The 2026 finance act and e-commerce: platform VAT, OSS and IOSS

Quick answer. For an online seller, 2026 comes down to three projects: applying the distance-selling VAT framework correctly (platforms liable for VAT, the OSS and IOSS one-stop shops, the single 10,000 euro threshold above which you charge the customer's country VAT), rolling out electronic invoicing (mandatory reception for all taxable persons from 1 September 2026), and anticipating the end of the customs exemption on small imported parcels. Nothing revolutionary, but plenty of costly mistakes to avoid.

The taxation of online selling has settled since the major 2021 VAT reform, but it remains poorly applied by many sellers, especially those who sell internationally or through marketplaces. And the 2026 calendar adds two new items to watch: the arrival of electronic invoicing and the changing customs treatment of small parcels. Here is the overview, for a director of an e-commerce business or a marketplace.

Three notions structure the VAT of an online seller who sells to individuals in the European Union or imports goods.

The single 10,000 euro threshold#

Since 2021, there is a single, overall threshold of 10,000 euros per year (article 259 D of the tax code). Below this threshold, your distance sales of goods to individuals in other EU countries stay subject to French VAT. Above it, you must apply the VAT of the destination country, at the local rate. This threshold is assessed across all your intra-EU distance sales (and your electronic services), not country by country: it is quickly crossed.

The OSS one-stop shop#

To avoid registering for VAT in each country where you sell, the OSS (One-Stop Shop) lets you declare and pay, from a single French portal, the VAT due in other member states on your intra-EU distance sales. It is the central tool for a seller shipping from France to European customers.

The IOSS for imports#

For goods imported from third countries with a value not exceeding 150 euros, the IOSS (Import One-Stop Shop) lets you collect the VAT at the point of sale rather than at customs, which smooths delivery. It is the key regime for dropshipping and low-value imports. We detail these flows in our article on the OSS and IOSS VAT reconciliation for marketplaces.

Platforms liable for VAT#

An often misunderstood point: in some cases, it is the platform, not the seller, that is liable for VAT. An electronic interface (marketplace) is deemed to have bought and then resold the goods, and so becomes liable for VAT, for two categories of transactions: distance sales of imported goods with a value not exceeding 150 euros facilitated by the platform, and sales of goods already located in the Union made by a seller not established in the Union. In practice, on these sales, it is the marketplace that collects and pays over the VAT, not you. Hence the importance of clearly separating, in your accounts, your own sales from the sales where the platform is liable, so as not to declare the same VAT twice. To check your thresholds and flows, our OSS and IOSS VAT simulator maps the main cases.

Until now, parcels imported with a value not exceeding 150 euros enjoyed an exemption from customs duty (VAT still being due, notably through the IOSS). This exemption, heavily used by dropshipping from Asia, is being phased out at European level, to restore fair competition with European sellers.

At European level, a transitional measure applies from 1 July 2026 and until 2028: a flat charge of 3 euros per item on distance sales of imported goods with a value not exceeding 150 euros, pending the Union's customs reform. It therefore applies in France too. For a seller who moves a lot of small, low-priced imported items, the impact on the unit margin is not neutral and deserves to be modelled.

The other major project of 2026 concerns all taxable persons, online sellers included. From 1 September 2026, all businesses must be able to receive electronic invoices. The obligation to issue follows by size: large and intermediate-sized businesses from September 2026, SMEs and micro-businesses from September 2027.

For an online seller, two points are sensitive:

• Sales to individuals (B2C) do not fall under business-to-business electronic invoicing, but under e-reporting: the transmission to the authorities of the data of these transactions. It is a configuration project not to be underestimated when you take thousands of orders.
• Connecting to a partner dematerialisation platform (PDP) becomes necessary to receive and, in due course, issue invoices. We support this transition in our engagement dedicated to electronic invoicing 2026.

At European level, the VAT in the Digital Age (ViDA) package extends this logic. It broadens the platforms' role as liable persons, generalises digital reporting of transactions and electronic invoicing for intra-EU trade towards 2030. It is not for 2026, but an online seller structuring their tools today should choose solutions compatible with this trajectory, detailed in our article on the ViDA directive.

Dropshipping concentrates the risks: the seller is often deemed the importer, with import VAT and IOSS to manage, a customs exemption on the way out, and tighter controls (product compliance, consumer information). A model that looks profitable on paper can lose its margin with the flat charge on small parcels and the correct application of VAT. It is a model to frame precisely before launching.

• Check whether the 10,000 euro threshold is crossed and, if so, register for the OSS.
• Separate in the accounts your own sales from the sales where the platform is liable for VAT.
• Use the IOSS for imports with a value not exceeding 150 euros and anticipate the flat charge on small parcels.
• Connect to a partner dematerialisation platform to receive invoices from 1 September 2026.
• Set up the e-reporting of B2C sales with your management tool.