reduce the need for taxable persons to register for VAT in more than one Member State.

The package developed an action plan that emphasized the need to reflect on how technology can be used in the fight against tax fraud and how the current VAT rules in the European Union could be adapted for doing business in the digital age. The three proposed changes to make VAT fit for the digital age are

As a consequence of the further extension of the deemed supplier regime, taxable persons making distance sales of imported goods into the EU via marketplaces will no longer have to register for VAT in respect of those supplies where the intrinsic value of the consignment is above EUR 150. Instead, the marketplace, acting as deemed supplier, will declare and remit the VAT due on those supplies via the expanded IOSS scheme, which will now be mandatory for marketplaces under the ViDA proposal.

i) A new real time digital reporting system based on e-invoicing,

The European Commission's proposal envisages that the above changes, namely the removal of the €150 threshold for IOSS (article 369l), the extension of the deemed supplier rule (article 14a) to all distance sales of imported goods that are facilitated by an electronic interface and the extension of the application of the "special scheme" (article 369e), would be adopted by 1 March 2028.

ii) An update of the VAT rules for the platform economy and

In light of the nature of the proposal and the non-controversial content thereof, the rapporteur propose that Parliament approves the proposal without amendments pursuant to a simplified procedure (Rule 52 (1)).

iii) A single VAT registration for businesses selling to consumers across the EU.

The European Parliament was consulted and delivered its opinion on these legislative proposals on 22 November 2023. In January 2025, the Parliament was re-consulted on the draft Council directive amending Directive 2006/112/EC as regards VAT rules for the digital age. This re-consultation was linked to the deemed supplier regime which was a significant point of contention within the Council, making it particularly challenging to reach a final compromise (A10-0001/2025).

The European Parliament is now consulted for the second time for the following reason.

The original VIDA package contained a proposal to make the import one-stop-shop (IOSS) mandatory. However, Member States rejected it. The alternative proposal to motivate the use of IOSS by making suppliers and platforms liable for import VAT if they do not use the IOSS was not mature enough to be included in the VIDA package, which was adopted by Council in March 2025.

In May 2023, the Commission issued a package of proposals to reform the Union Customs Code, notably to abolish the 150€ threshold for exemption of customs duties and VAT on import.

In the summer of 2024, the provisions to incentivise the use of IOSS were added to the Commission proposals to reform the Union Customs Code in view of their relation with the customs rules. The Polish Presidency advocated splitting these provisions to incentivise the use of IOSS, considered as sufficiently mature, from the customs proposal and to agree on them separately. This was accepted by delegations.

At the 13 May 2025 ECOFIN, the Council agreed to incorporate the provisions to incentivise the use of IOSS in the VAT Directive, which make suppliers and platforms liable for import VAT if they do not use the IOSS.

In its opinion on 22 November 2023, the European Parliament advocated that the IOSSs should operate transparently and securely. Moreover, it also highlighted that a unified approach between the IOSS, on the one hand, and customs legislation and practice, on the other, would help bring an end to inconsistencies, errors and double taxation. Moreover, the European Parliament underlined the need to limit the administrative burden for SMEs. In addition, the European Parliament asked to assess the advantages and disadvantages of making IOSS mandatory.

Therefore, in light of the above, the rapporteur is of the view that a simplified procedure without amendments is the relevant procedure for this re-consultation.