VAT mini One Stop Shop

The Mini One Stop Shop (MOSS), which was put in place on 1 January 2015, has been extended to become a One Stop Shop (OSS) as from 1 July 2021 covering a wider range of supplies.
For information regarding the application of the One Stop Shop/Ioss  regime in Italy you can send an e-mail to: mossitaly@agenziaentrate.it.

On 1 January 2015, the rules around the European Union (EU) Vat place of supply of services changed.

In relation to the sales of digital services, such as telecommunications, broadcasting and electronic services, from a business to a consumer (private individuals and non-business entities, for example public authorities or charitable bodies) the Vat place of taxation is determined by the location of the consumer.

European and non-European businesses supplying electronic services or telecommunication/broadcasting services to European consumers (B2C), can fulfill the obligations relating to Vat through the web-portal Mini One Stop Shop (Moss). The Moss scheme is optional, but without using it, the supplier has to register for Vat purposes in each Member State in which it supplies services included in the scope of the Moss scheme.

The Moss indeed is a simplification measure that allows taxable persons, supplying digital services to non-taxable persons (B2C) located in the EU Member States and where they do not have an establishment, to account for the Vat due on those supplies only in one Member State (so called Member State of identification).

Moss in practice

Under the scheme, a taxable person which is registered for the Moss in a Member State (the Member State of Identification - MSID) electronically submits quarterly Mini One Stop Shop Vat returns, reporting telecommunications, broadcasting and electronically services supplied to non-taxable persons in other Member States (the Member State(s) of consumption - MSCON) and pays the Vat due. These returns and the Vat paid are then transmitted by the Member State of Identification to the corresponding Member States of consumption via a secure network.

Who can use the Moss scheme

The scheme can be used by taxable persons supplying telecommunication, broadcasting or e-services to non-taxable persons in Member States in which they do not have an establishment.

There are two schemes within the Mini One Stop Shop scheme:

• the Union scheme for taxable persons that have an establishment within the EU but are making supplies to one or more Member States in which they are not established
• the non-Union scheme for taxable persons that have no establishment within the EU.

Under the Union scheme, a taxable person is a business (a company, a partnership or a sole trader) which has established its business or has a permanent establishment in the territory of the EU.

The taxable person cannot use the Mini One Stop Shop for supplies made in any Member State in which it has already an establishment (business establishment or permanent establishment).

Under the non-Union scheme, a taxable person is a business (a company, a partnership or a sole trader) which has not established its business in the EU, nor has a permanent establishment there, and it is not registered or otherwise required to be identified for Vat purposes in the EU. The non-EU taxable person can choose any Member State to be the Member State of identification. That Member State will allocate an individual Vat identification number to the taxable person.

In both cases (Union and non-Union scheme), the taxable person can only have one Member State of Identification.

For any further and detailed information consult the Guide to the Vat mini One Stop Shop.