What is Single VAT Registration under ViDA?

Single VAT Registration is a package of VAT simplifications, not a new universal EU VAT number. It builds on OSS so businesses can handle more cross-border activity through one Member State, while reducing the situations that require a separate registration elsewhere.

For sellers holding inventory across Europe, three elements matter most:

• Transfers of own goods: a new scheme for eligible movements of a seller's inventory between EU countries.
• More sales covered by Union OSS: including eligible domestic consumer sales in countries where the seller is not established.
• Mandatory reverse charge: the VAT-registered customer accounts for VAT on specified supplies by a supplier that is neither established nor VAT-identified in that country.

SVR changes how eligible transactions are reported. It does not introduce a single EU VAT rate or remove the need to identify where goods move and where sales are taxed.

Source: European Commission — ViDA overview.

When does SVR start, and what should sellers do in 2026?

The main SVR reforms start on 1 July 2028, not in 2026. ViDA was adopted in March 2025, but adoption and implementation are different dates.

In July 2026, the Commission adopted additional rules for the electronic registration and reporting processes, including the new transfer scheme. That is implementation progress—not permission to stop filing current returns.

For now, maintain the VAT registrations and filings required by your actual operations. Plan the 2028 transition alongside your warehouse strategy; do not cancel a registration just because ViDA has been adopted.

Why doesn't today's OSS solve the Pan-EU VAT problem?

A customer order and a warehouse transfer are different VAT events. Union OSS already handles eligible cross-border consumer sales within the EU. It does not currently replace the ordinary VAT reporting for moving your own stock from one EU country to another.

Consider the difference:

• A parcel leaves a German warehouse for a consumer in France: this is a customer sale.
• Unsold inventory moves from a German warehouse to a French warehouse, while you remain the owner: this is a transfer of own goods.

The second movement creates compliance work before a customer buys anything. Under the standard Pan-EU storage model, Amazon's current onboarding guidance tells sellers to register for VAT in each country enabled for storage.

SVR is particularly relevant because it addresses these inventory movements. Your stock countries—not just the Amazon stores where your listings appear—are the starting point for the review. If you use a specific simplification arrangement, assess that arrangement separately from standard Pan-EU storage.

What changes for Pan-EU sellers from July 2028?

1. Eligible stock transfers get a dedicated reporting scheme

The new transfer-of-own-goods scheme allows eligible intra-EU inventory movements to be reported through a Member State of identification—the country administering the scheme. For a covered transfer, the acquisition in the destination country is exempt and does not itself trigger VAT registration there.

This removes an important registration trigger. It does not make the later customer sale tax-free or remove registration requirements arising from other activities.

Participation is optional. Once a seller joins, the scheme covers all its eligible transfers, not only selected countries. Goods for which there is no full right to deduct VAT in the destination country are excluded.

There is also a new filing routine: monthly transfer returns, including nil returns, due by the end of the following month. This is separate from the quarterly Union OSS sales return. “Single registration” does not mean “one quarterly return for everything.”

2. Union OSS expands to eligible local consumer sales

From July 2028, a seller not established in France, for example, can use the expanded Union OSS for eligible sales from French stock to French consumers. Today, an ordinary seller's own domestic sales are outside Union OSS; the existing domestic-sales exception concerns electronic interfaces acting as deemed suppliers.

The expansion matters for EU-based Amazon sellers and for businesses selling through their own website as well as marketplaces. The seller's establishment status and the party responsible for VAT still determine the correct treatment.

3. Reverse charge helps with defined B2B supplies

For qualifying supplies, the customer will account for VAT where the supplier is neither established nor VAT-identified in that Member State and the customer is already VAT-identified there. Specific exclusions apply, including relevant margin-scheme goods.

This is not a rule for ordinary consumer orders. An “Amazon Business” label alone is not enough: verify the customer, the transaction and the VAT identification conditions. Existing local registration also matters to the mandatory rule; Member States retain scope for broader national reverse-charge arrangements.

Does the impact differ for EU and non-EU Amazon sellers?

Yes. Who accounts for the VAT on the customer sale is central to the answer. Do not apply the same reporting model to every seller using the same Amazon warehouse.

For qualifying consumer sales of EU-held goods by a non-EU-established seller, the marketplace already acts as the deemed supplier: it is treated as making the customer-facing sale for VAT purposes. That does not mean Amazon takes over the seller's imports or stock-transfer obligations.

Equally, the adopted SVR reform does not make Amazon responsible for every EU-established seller's goods sales. Keep marketplace-accounted transactions separate from your own VAT-liable sales to avoid missing VAT—or declaring it twice.

Example: German stock moves to Poland and France

Illustrative scenario, not an Amazon programme announcement: a German-established seller owns ordinary taxable goods, has full input-VAT deduction rights and has no establishment in Poland or France. It uses Pan-EU storage and remains responsible for VAT on its consumer sales.

Step 1: Inventory moves before a sale

The seller transfers 600 units from Germany to Poland and 400 units from Germany to France. From July 2028, if enrolled and eligible, it reports those movements through the transfer-of-own-goods scheme. The covered acquisitions do not themselves require Polish or French VAT registration.

Step 2: Customers buy from local stock

A Polish consumer receives goods from the Polish warehouse; a French consumer receives goods from the French warehouse. Those eligible domestic sales can go through the expanded Union OSS because the seller is not established in either country.

Step 3: Other obligations remain separate

The seller's ordinary German domestic sales remain in its German VAT return. Imports and input-VAT recovery follow their applicable procedures. Any additional activities in Poland or France must be checked before concluding that local registrations are no longer needed.

VATAi's practical takeaway: assess the whole country activity, not just the stock transfer. If another transaction still requires registration, the seller has not eliminated that country's compliance work.

This example applies the adopted SVR provisions to a hypothetical sales route; it is not an account-specific deregistration conclusion.

What will SVR not remove?

Import VAT and the need to recover input VAT

SVR's stock-transfer scheme concerns movements between Member States. Importing inventory from China, the US or the UK is a separate transaction. Customs clearance and the import-VAT route still need to be planned.

Neither the Union OSS return nor the new transfer return is a place to deduct input VAT. Recovery follows the relevant refund procedure or, where a local VAT return is required for other activities, the applicable domestic deduction route. Fewer registrations do not automatically mean faster refunds or better cash flow.

Local obligations outside the simplification

Review local establishments, purchases and acquisitions, B2B transactions, excluded goods and other activities not covered by the schemes. A country remains on your compliance map if your actual activities still require it. SVR does not merge different selling companies into one taxable person.

Country-level data and marketplace requirements

You still need to know the goods' departure and arrival countries, the customer transaction and the relevant VAT treatment. A central return still contains country-specific information; it is not a single undifferentiated EU sales total.

Amazon's operational requirements are a separate implementation question. Do not assume that Seller Central will remove its storage-country VAT checks automatically on 1 July 2028. The official Amazon guidance reviewed for this article sets out the current registration-based route, not a confirmed SVR migration process.

How should marketplace sellers prepare?

Start with a transaction map, not a deregistration list. At VATAi, our starting point for VAT planning is the selling entity, where inventory is held and moved, and who accounts for VAT on each sales channel.

1. Map each selling entity and stock country. Include actual warehouse locations, imports, transfer routes and countries enabled for future storage. A marketplace listing is not the same as a stock location.
2. Separate the transaction types. Identify imports, own-stock transfers, domestic sales, cross-border consumer sales and B2B sales. Flag sales where the marketplace accounts for VAT.
3. Check your data now. Reconcile inventory movement reports, sales reports and VAT returns. Keep a consistent link between each shipment, SKU, legal entity and country.
4. Model the 2028 reporting routes. Decide which transactions belong in Union OSS, the new transfer scheme or a domestic return. Check the input-VAT recovery route before estimating savings.
5. Approve changes country by country. Before deregistration, confirm scheme eligibility and start date, remaining activity, final filings, outstanding refunds and Amazon's then-current requirements.

For stock transfers, prepare departure and arrival countries, goods descriptions, quantities, dispatch dates, values and adjustment records. The new rules also require a business moving another business's goods without its explicit request to inform the owner no later than dispatch or transport. That information flow is especially relevant to fulfilment-led inventory movements.

Already using call-off stock?

ViDA phases out the existing EU call-off-stock simplification: no new transfers under that simplification after 30 June 2028, with the remaining transition ending on 30 June 2029. If your fulfilment model relies on it, plan the transition separately and check your programme terms. Do not assume automatic migration to the new transfer scheme.

Frequently asked questions

Plan your Pan-EU VAT setup with VATAi

The value of SVR is a simpler compliance structure for eligible operations—not an automatic exemption. The preparation work is to identify which obligations move into a central scheme and which still need local handling.

VATAi supports marketplace and multichannel sellers with VAT registration, filing and ongoing compliance, plus OSS registration and reporting. Bring your selling entities, stock countries, import routes and sales-channel data to the review so the discussion starts with your actual business.

Discuss your Pan-EU VAT setup with VATAi