When VAT becomes chargeable for OSS transactions
Under the current rules, Member States may, for certain transactions, link the time when VAT becomes chargeable to invoicing or payment. To harmonise the reporting of transactions under OSS, this possibility will be removed from 1 January 2027 for transactions reported under that scheme. VAT will then, in principle, become chargeable when the goods or services are supplied, or when an earlier advance payment is received. ViDA aims to prevent differences between national rules on VAT chargeability from leading to inconsistent treatment in OSS returns.
Directive (EU) 2025/516 amends Article 66 of the VAT Directive. For supplies of goods and services covered by the Union or non-Union OSS scheme, Member States will no longer be allowed to derogate from the ordinary EU rules governing the chargeable event and the time when VAT becomes chargeable. The Belgian legislator implements this through the new Article 17, § 7, and Article 22bis, § 5, of the Belgian VAT Code.
From 2027, VAT on OSS transactions will, in principle, become chargeable when the goods are supplied or the service is completed. If the customer pays in advance, VAT becomes chargeable upon receipt of that payment, up to the amount received. A payment made after delivery does not defer the time when VAT becomes chargeable.
For example, a Belgian online retailer delivers goods to a French private customer on 28 March 2027 but does not receive payment until 10 April 2027. If the sale is reported under the Union OSS scheme, the French VAT must, under the new rules, in principle already be included in the OSS return for the first quarter. Conversely, if the same goods are paid for in advance on 15 March 2027 but are only delivered in April 2027, VAT on that advance payment becomes chargeable in March.
Businesses that currently base their OSS reporting largely on payment dates may therefore need to adjust their systems. Information on the supply, advance payments received and subsequent payments must be properly distinguished.
For distance sales of imported goods under the IOSS scheme, the time when VAT becomes chargeable remains unchanged: acceptance of payment continues to be decisive (Article 17, § 6, of the Belgian VAT Code).
The EUR 10,000 threshold: the Member State of departure matters
Intra-Community distance sales are, in principle, subject to VAT in the Member State where the goods arrive at the customer's location. However, a special exception applies to small volumes of cross-border sales.
A supplier established in only one Member State may apply the VAT of its own Member State as long as the combined turnover from the relevant intra-Community distance sales and telecommunications, broadcasting and electronic services (TBE services) does not exceed EUR 10,000 in either the current or the preceding calendar year. The supplier may nevertheless choose to apply VAT in the customer's Member State immediately.
One issue under discussion was which distance sales should count towards this threshold. The European Commission took the view that only sales dispatched from the Member State of establishment were relevant.
The draft law adopts this approach. The amended provisions of Article 15, §§ 1 and 2, of the Belgian VAT Code expressly link the exception to goods dispatched from the only Member State in which the supplier is established. The threshold therefore does not allow a business holding stock abroad to continue applying the VAT of its Member State of establishment to all its distance sales.
Consider a business established exclusively in Belgium that stores its goods in a German fulfilment centre and supplies them from there to private customers in France. Those sales dispatched from Germany do not fall within the exception for small cross-border sales dispatched from Belgium.
In principle, French VAT is due from the first relevant sale. Subject to the conditions of the Union OSS scheme, that VAT can be reported through Belgium. However, holding stock in Germany may give rise to separate German VAT obligations. OSS does not automatically remove those obligations.
The wording concerning telecommunications, broadcasting and electronic services (TBE services) is also being clarified. The amended Article 21bis, § 2, 9°, of the Belgian VAT Code refers to services supplied from the Member State of establishment.
In addition, the law expressly provides that applying OSS to the relevant supplies constitutes an option for taxation in the customer's Member State (amended Articles 15 and 21bis of the Belgian VAT Code). That option applies, in principle, for at least two calendar years.
Limited extension of the deemed-supplier rules for electronic platforms
In certain cases, electronic marketplaces are deemed, for VAT purposes, to have received and supplied the goods themselves. This fiction creates two successive supplies: one from the underlying seller to the platform, followed by another from the platform to the final customer. Responsibility for VAT on the sale to the final customer may therefore rest with the platform operator (Article 13bis of the Belgian VAT Code; Article 14bis of the VAT Directive).
The existing rules cover, among other transactions, distance sales of imported goods in consignments with an intrinsic value not exceeding EUR 150. They also apply to certain supplies within the EU made by a seller not established in the EU and facilitated through an electronic platform. Until now, the deemed-supplier fiction in this second category has been limited to supplies to non-taxable persons.
The new Article 13bis, § 2, of the Belgian VAT Code extends this second category. The fiction will also apply where the customer is a taxable person or a non-taxable legal person whose intra-Community acquisitions are not subject to VAT (the so-called "group of four"). This may, for example, concern an exempt taxable person or a small business that remains within the applicable acquisition regime.
The amendment aims to prevent the same platform from being subject to different VAT treatment for comparable sales depending on whether the customer is a private individual or such an exempt or small taxable person.
However, the extension does not automatically make platforms liable for VAT on every B2B sale. The existing conditions continue to apply. For example, the platform must facilitate the sale and the underlying supplier must not be established in the EU.
Targeted extensions and limitations of OSS
Non-Union scheme for services
The draft law removes, from Article 58ter, § 2, of the Belgian VAT Code, the condition that the recipient of the relevant B2C service must be established or resident in a Member State.
This is relevant to the non-Union OSS scheme, which is used by service providers without an establishment in the EU. For the purposes of that scheme, the private customer's place of residence will no longer be decisive, provided the service is subject to VAT in a Member State under the ordinary place-of-supply rules.
This amendment is particularly relevant to service providers established outside the EU that supply services subject to VAT in a Member State.
Consider, for example, a Swiss taxi company transporting passengers in France. Until now, that company could not use the OSS scheme if the customer was not established in the EU. This restriction is being removed from the VAT Directive and is accordingly also being transposed into Belgian legislation.
Energy supplied through networks
A temporary extension is also being introduced for supplies of gas through a natural gas system, electricity, and heat or cooling through heating and cooling networks.
This scheme may be relevant, in particular, to businesses supplying electricity through charging points in another Member State. For such supplies to private individuals and members of the group of four, the Union OSS scheme may be used, provided the other conditions are met.
For supplies to final consumers, the place of supply is, in principle, where the energy is effectively used or consumed (Article 14bis, first paragraph, b), of the Belgian VAT Code).
The new Article 58quater, § 2bis, treats certain such supplies as intra-Community distance sales for the purposes of the Union OSS scheme.
This concerns supplies made by a supplier that is not established in the Member State where the goods are subject to VAT, to non-taxable persons or members of the group of four. Ordinary B2B supplies therefore do not automatically fall within this extension.
The provision ceases to apply on 30 June 2028 because, from 1 July 2028, it will be replaced by a broader European extension of the Union OSS scheme.
IOSS and the small enterprises scheme
Taxable persons benefiting from the special VAT exemption scheme for small enterprises will be excluded from the import scheme (IOSS). This follows from the amendment to Article 58quinquies, § 2, of the Belgian VAT Code.
Articles 58ter and 58quinquies also update certain identification details for the special schemes, including the taxable person's electronic address and, where available, its websites.
Call-off stock: an end date for the existing simplification
A second part of the draft law concerns the call-off stock arrangements.
Under these arrangements, a supplier dispatches goods to another Member State to make them available to a customer identified in advance. That customer only acquires the right to dispose of the goods when it actually calls them off.
Without the simplification, dispatching own goods generally gives rise to a deemed intra-Community supply (a "transfer") in the Member State of departure and a deemed intra-Community acquisition in the Member State of arrival.
The subsequent sale to the customer is then a domestic supply. This sequence may require the supplier to register for VAT abroad.
The subsequent sale to the customer is then a domestic supply. This sequence may require the supplier to register for VAT abroad.
The quick fixes introduced a harmonised call-off stock scheme in 2020. The scheme was intended to simplify the VAT treatment of call-off stock arrangements and avoid suppliers having to register for VAT abroad.
The scheme is, however, subject to a number of strict conditions. The customer must be identified in advance, its VAT identification number must be available, and both the movement of goods and the subsequent call-off must be correctly recorded in the prescribed registers and, where required, in the recapitulative statement.
The goods must, in principle, be supplied to the intended customer within twelve months of their arrival.
When the customer calls off the goods, an intra-Community supply and a corresponding intra-Community acquisition are deemed to take place, rather than an earlier transfer followed by a domestic supply (Articles 12ter and 25quater of the Belgian VAT Code; Article 17bis of the VAT Directive).
From 1 July 2028, a broader OSS scheme for transfers of own goods may be used for new movements of goods, subject to its conditions, as discussed below.
The new Article 12ter, § 2, 1°, of the Belgian VAT Code limits the possibility of starting a call-off stock arrangement under the existing scheme to goods dispatched no later than 30 June 2028. The simplification can therefore no longer be applied to movements of goods starting on or after 1 July 2028.
The existing call-off stock scheme will end on 30 June 2029. From 1 July 2029, the specific call-off stock entries in the recapitulative statement and the corresponding record-keeping obligations will also be abolished (repeal of Article 53sexies, § 1, 4°, and Article 54bis, § 1, third and fourth paragraphs, of the Belgian VAT Code).
From July 2028: OSS for transfers of own goods
The phase-out of call-off stock must be considered alongside another ViDA measure.
From 1 July 2028, a new special OSS scheme for transfers of own goods will be introduced at EU level (Title XII, Chapter 6, Section 5, of the VAT Directive, introduced by Directive (EU) 2025/516).
The scheme is broader than the existing call-off stock simplification and is not limited to goods held for a customer identified in advance. The new scheme may, however, be used only for transfers where the taxable person would be entitled to full VAT deduction on the corresponding intra-Community acquisition in the Member State of arrival. The new OSS scheme is already laid down in the VAT Directive, but its transposition into the Belgian VAT Code is not covered by the current draft law. A separate draft law will be submitted for that purpose.
The legal mechanism, however, is different.
Under the existing call-off stock scheme, a movement of goods is not treated as a transfer if certain conditions are met. Under the new scheme, a transfer of own goods remains a transfer.
The taxable person may report the relevant intra-Community transfer through the specific OSS return, while the corresponding intra-Community acquisition in the Member State of arrival is exempt under the conditions of the scheme.
The new scheme operates with a monthly return (new Article 369quinvicies septies of the VAT Directive).
Article 194 of the VAT Directive is also being amended in relation to the subsequent domestic B2B sale.
In the circumstances covered by that provision, VAT must be accounted for by the customer under the reverse charge mechanism where the supplier is not established in the Member State of taxation and is not individually identified for VAT there, while the customer is identified for VAT in that Member State.
The VAT status of both parties must therefore be assessed in each case. A domestic supply is not automatically exempt or reported through the same OSS return.
The new scheme also entails reporting and data requirements.
The European Commission has further specified the practical exchange of information between Member States in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1869 of 27 July 2026. Among other things, the Regulation sets out the electronic return template for the scheme covering transfers of own goods and confirms that, from 1 July 2028, it will constitute a separate monthly reporting stream.
Commentary
The changes taking effect in 2027 mainly require attention from businesses making cross-border sales. For the time being, the changes are relatively limited.
In practice, the EUR 10,000 threshold is mainly relevant to businesses with very limited cross-border turnover, although the scheme is not legally restricted to micro-enterprises (Articles 15 and 21bis of the Belgian VAT Code).
From July 2028, the new OSS scheme for transfers of own goods may reduce the number of foreign VAT registrations.
Nevertheless, it remains a missed opportunity that local VAT cannot be deducted through OSS. Businesses may generally recover that VAT through a separate refund procedure, subject to the applicable conditions, or deduct it through an ordinary local VAT return where possible (Articles 369 undecies and 369 quinvicies undecies of the VAT Directive).
A foreign VAT registration may therefore remain attractive in many cases, particularly where there are substantial local purchases or other local VAT obligations.