VAT OSS (One Stop Shop) is a voluntary procedure in which a Polish entrepreneur selling to consumers in other EU countries settles the VAT due there in a single quarterly return filed in Poland, instead of registering for VAT in each customer's country. The tax is calculated at the rates of the country of consumption and paid in euro. The procedure becomes practically indispensable once the total sales to EU consumers exceed EUR 10,000 (PLN 42,000) per year.
Who OSS applies to
The EU OSS scheme is designed for transactions with recipients who do not settle VAT as businesses – mainly private individuals. In practice, it covers three groups of companies:
- online shops and sellers on platforms dispatching goods from Poland to customers in other EU countries (intra-Community distance sales of goods, in short WSTO),
- providers of electronic, telecommunications and broadcasting services – e.g. selling app subscriptions, online courses, downloadable files,
- service providers whose services are taxed in the consumer's country – including specific transport, cultural and entertainment services and the short-term hire of means of transport.
OSS does not apply to sales to other EU businesses. Supplies of goods to a counterparty holding an EU VAT number are an intra-Community supply of goods (WDT), and B2B services are usually settled by the buyer under the reverse charge mechanism. Those transactions require VAT-UE registration – we describe it in the article on VAT-UE registration.
The EUR 10,000 threshold – how to count it
The threshold covers the total value of distance sales of goods and of telecommunications, broadcasting and electronic services supplied to consumers in all the other EU countries combined – not country by country. Two periods matter: the threshold must not be exceeded either in the current or in the previous year.
| Situation | Available options |
|---|---|
| Sales to EU consumers below EUR 10,000 | Polish VAT, as with domestic sales; or – after notifying the tax office – taxation in the customer's country via OSS or local registration |
| Threshold exceeded (in the current or previous year) | VAT of the consumer's country – via OSS or by registering in each country of sale |
The threshold does not apply to other services taxed in the consumer's country (e.g. admission to events). There, the place of taxation is abroad from the very first transaction.
Example: a pottery shop sells in 2026 to private customers in Czechia, Slovakia and Lithuania. In October, the total sales to those countries pass PLN 42,000. From the transaction that pushes it over the threshold, the shop must apply Czech, Slovak and Lithuanian VAT rates. Instead of three foreign registrations, it chooses OSS and settles everything in a single return in Poland.
Registering for OSS step by step
- Polish VAT status. OSS is open to both active and exempt VAT taxpayers registered in Poland. An entrepreneur using the turnover-based VAT exemption (up to PLN 240,000 of domestic sales in 2026) does not lose it when the EU threshold is exceeded – sales to other EU countries do not count towards the domestic threshold.
- The VIU-R notification. The form is filed with the Second Tax Office Warsaw-Śródmieście, which handles OSS for the whole of Poland. Since 1 February 2025, the notification can be submitted through e-Urząd Skarbowy (the e-Tax Office).
- Date of identification. As a rule, the procedure applies from the first day of the quarter following the notification. If the obligation to settle foreign VAT arose earlier (e.g. after exceeding the threshold), the notification must be filed quickly so that OSS already covers that first sale.
- Adjusting invoicing and the shop. Gross prices and rates in the sales system must match the customers' countries – reduced rates differ between countries even for the same goods.
The VIU-DO return, payment and records
Settlement under OSS is quarterly, regardless of whether the entrepreneur settles domestic VAT monthly or quarterly.
- The VIU-DO return – by the end of the month following the quarter, e.g. for Q3 2026 by 31 October 2026. The filing deadline does not shift to a working day, as the system accepts returns around the clock.
- A nil return – must also be filed for a quarter without sales.
- Payment – in euro, within the same deadline; this one does not shift to the next working day either.
- Corrections – no correction of the original return is filed; changes are shown in one of the following returns, within 3 years of the original filing deadline.
- Records – a detailed record of transactions covered by OSS (country of consumption, description of the goods or service, date, base, rate, VAT amount, payments) kept for 10 years from the end of the year of the transaction.
It is worth remembering that input VAT on purchases abroad is not deducted in OSS. It is recovered in the domestic return (for purchases in Poland) or through the VAT refund procedure in another country.
The most common mistakes
- Selective use of the procedure. Once in OSS, you must settle all the transactions it covers across all EU countries – you cannot pick a single market.
- Reporting local sales in OSS. Sales from a warehouse in Germany to a customer in Germany, domestic sales in Poland and transactions with businesses do not go into the VIU-DO.
- Counting the threshold country by country. There is one EUR 10,000 threshold, shared across the whole EU.
- No nil returns. A break in sales does not relieve you of the duty to file a return.
A separate procedure is IOSS, designed for goods shipped to consumers in the EU from outside the Union in consignments worth up to EUR 150. Registration uses a different form (VII-R) and returns are monthly. You can read more about the duties of online shops in the guide on opening an online shop.
How Good Balance can help
We help determine whether and from when a company must settle VAT abroad, prepare the VIU-R notification and file the VIU-DO return each quarter together with keeping the required records. We combine OSS settlement with ongoing service under full accounting, and the VAT invoicing service supports you when issuing foreign-sales invoices.