IOSS EUR 150 Threshold Removal: Council Backs a July 2028 Start

On 9 November 2026, Member States meeting in the Council (Economic and Financial Affairs) reached a general approach on a draft Council Directive that deletes the IOSS EUR 150 threshold from the VAT Directive. If adopted as agreed, Article 14a(1) would extend the deemed-supplier rule for electronic interfaces to qualifying distance sales of imported goods regardless of consignment value. The Import One-Stop Shop (IOSS) would also become available without a value ceiling, but products subject to excise duty would remain excluded from IOSS under Article 369l. The planned application date is 1 July 2028, subject to the relevant EU Customs Data Hub functionality being operational (it can start later if that functionality is not operational by 1 June 2028).

Under the current VAT rules, the EUR 150 threshold is assessed by the intrinsic value of each consignment, not by the value of an individual customer order. Where an electronic interface facilitates a qualifying distance sale of goods imported in a consignment of intrinsic value not exceeding EUR 150, Article 14a(1) treats the platform as the deemed supplier. IOSS may be used where the separate eligibility conditions are met, but products subject to excise duty are excluded. Above EUR 150, the imported distance sale falls outside the current Article 14a(1) and IOSS value limits, and import VAT is dealt with under the ordinary import arrangements. The European Commission, welcoming the agreement the same day, says the decision completes the package of legislative changes for removing the EUR 150 de minimis threshold for e-commerce, after Council Regulation (EU) 2026/382 removed the threshold-based customs duty relief from 1 July 2026.

The Directive has not been adopted. The European Parliament will be consulted again, after which the Council can formally adopt it.

Related reading: EU E-Commerce VAT at Five: OSS, IOSS and CESOP Obligations

IOSS EUR 150 threshold removal: the dates that matter

• 9 November 2026: Council general approach; Parliament to be consulted again.
• 31 December 2027: Commission proposal on IOSS intermediary criteria due.
• 1 June 2028: EU Customs Data Hub functionalities for importers for distance sales and IOSS users due to be operational (Article 285(2), Regulation (EU) 2026/2108).
• 30 June 2028: transposition deadline.
• 1 July 2028: planned application date, subject to the Data Hub condition.
• 1 December 2030: Commission assessment report due.

Five amending points in the Council text

The text agreed at the general approach is annexed to Council document 15480/26 of 9 November 2026 (interinstitutional file 2023/0158(CNS)) and matches the draft submitted in the Council note 15179/26 of 4 November 2026. Its Article 1 makes five changes to Directive 2006/112/EC.

Two parts of the Commission’s proposal of 17 May 2023, COM(2023) 262, did not survive. The Commission had extended the Article 369y special arrangements for declaration and payment of import VAT to goods of any value; the Council text leaves Article 369y alone, and Directive 2025/1539 already deletes those arrangements (Title XII, Chapter 7) from 1 July 2028. The proposal’s 1 March 2028 start also went: the Council note records that application was aligned with the entry into operation of the EU Customs Data Hub.

Article 2 of the Council text sets the mechanism. Member States apply the provisions from 1 July 2028, but if the IOSS functionality referred to in Article 285(2) of Regulation (EU) 2026/2108 is not operational by 1 June 2028, they apply them from the date the transitional solution under Article 285(7) of that Regulation ends. Article 285(7) covers exceptional circumstances and limits any transitional solution to six months after the Regulation’s deadline, so the deferral has a ceiling but no fixed calendar date.

Marketplaces: deemed supplier status at every price point

The replacement Article 14a(1) keeps the existing structure: a taxable person that facilitates distance sales of goods imported from third territories or third countries through an electronic interface, such as a marketplace, platform or portal, is deemed to have received and supplied those goods itself. Only the reference to consignments of an intrinsic value not exceeding EUR 150 disappears; recital 2 cites a lower compliance burden and a single VAT registration in the Union.

The Commission’s summary says platforms will be responsible for the VAT on all the sales they facilitate. The operative text is narrower than that sentence: it covers distance sales of imported goods, only paragraph 1 of Article 14a is replaced, and in the definition only the introductory words change, so the conditions that follow them stay as they are.

For a platform’s VAT reporting, the proposed change removes the intrinsic-value limit from the Article 14a(1) deemed-supplier test. Qualifying facilitated distance sales of imported goods above EUR 150 would consequently be treated as deemed supplies by the platform, while the other conditions in Article 14(4), point (2), and Article 14a(1) would continue to apply. Consumers face no new tax, the Commission notes: VAT is already due on all imported goods, and where IOSS is used it is charged at checkout.

Directive 2025/1539 decides what happens outside IOSS

The Council Secretariat note of 8 May 2025 records that the threshold removal and the customs warehouse extension were very closely related to the customs reform and would need to be discussed in that light, while the measures to incentivise IOSS had no such link and went ahead separately. They became Council Directive (EU) 2025/1539 of 18 July 2025, published on 25 July 2025 and applicable from 1 July 2028.

Under Article 201(2), as replaced by that Directive, the supplier, or the deemed supplier under Article 14a(1), is liable for import VAT on distance sales of imported goods that would be eligible for IOSS. Article 201(3) requires a supplier or deemed supplier established in a third country without a VAT mutual assistance agreement of the required scope to appoint a tax representative in the Member State of importation; Article 201(4) switches that off where the importation is exempt under Article 143(1), point (ca), the IOSS route. The 2025 note put the consequence plainly: suppliers that do not use IOSS would have to register separately in every Member State where they do business.

My reading of the two texts together: because Article 201(2) is keyed to IOSS eligibility, deleting the EUR 150 cap from Article 369l extends supplier liability for import VAT to higher-value consignments too, excise goods aside. The choice between a single IOSS registration and import VAT liability in each Member State of importation would then cover a seller’s whole range of imported distance sales.

One gap is visible in the dates. Directive 2025/1539 applies from 1 July 2028, while the Council text can start later if the Data Hub IOSS functionality is late. The general approach text does not say how Article 201(2) operates for consignments above EUR 150 during such a deferral.

Customs warehouses for distance sales enter the IOSS perimeter

The amended definition brings into IOSS goods sold from the customs warehouse for distance sales in Article 145 of the new Union Customs Code, Regulation (EU) 2026/2108. Article 145 applies from 1 July 2028 under Article 287(5), point (a), while the Regulation as a whole applies from 21 September 2027 under Article 287(2). Access is narrow. Only importers for distance sales that use IOSS and hold Trust and Check trader status, or their indirect representatives with that status, may be authorised to operate such a warehouse. The goods must meet the other legislation that would apply on release for free circulation, sit in collective packages of alike goods before individual consignments are prepared, and arrive in quantities that allow effective customs controls.

The VAT extension stops at that warehouse type: recital 4 limits IOSS to supplies from the special customs warehouses for distance sales and keeps the normal VAT rules for other customs warehouses. From 1 July 2028, Article 285(2) requires importers for distance sales and IOSS users to provide data through the EU Customs Data Hub for both warehousing and release for free circulation; our EU Customs Data Hub timeline covers the phasing for other traders.

Intermediary criteria come from the Council, on a Commission proposal

Paragraph 1 of the replacement Article 369o sets out the duty to notify the Member State of identification when IOSS activity starts or stops, or changes so that the scheme conditions are no longer met; paragraph 2 is the addition. Where an intermediary appointed by a taxable person established in a third country without a mutual assistance agreement similar in scope to Directive 2010/24/EU and Regulation (EU) No 904/2010 tells the Member State of identification it intends to use IOSS, that Member State must ensure the intermediary has sufficient administrative capacity, financial solvency and probity.

The Commission’s announcement refers to an implementing act. In the text, that measure is the Council’s: the requirements are to be defined under Article 397 of the VAT Directive on a Commission proposal due by 31 December 2027, recital 3c says the Council acts unanimously, and the Council note calls the instrument a Council Implementing Regulation. The Commission’s e-commerce report counted 1,394 registered IOSS intermediaries at the end of 2025.

Open points before formal adoption

Parliament’s renewed opinion comes next, then formal adoption, publication in the Official Journal and entry into force on the twentieth day after publication; national transposition then sets the local rules.

The new Article 369la requires a Commission assessment report by 1 December 2030 covering the impact on the internal market and the effectiveness of VAT collection on imported distance sales, with a legislative proposal where appropriate. Recital 3 notes that Directive (EU) 2025/516 already obliges the Commission to adopt an implementing act that includes linking the unique consignment number with the IOSS VAT identification number; our ViDA reporting timeline covers that package.

For scale, the Commission puts IOSS VAT revenues since the scheme started at more than EUR 21 billion, with EUR 7.7 billion declared through IOSS in 2025.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the VAT change alter the EUR 3 customs duty on low-value parcels?

The Council text amends only the VAT Directive. Under Article 2 of Regulation (EU) 2026/382, a temporary EUR 3 customs duty per item applies from 1 July 2026 until 1 July 2028 to qualifying consignments with a total intrinsic value not exceeding EUR 150, where importation is exempt from VAT under the IOSS route or the goods are postal consignments. Article 3(2) also requires the Commission to assess by 1 December 2027 whether an extension should be proposed if the relevant customs IT infrastructure will not be operational by 1 July 2028. The scheduled end date is therefore not unconditional. Our EUR 3 customs duty guide covers the declarations.

A non-EU web shop with no marketplace sells a EUR 400 item to an EU consumer after the change applies. Which rules bite?

On my reading of both Directives, if the proposed extension takes effect, a qualifying EUR 400 distance sale of imported goods would fall within IOSS scope, provided the goods are not subject to excise duty and the other scheme conditions are met. Under Article 369m(1) of the VAT Directive, a non-EU seller generally needs an intermediary established in the Union to use IOSS, unless it qualifies to register without one under the applicable mutual-assistance agreement exception. If the seller does not use IOSS, Article 201(2), as amended by Directive (EU) 2025/1539, makes it liable for import VAT; Article 201(3) requires a tax representative in the Member State of importation where the statutory conditions are met.

Related Articles

• EU E-Commerce VAT at Five: OSS, IOSS and CESOP Obligations: how the OSS and IOSS schemes and the EUR 150 intrinsic-value test work today.
• EUR 3 Customs Duty and Union Handling Fee: Declaring From 1 November: the temporary duty on low-value consignments and the handling fee.
• EU Customs Reform: The Data Hub Timeline for Importers and Traders: phased onboarding to the EU Customs Data Hub.
• VAT in the Digital Age (ViDA): E-Invoicing and Reporting Timeline: the ViDA dates, including single VAT registration.

Key Takeaways

• Plan value-agnostic deemed supplier and IOSS logic for 1 July 2028, with the 1 June 2028 Data Hub milestone as the possible deferral trigger.
• Platforms: size the consignment volume above EUR 150 that would move onto the platform’s own VAT records.
• Non-EU sellers outside IOSS: list the Member States of importation where Directive 2025/1539 would require a tax representative.
• Keep the excise exclusion flag: excise goods stay outside IOSS at any value.
• Intermediaries: the capacity, solvency and probity criteria depend on a Commission proposal due by 31 December 2027.

Sources and References

• DG TAXUD news, “Commission welcomes Council agreement on removing the EUR 150 threshold for the VAT Import One-Stop Shop”, 9 November 2026: European Commission
• Council document 15480/26 (9 November 2026), outcome of proceedings, general approach text: Council register
• Council document 15179/26 (4 November 2026), A item note and draft Council Directive submitted for the general approach: Council register
• Council document 8569/25 (8 May 2025), IOSS incentive measures: Council register
• Commission proposal COM(2023) 262 final of 17 May 2023: EUR-Lex
• Council Directive (EU) 2025/1539 of 18 July 2025 (Article 201; deletion of Title XII, Chapter 7): EUR-Lex
• Council Directive 2006/112/EC (VAT Directive), consolidated text, Article 14a(1): EUR-Lex
• Regulation (EU) 2026/2108 (Union Customs Code), Articles 145, 285 and 287: EUR-Lex
• Council Regulation (EU) 2026/382 of 11 February 2026 (threshold-based customs duty relief): EUR-Lex
• Council Directive (EU) 2025/516 of 11 March 2025 (VAT in the Digital Age): EUR-Lex
• European Commission, “Report on the application of the VAT e-commerce package for 2025” (31 August 2026): VAT One Stop Shop portal

What to scope in the 2027 planning cycle

The intermediary proposal is due before the planned start. The build list follows from the texts: put the EUR 150 branch in deemed supplier and IOSS logic behind a switch tied to the final application date, decide for each non-EU selling entity between IOSS and per-country import VAT liability under Directive 2025/1539, and confirm whether any distance-sales stock will move into an Article 145 warehouse. Re-check every article reference against the adopted Directive once it is published in the Official Journal.

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