If you sell to consumers in other EU countries for more than € 10,000 a year, you charge the VAT of the customer's country. That threshold applies to all EU countries together, excluding VAT. A Belgian customer then pays Belgian VAT and a German customer pays German VAT.
You do not have to register in every country for this. With the Union scheme, also called the One Stop Shop (OSS), you report the foreign VAT once a quarter to the Dutch Belastingdienst. It passes the money on to the other countries.
In short
- Up to € 10,000 a year to consumers across the whole EU together, you usually charge Dutch VAT. Once you go over, you charge foreign VAT from the order that takes you past the threshold.
- Belgium has 21% as its standard rate, Germany 19%. Which products have a reduced rate differs per country.
- With the Union scheme you report every quarter, even if you sold nothing. You still declare your Dutch turnover in your own VAT return as usual.
In this article
- When do you have to charge the VAT of the customer's country?
- From which order does the foreign VAT apply?
- Which VAT rate do you charge in Belgium and Germany?
- How does the Union scheme (OSS) work?
- What applies to business customers and to stock abroad?
- What happens to the small business scheme?
- Why does the difference in rate matter for your price?
When do you have to charge the VAT of the customer's country?
When your sales to consumers in other EU countries together exceed € 10,000 per calendar year. You count the amounts excluding VAT. If you stay below it, you usually charge Dutch VAT (Belastingdienst, goods to customers in other EU countries).
This concerns distance sales. These are sales where you send the goods to a customer in another EU country who does not file a VAT return, usually a consumer. The threshold is one amount for the whole EU. So you add Belgium, Germany and the other countries together (KVK, VAT rules for e-commerce in the EU).
If you also sell digital services to consumers in the EU, such as an online course or a download, that turnover counts towards the same threshold (Belastingdienst, goods to customers in other EU countries).
Also look at last year. Dutch VAT is only allowed if your turnover stayed below the threshold last year and you expect the same this year. If you were already above € 10,000 last year, you charge foreign VAT from 1 January (Belastingdienst, goods to customers in other EU countries).
From which order does the foreign VAT apply?
From the order that takes you over € 10,000. Not only from the following year. KVK gives an example: in 2026 you already supplied € 8,000 to EU consumers and now make an invoice of € 3,000 for a French customer. On that invoice you put French VAT (KVK, VAT rules for e-commerce in the EU).
Going back to Dutch VAT is slower. That is only allowed once your turnover was € 10,000 or less for a full calendar year. From 1 January of the following year you may charge Dutch VAT again (Belastingdienst, goods to customers in other EU countries).
You may also choose foreign VAT yourself while you are still below the threshold. You do that with a form at the Belastingdienst. That choice then applies for at least 2 years (Belastingdienst, goods to customers in other EU countries). That can be useful if you expect to grow quickly and do not want to switch in the middle of the year.
Which VAT rate do you charge in Belgium and Germany?
The standard rate is 21% in Belgium and 19% in Germany. Belgium also has reduced rates of 6% and 12%, Germany a reduced rate of 7%. The Netherlands has 21% and 9% (European Commission, Your Europe, VAT rates).
| Country | Standard rate | Reduced rate |
|---|---|---|
| Netherlands | 21% | 9% |
| Belgium | 21% | 6% and 12% |
| Germany | 19% | 7% |
Each country decides which product falls under which rate. In Germany this is in the VAT act, with 19% as the main rule and 7% for a list of goods and services (Umsatzsteuergesetz, section 12). A product that is 9% in the Netherlands does not have to be reduced in Belgium or Germany. So look it up per product and per country.
If you ship from the Netherlands and are below the threshold, you simply charge the Dutch rate, also to a Belgian or German customer.
How does the Union scheme (OSS) work?
You report the foreign VAT of all EU countries together in one return per quarter to the Belastingdienst, and pay it in one go. The Belastingdienst passes the return and the money on to the other countries (Belastingdienst, reporting VAT through the one-stop shop).
You register in Mijn Belastingdienst Zakelijk, under VAT and then E-commerce. You receive a participation number and take part from the quarter after your registration. If you have just crossed the threshold, you may report straight away if your registration arrives by the 10th of the month after that first supply (Belastingdienst, reporting VAT through the one-stop shop).
The return must arrive by the last day of the month after the quarter. So you report the third quarter by 31 October at the latest. You also report if you sold nothing to foreign consumers in a quarter. If you fail to report three quarters in a row, you are excluded for 2 years (Belastingdienst, reporting VAT through the one-stop shop).
You correct an error in a return that has already been filed in your next return. That is possible up to 3 years after the original deadline. Keep the Union scheme records for 10 years, longer than the usual 7 years (Belastingdienst, reporting VAT through the one-stop shop).
The Union scheme does not replace your normal VAT return. You declare your sales in the Netherlands alongside it as usual (KVK, VAT rules for e-commerce in the EU). If you use the Union scheme, the Dutch invoicing rules apply, also to the foreign sales.
What applies to business customers and to stock abroad?
A business customer in another EU country with a valid VAT number is invoiced at 0% VAT. That customer declares the VAT in their own country (KVK, VAT rules for e-commerce in the EU). These sales do not count towards the € 10,000 threshold, because that threshold is about customers who do not file a VAT return themselves.
If your stock is in a warehouse in another EU country, you need a separate VAT number in that country. KVK gives the example of fulfilment by Amazon in Germany: if you sell from that warehouse to German consumers, it is a domestic sale in Germany, with a German VAT return (KVK, VAT rules for e-commerce in the EU).
If you have a fixed establishment in another EU country, such as a shop or workshop, the € 10,000 threshold does not apply at all. You then charge foreign VAT straight away on all your distance sales. According to the Belastingdienst, a warehouse on its own does not count as a fixed establishment (Belastingdienst, goods to customers in other EU countries).
What happens to the small business scheme?
The Dutch small business scheme (KOR) no longer helps you once you exceed € 10,000 to foreign consumers. From that moment the VAT rules of the customer's country apply (KVK, VAT rules for e-commerce in the EU).
There is a European version, the EU-KOR. If your total turnover in the Netherlands and the other EU countries together is not more than € 100,000 per calendar year, you may qualify. You then do not have to pay VAT, not even above € 10,000 (Belastingdienst, goods to customers in other EU countries). Its own conditions apply, so check them before you rely on it.
Some sales fall outside these rules, such as margin goods, (nearly) new means of transport and goods you install at the customer's address (Belastingdienst, goods to customers in other EU countries). If you sell second-hand goods under the margin scheme, check separately what applies to you.
Why does the difference in rate matter for your price?
Because you keep a different amount per country if you ask the same price everywhere. A price of € 121 including VAT gives you € 100 at 21%. At the German 19% that is € 101.68. If you work with one price for all countries, your margin differs per country.
Customers pay attention to tax in the price, also online. Researchers looked at purchases on eBay in the United States, where sales tax differs per state. An increase in a state's tax of one percentage point went together with almost 2% more online purchases by residents, and 3 to 4% fewer online purchases from sellers in their own state (Einav, Knoepfle, Levin & Sundaresan, 2014).
That research was about American sales tax and not about European VAT. It does show that a few percent of tax counts in the customer's choice. So decide per country which price including VAT you ask, and check what you keep.
Sources
- Belastingdienst, I supply goods from one EU country to another EU country, to customers who do not file a VAT return, accessed 28 October 2026. belastingdienst.nl
- Belastingdienst, Reporting VAT through the one-stop shop (OSS), accessed 28 October 2026. belastingdienst.nl
- KVK, VAT rules for e-commerce in the EU, accessed 28 October 2026. kvk.nl
- European Commission, Your Europe, VAT rules and rates, accessed 28 October 2026. europa.eu
- Umsatzsteuergesetz (Germany), section 12 Steuersätze, accessed 28 October 2026. gesetze-im-internet.de
- Einav, L., Knoepfle, D., Levin, J. & Sundaresan, N. (2014). Sales Taxes and Internet Commerce. American Economic Review, 104(1), 1-26. doi.org