One-Stop-Shop definition: This is what the OSS is all about

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The OSS was introduced in July 2021 and has changed a lot for online retailers in the European Union. This article gives you a brief introduction and definition of the One-Stop-Shop.

One-Stop-Shop definition

The OSS follows a “one-go” principle – with a few exceptions. The newly introduced One-Stop-Shop procedure offers online retailers who ship products from their home country to other European countries the opportunity to take all the necessary bureaucratic steps to meet their VAT obligations in their home country.

One-Stop-Shop short introduction

Since a One-Stop-Shop definition cannot describe the entire procedure, the following question remains: what does the One-Stop-Shop for VAT really include? These are the most important changes:

• Elimination of the country-specific delivery thresholds
• Registration for OSS on a voluntary basis
• Submission of OSS returns
• Less administrative effort abroad

The country-specific delivery thresholds have been eliminated together with the introduction of the One-Stop-Shop. For this reason, online retailers active throughout the EU now have to take care of VAT duties in other EU countries much earlier.

If you don’t have the time for all these foreign duties, you can sign-up for the One-Stop-Shop in your home country instead. Then there are no longer any obligations abroad for cross-border transactions – as long as products are not stored abroad.

After registration, One-Stop-Shop report must be prepared regularly instead of the regular foreign VAT returns. These OSS returns must then be submitted quarterly in the home country.

This One-Stop-Shop definition isn’t comprehensive enough? Then take a look at our blog posts with One-Stop-Shop examples or our article on Amazon and the One-Stop-Shop. This shows which processes have changed for online retailers and FBA sellers.