An Estonian private limited company (OÜ) that sells to consumers in other EU countries soon meets the question of where its sales are taxed and where it must account for VAT. The Estonian Value Added Tax Act answers it with three tools: the place-of-supply rule with its €10,000 threshold, the one-stop shop (OSS) for sales inside the EU and the import one-stop shop (IOSS) for low-value goods sent from outside the EU. This article sets out what each rule says and which registration fits which business.
The article is general information, not tax advice. The facts of your sales decide which rule applies; the Tax and Customs Board and the tax authorities of the other countries decide.
Where a sale to a consumer in another EU country is taxed
- The main rule. When goods are transported from Estonia to a person in another Member State who is not registered for VAT, the place of supply of that intra-Community distance selling is not Estonia (Value Added Tax Act § 10¹(5)). The same applies to telecommunications and electronically supplied services provided to such a person in another Member State (§ 10¹(6)). VAT is then due at the rate of the customer's country.
- The €10,000 threshold. The place of supply stays in Estonia when the company has its registered office or permanent establishment only in Estonia and its total supplies of this kind did not exceed 10,000 euros in the previous calendar year and do not exceed it in the current year (§ 10¹(7)). From the supply with which the total passes 10,000 euros in the current year, the main rule applies again (§ 10¹(9)).
- By choice. Under the threshold the company may still choose to tax these supplies in the customer's country; the choice then binds it for at least two calendar years (§ 10¹(8)).
The one-stop shop (OSS)
Instead of registering for VAT in each country of its customers, a VAT-registered company with its registered office in Estonia can declare and pay that VAT in Estonia under the special arrangements of § 43 of the Value Added Tax Act — the one-stop shop.
- Who and what. It covers services whose place of supply is in another Member State provided to persons not registered for VAT (§ 43(1) clause 1) and intra-Community distance selling (§ 43(1) clause 4). Once chosen, it applies to all such supplies (§ 43(2)).
- From when. The arrangements apply from the first day of the quarter after the request is submitted (§ 43(8)); if the first such sale comes earlier, from the day of that sale, provided the request is submitted by the tenth day of the following month (§ 43(9)).
- Returns and payment. One return per quarter through the Tax and Customs Board portal, by the end of the first month of the next quarter, and the VAT is paid by the same date (§ 43(10)).
- No input VAT in the return. VAT paid in another Member State cannot be deducted in the OSS return; the company claims a refund from the tax authority of that country (§ 43(14)).
- Records for ten years. The records of the sales — among them the customer's country, the dates and amounts and evidence of returned goods — are kept for ten years from 31 December of the year of the transaction (§ 43(15)) and made available electronically on request (§ 43(16)).
The import one-stop shop (IOSS)
- What it covers. Distance selling of goods imported from outside the EU in consignments whose actual value does not exceed 150 euros; excise goods are excluded (Value Added Tax Act § 43¹(1)).
- Who can use it. Among others, a VAT-registered company with its registered office in Estonia that carries out such sales or enables them through an online marketplace (§ 43¹(2) clauses 1 and 3). A seller from outside the EU generally acts through an intermediary — an Estonian company appointed to perform the obligations on its behalf (§ 43¹(2) clause 5 and (3)); one intermediary at a time (§ 43¹(6)).
- Why it matters at the border. When the IOSS number is given to the tax authority at the latest with the import declaration, the import itself is exempt from VAT (§ 17(1) clause 11), so the customer does not pay VAT again on delivery.
- Returns. One return per month, by the end of the month following the month of supply (§ 43¹(11)). The time of supply is the day the payment for the goods is accepted (§ 43¹(7)).
When a registration in another country is needed
The one-stop shops cover sales to consumers. They do not cover, for example, sales to businesses or goods kept in a warehouse in another country and sold there; such supplies are governed by the VAT law of that country, and the company may have to register for VAT there. Which rule of that country applies is decided by its tax authority.
What we prepare
Three separate services, each from from €650:
- One-stop shop (OSS) VAT registration for an Estonian company — a check of the conditions from the company's facts, the completed OSS registration with the Tax and Customs Board and a short description of the return periods and deadlines;
- Import one-stop shop (IOSS) VAT registration for an Estonian company — the same for the import scheme of § 43¹;
- EU VAT registration for an Estonian company in another EU country — the list of documents that country's tax authority asks for, the completed application and its annexes, the filing and the written follow-up of its questions; one country per order line.
Not included: the OSS, IOSS or other VAT returns after the registration, tax advice, a fiscal representative where the other country requires one, and the decision of the tax authority — the tax authority grants the registration.
Prices exclude VAT. All communication takes place by email.
Ready to start? The check of the conditions, the registration with the Tax and Customs Board and the return deadlines; not tax advice. Order.
Official sources
The laws this article names, by the name of their official text, as read on 9 October 2026. For the Estonian acts we read the English translation in Riigi Teataja; the legally binding text is the Estonian one.
- Value-Added Tax Act — Riigi Teataja, English translation
- Value Added Tax Act — Riigi Teataja, English translation
Sources are named in the text, without links. To see which of our services your company needs, open the Business Navigator.