Amazon Europe VAT and OSS: What Supplement Brands Must Know

From 1 July 2021, the EU introduced a new VAT framework for e-commerce: (1) The distance selling thresholds (previously €35,000–€100,000 per country) were abolished. (2) A new EU-wide threshold of €10,000 was introduced — once your cross-border B2C sales across all EU countries exceed €10,000 in a calendar year, you must charge the VAT rate of the consumer's country. (3) The One Stop Shop (OSS) scheme was introduced to simplify compliance — register in one EU country and report all EU VAT through a single return.

The OSS simplification does NOT apply when you store goods in Amazon FBA warehouses in other EU countries. If Amazon moves your inventory from Germany to France or Poland via the Pan-European FBA or European Fulfillment Network programmes, you are deemed to have 'imported' goods into those countries and must register for VAT locally. Most brands using Pan-European FBA end up with VAT obligations in 6–7 EU countries regardless of OSS. You must: (1) Register for VAT in each country where FBA inventory is stored. (2) File local VAT returns in each country. (3) Use OSS only for B2C sales from a single FBA country to consumers in other EU countries.

• Germany: Supplements typically 7% (reduced rate as food). Cosmetics 19%.
• France: Supplements 5.5% (reduced food rate). Cosmetics 20%.
• Italy: Supplements 10% (reduced). Cosmetics 22%.
• Spain: Supplements 10% (reduced food). Cosmetics 21%.
• Netherlands: Supplements 9% (reduced). Cosmetics 21%.

The classification of your specific product (food supplement vs cosmetic vs medicinal product) determines which VAT rate applies — this is not always obvious and varies by country. Getting this wrong in Germany (confusing 7% vs 19%) is a common and costly mistake.

Post-Brexit, UK VAT is entirely separate from EU VAT. UK VAT standard rate is 20%. Supplements: most are zero-rated (0%) as 'food' under UK VAT law — but this depends on product form and claims. Vitamins in tablet/capsule form are standard-rated (20%). Sports nutrition products are generally standard-rated. Skincare is standard-rated (20%). Register for UK VAT when your UK sales exceed £85,000 annually, or immediately if you're importing goods to UK FBA (no threshold applies).

1. Register for VAT in Germany as your first EU market and primary FBA country.
2. If using Pan-European FBA, register in all 7 programme countries or restrict FBA to a single country (less efficient but simpler VAT).
3. Register for OSS in one EU country (typically Germany if that's your main market) for cross-border B2C sales from a single FBA location.
4. Use a specialist Amazon VAT service (Taxually, Avalara, hellotax) — the complexity justifies the cost (typically €150–€400/month).
5. Get UK VAT registration in place before shipping inventory to Amazon UK FBA.