Distance selling of goods

Distance selling means that a supplier sells goods to private individuals or customers established in another Member State who do not apply VAT to their intra-Community acquisitions of goods. The supplier takes care of the transport of the goods to the customers. A typical example is mail order companies.

VAT of the Member State of destination is applied if sales in that Member State exceed a certain threshold (EUR 100 000 or 35 000 or the equivalent in national currency). For the threshold applicable in each Member State , see the Commission's information document "VAT in the European Union" or Thresholds - Annex I(14 Kb). Even if the threshold is not exceeded, traders can still opt to identify for VAT in the Member State of the consumer and charge the VAT applicable in that country.