IOSS explained: what it is and when you need it

What is IOSS?

IOSS stands for Import One-Stop Shop. It is an EU VAT scheme, in place since 1 July 2021, for sellers and online marketplaces that ship low-value goods from outside the EU directly to consumers in the EU. Low-value has a precise meaning here: consignments with an intrinsic value of up to €150.

Under IOSS, you charge the VAT of your customer's EU country at checkout. You then report that VAT through a single monthly return. The scheme is optional, and two limits are worth knowing from the start:

• It covers VAT only. Customs duty is a separate matter – and since 1 July 2026, low-value parcels shipped directly to EU consumers from outside the EU no longer enter duty-free.
• Excise goods are excluded. Goods subject to EU excise duties, such as alcohol and tobacco, cannot go through IOSS.

Which shipments does IOSS cover?

A shipment can only go through IOSS when all three of these are true:

• It is shipped from outside the EU directly to a consumer in the EU.
• The consignment has an intrinsic value of up to €150.
• The goods are not subject to EU excise duties, such as alcohol or tobacco.

Do I need IOSS?

IOSS is optional: you choose whether to use it. Whether it is relevant to you at all depends on where your orders ship from and what they are worth:

• Parcels to EU consumers from outside the EU, worth up to €150: IOSS is an option you can choose. Without it, the VAT is charged when each parcel is imported.
• Parcels to EU consumers from outside the EU, worth more than €150: IOSS cannot be used. Each parcel goes through normal EU import clearance.
• Orders shipped from stock already imported and cleared in the EU: IOSS does not apply, because those orders are not imports.

For parcels in the first group, whether IOSS is worth using depends on what happens to them without it.

What happens without IOSS?

Without IOSS, the VAT on a low-value parcel from outside the EU is charged when the parcel is imported into the EU country of delivery. Often the carrier collects it from your customer before delivery, and carriers may add their own clearance fee on top. For a brand, that is where the experience can go wrong: a customer who has already paid at checkout can be asked for a further payment before the parcel arrives.

Since 1 July 2026, customs duty is part of the picture too. A temporary flat EU customs duty of €3 per item type – goods that share the same tariff line, description and origin – as a rule applies to parcels worth up to €150 sent directly to EU consumers from outside the EU. It applies whichever VAT scheme is used, so IOSS does not remove it.

From July 2028, the default shifts again. Under EU VAT rules adopted in 2025, sellers that do not use IOSS will, as a rule, be liable for the import VAT themselves instead of the customer.

Do non-EU sellers need an IOSS intermediary?

As a rule, yes. A seller based outside the EU that wants to use IOSS generally has to appoint an EU-based intermediary. Currently the only exception is for businesses established in Norway, for goods shipped from Norway.

Brands based in the United States, Canada, Australia or Great Britain are therefore not exempt. If you plan to ship parcels into the EU under IOSS, the intermediary is one more party to appoint before you start.

What about parcels over €150?

Consignments with an intrinsic value above €150 cannot use IOSS. They go through normal EU import clearance:

• Import VAT is charged at import.
• Customs duty is charged at the product's normal tariff rate. That rate is zero for some goods, and it can be lower for goods that qualify for preferential origin under an EU trade agreement.
• The EU handling fee being introduced for goods sold directly to consumers from outside the EU is also due to apply to these shipments once it takes effect.

Higher-value orders shipped one by one from outside the EU therefore go through the full import process parcel by parcel. For the customs identification side of importing into the EU, see our guide to EORI numbers.

Do I need IOSS if my stock is in the EU?

No – not for orders shipped from genuine stock that has been imported and cleared through customs in the EU before it is sold. IOSS exists for one situation: a low-value parcel crossing the EU border on its way to a consumer. Take the border crossing out of the order, and the scheme has nothing to do.

That is what happens when you import stock in bulk and have it cleared through customs – released for free circulation – before it is sold. The orders you later ship to customers from inside the EU are not imports, so IOSS does not apply to them. Instead:

• Duty and import VAT are due when the bulk shipment is cleared – customs duty at the product's normal rate, plus import VAT – rather than parcel by parcel.
• The flat duty for low-value parcels does not apply to this stock.
• VAT on each sale follows the EU rules for sales within the EU. Our guide to EU VAT for non-EU sellers explains what that means when your stock is in Sweden.

There is one condition: this holds only for genuine stock. Goods that are already sold to individual customers before they are imported are treated as distance sales, even if they are shipped together. Pre-sold orders consolidated into one shipment are not inventory.

The honest trade-off: customs duty and import VAT fall due on the whole shipment when it is cleared, before you have sold the goods, and your sales then follow the EU VAT rules for sales within the EU. In return, your EU customers order from stock that is already inside the EU, with no customs inside the EU on the way to them.

This is how we work at Primepack in Gothenburg, Sweden. You send your stock in bulk, and we coordinate the customs clearance of your bulk shipment with our customs partners, who can lodge the import declaration on your behalf as your customs agent. Once the goods are received and registered in our warehouse, we pick, pack and ship each order to customers across the EU. Delivery typically takes 1–2 business days to the Nordic EU countries (Sweden, Denmark, Finland), 2–3 to Germany and Benelux, and 3–5 to the rest of the EU. How EU fulfillment works walks through the whole route, and if you are still choosing a country, we compare Sweden, the Netherlands and Germany in where to fulfill in the EU.

What is changing for low-value parcels to the EU?

The EU is changing the rules for low-value imports in stages, and the measures take effect at different times. Status as of September 2026:

• In force since 1 July 2026 – flat customs duty. The customs duty exemption for parcels worth up to €150 no longer applies. Instead, a temporary flat duty of €3 per item type is, as a rule, charged on parcels sent from outside the EU to consumers (Council Regulation (EU) 2026/382). It is planned to run until 1 July 2028, when normal duty rates are due to take over.
• Adopted in September 2026, phased in over the coming years – EU customs reform. It will make non-EU online sellers and platforms responsible, as importers, for customs on goods they sell directly to EU consumers.
• Due to start in late 2026 – EU handling fee. An EU handling fee per item is being introduced on goods sold directly to EU consumers from outside the EU. The Commission set its amount in September 2026, but at the time of writing the fee had not yet taken effect.
• From July 2028 – import VAT without IOSS. Under EU VAT rules adopted in 2025, sellers that ship low-value parcels directly to EU consumers without IOSS will, as a rule, be liable for the import VAT themselves instead of the customer.

All of these measures are aimed at goods sold to consumers while the goods are still outside the EU. Stock that is genuinely imported in bulk and cleared before it is sold is imported under the normal rules instead. If you are weighing the two models, tell us what you sell and where your customers are – we can walk you through what a bulk import to Gothenburg involves.