What the One-Stop-Shop actually is
The Union One-Stop-Shop (OSS) is an EU simplification scheme. Instead of registering for VAT in every country where you sell to consumers, you register once, file one quarterly return, and pay the VAT for all your cross-border B2C sales in a single place. The scheme collects the right VAT rate for each customer's country and routes it to the right tax authority for you.
OSS applies to B2C distance sales: goods you ship to private consumers in other EU countries, and certain B2C services. It does not apply to B2B sales (those use the reverse-charge mechanism) and it does not replace a local registration in a country where you store goods.
Where you file OSS: your Member State of Identification
This is the part most sellers get wrong, and it is the whole game. Your OSS return is filed in your Member State of Identification (MSI). The MSI is set by a simple rule:
| Your situation | Your OSS member state of identification | Can Vaytax file your OSS? |
|---|---|---|
| Non-EU company (UK post-Brexit, US, CN, HK) with stock in a German warehouse, shipping B2C across the EU | Germany (your goods are dispatched from Germany) | Yes, this is exactly what we file |
| German-based company dispatching from Germany to EU consumers | Germany | Yes |
| EU-established company (NL, IT, ES, etc.) with German stock | Your home country, not Germany | Your OSS files at home; we handle your German VAT (unless Germany is your only EU registration) |
| B2B-only seller into the EU | Not applicable, OSS is B2C-only | No OSS needed; German VAT + ZM covers it |
For a taxable person not established in the EU, the Union scheme's member state of identification is the country from which the goods are dispatched (Article 369a of the EU VAT Directive). So a UK, US or Chinese company that keeps stock in a German warehouse and sells B2C across the EU registers for Union OSS through Germany, no EU subsidiary, no fiscal representative required. The widespread "you must be EU-established to use OSS" is true for the establishment route, but it misses the dispatch route entirely.
The practical upshot: if you are a non-EU seller and someone told you to register VAT in every EU country you sell into, or to set up a Dutch or Irish entity just to access OSS, you were almost certainly over-advised. One German registration plus OSS through Germany usually covers it.
The €10,000 threshold, honestly
OSS becomes relevant once your total B2C distance sales across all EU countries (not just Germany) pass €10,000 in a calendar year. Below that line, you can charge German VAT on those cross-border sales and report them on your normal German return, no OSS needed yet. Above it, OSS is what keeps you from registering in every destination country.
We don't switch OSS on before you need it. When your EU-wide B2C approaches the threshold, that's the moment OSS starts earning its €150 a quarter, and that's when we add it.
One German warehouse, every EU destination
If all your EU stock sits in Germany, the math is clean:
- One German VAT registration covers your domestic German sales and your German input-VAT reclaim.
- One quarterly Union OSS return covers your B2C sales dispatched from that German stock to consumers in every other EU country.
That is the whole pan-EU B2C obligation, off a single warehouse, handled in one place.
The one real limit: OSS removes the need to register in every country you sell to, not every country you store in. If you also hold stock in another EU country (multi-country Pan-EU FBA, say warehouses in DE and PL), that country needs its own VAT registration as well, and your OSS return then consolidates the cross-border reporting from both. Vaytax covers the German registration, and France on request. Storage in further countries is something we'll flag, not something OSS makes disappear.
What Vaytax does for your OSS
OSS through Vaytax is a self-service portal plus a licensed German tax advisor, the same model as our German VAT filing:
- You: enter your cross-border B2C sales for the quarter in the Vaytax dashboard, totals by destination country and VAT rate (a few minutes).
- We: a licensed German tax advisor reviews the figures, prepares the Union OSS return, and files it through Germany's One-Stop-Shop portal (run by the Bundeszentralamt für Steuern, the BZSt).
- You: pay the VAT due by bank transfer before the quarterly deadline, and get filing confirmation in the dashboard.
A Union OSS return is due every quarter, even when you had no sales (a nil return still has to be filed). That quarterly filing is what the €150 covers.
How to start
- Register for German VAT with Vaytax if you don't have a German VAT number yet (€1,199/year all-in, registration included). If you already have one, sign in.
- Add One-Stop-Shop from your dashboard. €250 one-time setup plus €150/quarter. We register you for OSS through Germany.
- File quarterly. Enter your sales each quarter; a licensed tax advisor reviews and files your OSS return.