VAT Thresholds by EU Country: A 2026 Quick-Reference Table
Introduction
Ask ten importers what the VAT registration threshold is in the European Union and you will probably hear ten different answers. The reason is simple: there is no single number. Each of the 27 member states sets its own small-business exemption, a separate EU-wide rule governs cross-border distance sales, and a third layer of rules applies to sellers who ship into the EU from outside it. For a freight forwarder, an e-commerce brand or a factory-direct exporter in China, mixing up these layers is one of the most expensive mistakes in EU market entry.
This guide is a 2026 quick-reference. It gathers the domestic threshold for every EU member state in one table, explains how the €100,000 cross-border SME scheme and the €10,000 distance-selling limit sit on top of those national figures, and walks through the changes that took effect or were announced this year, including the end of the €150 customs duty exemption on 1 July 2026. Most importantly, it explains where thresholds stop being relevant, because for many non-EU sellers they never apply at all.
A note on accuracy before we begin. The figures below draw on the Tax Foundation’s June 2026 dataset, EU-level guidance and country trackers that were current in September 2026. Thresholds are revised often, several countries have pending changes, and published sources occasionally disagree with each other. Treat this article as a planning tool, and confirm the final number with a local tax adviser or the national tax authority before you act on it.
Why VAT Thresholds Matter More to Logistics Than Most People Think
VAT is often treated as an accounting topic that lives downstream of the shipment. In practice it shapes the shipment itself. Whether you must be VAT-registered in the destination country decides who can act as the importer of record, whether import VAT can be deferred or must be paid at the border, whether a parcel can be sold delivered duty paid, and whether the consignee will refuse the goods at the door because an unexpected tax bill arrives together with them.
The threshold question sits at the centre of all of this. A small EU-based business that stays under its domestic exemption limit can invoice without VAT and avoids periodic returns, but it also cannot recover the VAT it pays on its own purchases. A business above the line must register, charge VAT, file returns and, for cross-border consumer sales, decide between the One Stop Shop and local registrations. Each outcome changes landed cost and cash flow, which is exactly what freight buyers care about.
There is a second reason the topic deserves attention. Thresholds are written for businesses established in a given country. Sellers based in China, Hong Kong, the United States or anywhere else outside the EU are generally not eligible for those exemptions, and that is the group most forwarders serve every day. Reading a threshold table without knowing which rules apply to your legal establishment produces false comfort, and false comfort leads to unregistered stock in a warehouse, frozen marketplace listings and back-taxes with penalties.
The rest of this article separates the layers carefully so that you can tell which line of the table is relevant to you.
The Three Different Thresholds, and Why They Get Confused
When people say “VAT threshold” they may be talking about three unrelated rules. Keeping them apart is the single most useful thing you can do before reading any country data.
The domestic small-business threshold
Every EU member state may exempt very small businesses established on its territory from charging VAT. This is the number most articles mean when they use the phrase. Since 1 January 2025, Directive (EU) 2020/285 caps the domestic figure at €85,000, so no country may set a ceiling above that level, although many set it far lower. Businesses below the line typically invoice without VAT, file no periodic returns and cannot deduct input VAT.
The details vary widely. Some countries split thresholds by activity, so France and Ireland have one line for goods and a lower one for services. Some measure a rolling twelve months and others a calendar year. Some add mid-year trapdoors: in Germany, crossing €100,000 during the year makes you liable to VAT from that very invoice rather than from the following January.
The €100,000 cross-border SME scheme
Also since January 2025, a small business established in one member state can apply its exemption in other member states as well, provided its total EU-wide turnover stays below €100,000 and its turnover in each other country stays below that country’s own national threshold. The seller notifies its home tax authority and receives an identifier that ends in EX. Before 2025 an exemption stopped at the national border. Now it can travel.
The scheme has an eligibility limit that matters to our audience: it is open only to businesses established in the EU. A seller in Shenzhen or Los Angeles cannot use it. It also gives no help in Spain, which has no domestic exemption for a foreign seller to borrow.
The €10,000 distance-selling threshold
Since 1 July 2021, EU-established businesses that sell goods to consumers in other member states apply the destination country’s VAT once their combined cross-border B2C sales exceed €10,000 in a calendar year. Below that figure they may still charge home-country VAT. Above it they charge VAT at the customer’s local rate, usually reporting it through the One Stop Shop. Like the SME scheme, this is a rule for suppliers established in a single member state. It is not a free allowance for sellers from outside the EU.
No threshold at all for non-established sellers
A business that is not established in the country where it makes a taxable supply generally gets no threshold. If you store stock in Germany, France or Poland and sell it there, VAT registration is required from the first sale, whatever the amount. This is the rule that catches marketplace sellers using fulfilment centres and anyone who ships pallets to a third-party warehouse in the EU.
Keep this in mind while reading the country table in the next section. It lists domestic thresholds for local businesses. It is not a list of amounts a non-EU seller can sell before registering.
| Layer | Amount | Who it applies to | What it triggers |
| Domestic small-business threshold | Capped at €85,000; most countries set it lower | Businesses established in that member state | Home-country VAT registration |
| Cross-border SME scheme | €100,000 EU-wide turnover | EU-established small businesses only | Exemption abroad through an EX identifier |
| Distance-selling threshold | €10,000 EU-wide B2C sales | Sellers established in one member state | Destination-country VAT, usually via OSS |
| Non-established sellers | None | Sellers outside the EU or outside the supply country | Registration from the first taxable supply |
The 2026 Quick-Reference Table: Domestic VAT Thresholds in All 27 Member States
The table below lists the small-business VAT exemption threshold applied to businesses established in each EU member state in 2026. It is based mainly on the Tax Foundation’s June 2026 dataset and cross-checked against country-level guidance. Non-euro currencies are shown with an approximate euro value. Where sources disagree or a change is pending, the notes column says so.
| Country | Domestic threshold (annual turnover) | Notes |
| Austria | €55,000 | — |
| Belgium | €25,000 (€30,000 proposed) | Bill to raise the limit sent to Parliament in June 2026; €25,000 applies until it takes effect |
| Bulgaria | €51,130 | — |
| Croatia | €60,000 | — |
| Cyprus | €15,600 | — |
| Czech Republic | CZK 2,000,000 (about €81,000) | One of the highest limits in purchasing-power terms |
| Denmark | DKK 50,000 (about €6,700) | Lowest euro-equivalent figure in the EU |
| Estonia | €40,000 | — |
| Finland | €20,000 | — |
| France | €85,000–87,000 goods; €37,500 services | Two-tier system; published figures differ slightly by source, so verify the current line |
| Germany | €25,000 prior year and €100,000 current year | Both tests must be met; crossing €100,000 mid-year ends the exemption immediately |
| Greece | €10,000 | — |
| Hungary | HUF 20 million (about €50,300) | Raised in 2026; HUF 22 million scheduled for 2027 |
| Ireland | €85,000 goods; €42,500 services | Rolling twelve-month test with a forward-looking element |
| Italy | €85,000 | Regime forfettario, a flat-tax regime for individuals that includes VAT exemption |
| Latvia | €50,000 | — |
| Lithuania | €45,000 | — |
| Luxembourg | €50,000 | — |
| Malta | €35,000 | — |
| Netherlands | €20,000 | Small business scheme (KOR), optional |
| Poland | PLN 240,000 (about €56,600) | Raised from PLN 200,000 with effect from 2026 |
| Portugal | €15,000 | Raised in July 2025; the exemption ends immediately above €18,750 |
| Romania | RON 395,000 (about €78,300) | Raised from RON 300,000 in September 2025 |
| Slovakia | €50,000 | — |
| Slovenia | €60,000 | — |
| Spain | None | No small-business exemption; every business charges VAT from the first euro |
| Sweden | SEK 120,000 (about €10,800) | — |
Reading across the table, three patterns stand out. First, the spread is enormous: Spain has no threshold at all, Denmark, Greece and Sweden sit around €10,000, and the upper end reaches roughly €85,000 to €87,000 in France, Ireland and Italy. Second, the biggest limits are not always in the biggest economies. Once purchasing power is taken into account, Romania, the Czech Republic and Italy have the most generous exemptions, according to the Tax Foundation analysis.
Third, every threshold is a cliff. A firm that edges one euro over the limit suddenly owes VAT on its entire value added, not just on the marginal amount, which is why tax researchers have documented businesses bunching just below the line in countries such as the Czech Republic. For anyone within roughly twenty percent of a national limit, monthly tracking is a sensible habit rather than an excessive one.
Finally, remember what the table does not say. It is silent about non-established sellers, about goods imported from outside the EU, and about distance sales. Those are covered in the sections that follow.
What Changed in 2026
Several of the numbers in the table moved in the past twelve months, and a few more are about to. Old blog posts and marketplace help pages still quote the earlier values, so it is worth listing the changes explicitly.
Higher limits in Central and Eastern Europe
Hungary lifted its threshold from HUF 18 million to HUF 20 million in 2026 and has scheduled a further increase to HUF 22 million by 2027. Poland raised its limit from PLN 200,000 to PLN 240,000 from 2026, and Romania increased its figure from RON 300,000 to RON 395,000 in September 2025. Each change widens the group of local businesses that can trade without VAT, which slightly reduces the number of domestic counterparties who will show a VAT number on an invoice.
Belgium is the pending case. The government approved a rise from €25,000 to €30,000 in April 2026, and the enabling bill reached Parliament in June. Until it is published and enters into force, the €25,000 figure remains the operative one.
Spain and the Court of Justice
Spain never introduced a small-business exemption, and the European Commission referred it to the Court of Justice of the EU in March 2026 over the missing regime. The practical consequence today is unchanged: every business in Spain charges VAT from the first euro, and foreign small businesses cannot use the cross-border SME scheme there. If Spain eventually complies, the table row will change, so this is one to watch.
France, Germany and Portugal
France attempted to replace its two-tier system with a single €25,000 threshold in the 2025 budget. The measure was suspended amid protest and later dropped, so if you read about a €25,000 French limit you are reading history. Germany rebuilt its small-business scheme in 2025 around the double test of €25,000 in the prior year and €100,000 in the current year. Portugal raised its threshold to €15,000 in July 2025.
The end of the €150 customs duty exemption
The change with the biggest logistics impact is not a VAT threshold at all. Until 30 June 2026, parcels with an intrinsic value of €150 or less entered the EU free of customs duty, although VAT still applied. From 1 July 2026 that exemption is gone. Under Council Regulation (EU) 2026/382, a temporary flat customs duty of €3 applies to low-value consignments until the EU Customs Data Hub arrives, which is expected around 2028. After that, ordinary tariff rates apply to all imports regardless of value.
Published guidance differs slightly on how the €3 is counted. Some sources describe it as a charge per item, while others explain that it is applied per distinct tariff line, meaning each combination of HS code and country of origin in the declaration. The safe planning assumption is that a mixed parcel with several product types will cost more than a parcel holding several units of one product, and that you should confirm the exact counting method with your customs broker.
Two other points deserve emphasis. The duty is separate from VAT, and it is not covered by IOSS. The Import One Stop Shop handles VAT on low-value consignments, but the person who declares the goods is still the customs debtor for the duty. Some trackers also report that item-level product identifier data requirements start on 1 November 2026, which makes clean product data at the time of booking even more valuable.
Country Spotlights: Six Destinations Freight Buyers Ask About Most
Six markets account for a large share of the questions freight buyers raise, so it is worth a closer look at each one.
Germany
Germany applies a 19 percent standard rate and one of the more unusual small-business rules in Europe. The Kleinunternehmerregelung under section 19 of the VAT Act requires prior-year turnover below €25,000 and current-year turnover below €100,000. Both conditions must hold, and the €100,000 figure is a hard mid-year ceiling.
For non-residents there is no such relief. A foreign seller must register from the first taxable supply in Germany, for example when goods are sold from a German warehouse. Any plan that puts stock in a German fulfilment centre should therefore assume VAT registration from day one.
France
France charges 20 percent as its standard rate and uses the franchise en base regime for small businesses, with separate lines for goods and for services. Published figures for the goods line vary between €85,000 and €87,000 depending on the source and the date of indexation, while the services line sits around €37,500.
The franchise covers domestic sales only. A French micro-entrepreneur who sells to consumers in other member states may still run into the €10,000 EU-wide distance-selling threshold, so the domestic exemption is never the whole story.
Italy
Italy’s standard rate is 22 percent. Its exemption works through the regime forfettario, a flat-tax regime for individuals with revenue up to €85,000 that includes VAT relief. Companies and anyone above the ceiling register normally, and non-residents are expected to register before trading. E-invoicing through the national SDI platform applies broadly regardless of the threshold.
Spain
Spain applies 21 percent and has no threshold for anyone. Every self-employed person and every company invoices with IVA from the first euro, quarter after quarter.
For a foreign seller this is both simpler and harsher than elsewhere. It is simpler because there is no line to monitor, and harsher because no exemption exists to lean on. The European Commission’s referral to the Court of Justice in March 2026 means the position may eventually change, but until it does, any claim that Spain offers an €85,000 exemption is premature.
Freight buyers should also remember that the cross-border SME scheme cannot be used inside Spain. A small EU business exempt at home has no equivalent Spanish exemption to claim, so it needs a normal Spanish VAT position as soon as it makes taxable supplies there.
Netherlands
The Netherlands charges 21 percent and offers the optional small business scheme known as KOR for turnover up to €20,000. The Netherlands is also a popular entry point for non-EU importers because of its licensing arrangement for deferring import VAT, commonly called the Article 23 licence. Under it, import VAT is accounted for in the periodic VAT return instead of being paid in cash at the border.
The cash-flow benefit is real, but it requires a licence and a properly registered VAT position, so it suits sellers with steady volume rather than occasional consignments.
Poland
Poland applies a 23 percent standard rate and, from 2026, a domestic exemption of PLN 240,000. As with every other market, the figure applies to businesses established there. A seller holding stock in a Polish warehouse without being established in Poland should expect to register from the first sale.
Where Thresholds Stop Helping: Non-EU Sellers, Overseas Stock and Marketplaces
For a seller in China, the honest summary is that the country table is mostly background reading. Non-established sellers get no domestic threshold, cannot use the €100,000 SME scheme and do not benefit from the €10,000 distance-selling rule. What matters instead is how the goods get to the customer and where they sit while they wait.
If goods are shipped directly from China to an EU consumer in consignments worth €150 or less, the seller can use the Import One Stop Shop, collecting VAT at checkout and declaring it in a single monthly return. A non-EU seller normally needs an EU-based intermediary to do this. If the seller skips IOSS, import VAT is collected from the recipient or the carrier at the border, which is where most delivery refusals and surprise fees come from.
If goods are shipped in bulk to a warehouse in the EU, the analysis changes completely. The importer of record pays import VAT, the seller usually needs an EORI number and a local VAT registration in the warehouse country, and later sales from that stock are either domestic supplies or intra-EU distance sales. There is no threshold protecting a non-established seller in that situation. Pallets held in a German, French or Polish warehouse trigger registration immediately.
Online marketplaces add one more twist. Under the deemed supplier rules, a marketplace is treated as if it had bought and resold certain goods itself, including low-value imports and some B2C sales by non-EU sellers of goods located in the EU. This shifts VAT collection to the platform for those transactions. It does not remove the seller’s own obligations for B2B sales, larger consignments or stock movements, so a marketplace listing is never a substitute for a compliance plan.
From Threshold to Landed Cost: Import VAT Step by Step
Even when thresholds are irrelevant, import VAT is not. It is calculated on the customs value of the goods plus any duty and the transport and insurance costs incurred up to the first place of destination in the EU. That is why an accurate freight invoice matters for tax, not only for billing.
The example below uses illustrative numbers for a container of general merchandise entering Germany. The duty rate of 6.5 percent is only a placeholder, because the real rate depends on the HS classification and country of origin of each product.
| Line item | Amount | Comment |
| Goods value (FOB China) | €20,000.00 | Commercial invoice value |
| Ocean freight | €1,500.00 | Included in customs value |
| Cargo insurance | €100.00 | Included in customs value |
| Customs value (CIF) | €21,600.00 | Basis for duty |
| Import duty at 6.5% (illustrative) | €1,404.00 | Rate depends on HS code and origin |
| VAT base | €23,004.00 | Customs value plus duty |
| Import VAT at 19% | €4,370.76 | German standard rate |
| Total duty and import VAT | €5,774.76 | Before any deferral or recovery |
Who pays this amount, and when, depends on the Incoterm and the importer of record. Under DAP terms the consignee usually settles duty and VAT on arrival. Under DDP terms the seller does. Some countries let registered importers avoid the cash outlay altogether: the Netherlands through its Article 23 licence, and France through a reverse-charge mechanism under which import VAT is declared and deducted on the same return. These features are useful, but they depend on the importer holding a valid VAT registration in the country of import.
The point for threshold planning is straightforward. If your business model requires a VAT registration in the destination country, registering deliberately and early is almost always cheaper than discovering the requirement when a consignment is held at the border.
IOSS, OSS and Local Registration: Choosing the Right Route
Three routes cover most cross-border consumer and business scenarios. The Import One Stop Shop covers distance sales of goods imported from outside the EU in consignments up to €150. The Union One Stop Shop covers intra-EU distance sales of goods and certain services, with one quarterly return for all member states. A direct local registration is required whenever stock is held in a country and sold there, or when rules or thresholds fall outside what the two schemes cover.
Each route interacts with thresholds differently. IOSS has no minimum turnover, and use of it is optional. The Union OSS reflects the €10,000 rule for EU-established sellers. Local registration is triggered by the domestic threshold for established businesses and by the first taxable supply for everyone else.
| Shipment scenario | Typical route | Is a threshold relevant? |
| China-to-consumer parcel worth €150 or less | IOSS, or import VAT collected at the border | No; IOSS is optional and has no turnover minimum |
| Consignment above €150 | Standard import declaration, VAT paid or deferred | No |
| Stock in an EU warehouse sold to consumers in the same country | Local VAT registration | Only for EU-established sellers; non-established sellers have none |
| Stock in one EU warehouse sold to consumers in several countries | Local registration plus Union OSS | The €10,000 rule applies only to sellers established in one member state |
| Pallets to an EU distributor (B2B) | Import declaration by an importer of record | No |
Filing frequency also differs. IOSS returns are filed monthly, while Union OSS returns are quarterly. That difference matters for cash planning, because IOSS ties up collected VAT for a much shorter period, and for compliance calendars, because a missed monthly deadline arrives faster than a missed quarterly one.
A Practical Decision Path Before You Ship
Instead of memorising country data, it is easier to run every new shipment through a short sequence of questions. Start with your legal establishment. If your company is established in an EU member state, your domestic threshold, the €100,000 SME scheme and the €10,000 distance-selling limit are all potentially relevant. If it is established outside the EU, none of them apply, and your analysis begins with the goods and the customer.
Next, ask whether the goods will be in the EU before they are sold. Goods that cross the border only after the customer has ordered, in consignments of €150 or less, fit IOSS and the border-collection alternative. Goods that arrive first and are sold later create a local stock position, and that almost always means a VAT registration in the warehouse country.
Then look at the customer. Consumer sales bring the distance-selling rules, marketplace deemed supplier rules and consumer-facing price transparency. Business sales bring VAT number validation, reverse-charge treatment where available and different invoicing requirements.
Finally, check the numbers against the table in this article and against the current guidance of the relevant tax authority. If you are within twenty percent of a national line, or a change is pending as in Belgium and Hungary, plan for the higher obligation rather than the lower one.
Common Threshold Mistakes That Cost Importers Money
The most frequent mistake is applying a domestic threshold to a non-established business. A seller reads that Germany or France has an exemption of around €85,000 or less, concludes that early sales are VAT-free, and then discovers that the exemption only ever applied to local businesses.
The second mistake is treating IOSS as a complete solution. It handles VAT on low-value consignments. It does not handle the new flat customs duty, EORI registration, HS classification or the item-level data now required for declarations. Sellers who assumed that IOSS registration meant “everything is covered” have found the difference at clearance.
A third mistake is ignoring the cliff effect. Because crossing a threshold makes the whole value added taxable, a seller who watches turnover only at year-end can cross the line months earlier without noticing, and then owes VAT out of margin on sales already made at prices that did not include it.
The last mistake is relying on outdated numbers. Ireland raised its limits twice in two years, France’s proposed €25,000 line never took effect, Hungary, Poland and Romania all moved, and Belgium is about to. A figure copied from a 2023 article is likely to be wrong for at least one market on your list.
How Topway Shipping Supports EU-Bound Shipments
Since 2010, Topway Shipping, headquartered in Shenzhen, China, has been a professional provider of cross-border e-commerce logistics solutions. The founding team has more than 15 years of experience in international logistics and customs clearance, with a strong focus on China–U.S. transportation, and that background carries over to the way it approaches other trade lanes, where accurate documents and predictable clearance matter just as much.
VAT thresholds are decided by tax rules, but their consequences show up in the freight chain, and that is where a logistics partner can help. Topway Shipping’s services span the entire chain, including first-leg transportation, overseas warehousing, customs clearance and last-mile delivery. For sellers heading into Europe, this means the physical plan and the tax plan can be discussed together: where the goods will sit, who will act as importer of record, how the customs value will be documented and how the final delivery will be handled.
For larger volumes, Topway Shipping also offers flexible full-container-load and less-than-container-load ocean freight from China to major ports worldwide. FCL suits sellers replenishing a warehouse in bulk, while LCL suits smaller replenishment cycles and market tests. In both cases, consistent commercial invoices, correct product descriptions and reliable origin information reduce the risk that a shipment is held for questions, which is especially valuable now that low-value declarations need more detail after 1 July 2026.
Topway Shipping works alongside your VAT adviser or fiscal representative rather than replacing them. The adviser decides which registrations and schemes fit your business. The logistics partner makes sure the shipment, the documents and the delivery match that decision. Getting the two aligned before the first booking is far cheaper than repairing a mismatch after the goods arrive.
Conclusion
There is no single EU VAT threshold, and that is exactly why the topic causes so many errors. The domestic exemption differs in every country, from none in Spain to about €85,000 to €87,000 at the top of the range. The €100,000 SME scheme and the €10,000 distance-selling limit add two EU-wide layers, and both are reserved for businesses established in the EU. For sellers outside the EU, the practical rule is different and stricter: registration is generally required from the first taxable supply.
The 2026 changes reinforce the lesson. Thresholds are moving in Hungary, Poland, Romania and Belgium, Spain is under pressure from the Commission, and the end of the €150 duty exemption has made low-value shipments more paperwork-intensive than before. Businesses that treat VAT and customs as part of shipment planning, rather than as afterthoughts, will find the changes manageable.
Use the table in this article as a fast reference, confirm the final figures with a local adviser, and build your freight plan around the obligations that actually apply to your legal structure. If you are preparing an EU-bound shipment and want the logistics side organised properly, Topway Shipping can help you plan routes, warehousing and clearance around your VAT position.
FAQs
Q: Is there one VAT registration threshold for the whole EU?
A: No. Each member state sets its own domestic exemption, capped at €85,000 since 2025. Separate EU-wide rules add a €100,000 cross-border SME scheme and a €10,000 distance-selling threshold for EU-established sellers.
Q: Do sellers based in China get a VAT threshold in the EU?
A: Generally no. Non-established sellers must register from the first taxable supply, for example when selling from stock held in an EU warehouse. Shipments of €150 or less can use IOSS instead.
Q: Which EU country has no VAT threshold?
A: Spain. The European Commission referred it to the EU Court of Justice in March 2026 over the missing small-business regime, but for now every business charges VAT from the first euro.
Q: Does IOSS cover the new €3 customs duty?
A: No. IOSS handles VAT on consignments up to €150. The flat customs duty introduced on 1 July 2026 is a separate charge, and the declarant remains responsible for it.
Q: Can I use my home country’s exemption in other EU states?
A: Yes, if your business is established in the EU, your total EU-wide turnover stays below €100,000 and your turnover in each other country stays below its national threshold. You apply through your home tax authority.
