About the Import Scheme
New customs rules from 1 July 2026
As of 1 July 2026, you have to pay customs on all goods you buy from web shops outside the EU.
Read more about the new customs rules with the Customs Agency
The Import Scheme is for businesses selling goods that is imported from outside the EU to private consumers within the EU.
The actual value of the goods may not exceed EUR 150.
Check if you can use the scheme:
You can use the Import Scheme to report and pay VAT monthly on goods you sell via distance selling to private consumers in the EU and which are sent directly to the consumer from non-EU countries. In this way, you avoid that the EU consumer gets an additional bill of VAT and fees when they receive the item. The actual value of the goods may not exceed EUR 150.
See overview: VAT rates in the EU (europa.eu)
You get an import number (IOSS number) for customs clearance purposes
When your business is registered for the import scheme, you will receive an IOSS number (or an IM number) for shipping your goods. The IOSS number may not be visible on your shipment (package/envelope).
The IOSS number is used for customs clearances purposes for a shipment. In this way, the Danish Customs Agency (Toldstyrelsen) can see that you settle VAT on the value of your goods via the One Stop Shop scheme. The goods are thus delivered directly to the buyer without any further VAT charge.
Your business IOSS number is confidential
You have to be very carful in your use of the IOSS number. Don't give the number to anybody - in order to avoid improper use.
The import scheme includes distance selling of good sent to EU consumers from countries outside the EU of a value not exceeding EUR 150. Distance selling is considered to be the sale of goods that are sold from a business and crossing a national border on the way a private consumer where the seller is involved in the transport of the goods. This mostly applies to online sales.
You can't use the Import Scheme in the following situations:
- If your goods are subject to certain excise duties (such as alcohol and manufactured tobacco).
- If you store goods in an EU warehouse and send the goods from that warehouse. In this case, the Union scheme would be the one for you. Read more about the Union Scheme.
A platform business facilitates distance selling of goods for non-EU businesses to private consumers in the EU by means of an online interface functioning as a market place, a platform, a portal or something similar.
As a result, you don't own a platform business just because your business sells goods via a platform (including websites).
The actual platform business can register for VAT One Stop Shop
It is the business selling the goods that is considered to be the platform and because of that it's the platform business you can register in VAT One Stop Shop and not the businesses selling goods via the platform.
Read more on how you register your business in VAT One Stop Shop
Either the Union Scheme or the Import Scheme
As a platform business you either have to register for the Union Scheme or the Import Scheme. Find out what applies to your business:
Where does the goods come from?
Yes. If your business is not established in the EU, you can ask an intermediary in the EU to register your business for the Import Scheme in VAT One Stop Shop. For this to be an option, your goods must be sent directly to the EU consumer from a place outside he EU and the actual value of the goods may not exceed EUR 150.
It is thus the intermediary in the EU who registers your business, reports and pays VAT on your sales to private EU consumers.
Joint and several liability
Remember that you are jointly and severally liable for the amounts reported by the intermediary on your sales to Denmark.
It depends on where the jewellery is sent from.
If the jewellery is sent from China to Sweden or an other EU country, for example
If the jewellery is sent directly from China to the consumer in Sweden, you can use the import scheme in the VAT One Stop Shop scheme. However, the value of the jewellery cannot exceed EUR 150.
When a business receives an order from a private consumer in Sweden, it passes on this order to the producers in China who then send the jewellery directly to the Swedish consumer. The Swedish consumer will not be charged VAT when receiving the jewellery as the IOSS number is stated in the customs clearance papers meaning that the VAT will be settled monthly via the VAT One Stop Shop scheme.
If the jewellery is sent from Denmark to Sweden or another EU country
If, however, you keep the jewellery in Denmark and send it from Denmark to consumers in Sweden or another EU country, you can report and pay VAT on your sales to the Danish tax authorities via the EU scheme under the VAT One Stop Shop scheme.
For further legal information in Danish see our legal guide .