About the import scheme
From 1 July 2021, imports from non-EU countries of a value of less than DKK 80 will no longer be exempt from VAT. This means that in future, EU consumers will have to pay VAT on the first Danish krone on goods they receive from non-EU countries.
The import scheme is an optional special scheme under the VAT One Stop Shop scheme for businesses in and outside the EU aimed at making it easier to import goods from outside the EU according to the new rules. You can read more about the scheme on this page.
Are you ready to register your business?
Register for the VAT One Stop Shop scheme
Log on VAT One Stop Shop using MitID
You have to use MitID to log on to VAT One Stop Shop in future if you do want to register your business or have to declare or pay VAT under the VAT One Stop Shop scheme.
You can no longer access VAT One Stop Shop if you have used an E-tax password to log on.
Log on using two-factor authentication if you do not have MitID
If your business cannot get MitID, you have to log on to VAT One Stop Shop using a two-factor authentication.
Read more about two-factor authentication
Read more about registering your business for VAT One Stop Shop.
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.
In other words, this scheme contributes to faster and more transparent trade in non-EU goods subject to VAT.
Your business IOSS number is confidential
You have to be very carful in your use of the IOSS number - and you may not give it to anybody of no relevance to your business. Your business may risk becoming liable for all shipments registered with your IOSS number, even if it has been abused by others. This is why, you should only use your IOSS number for business sales.
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.
If your goods are subject to certain excise duties (such as alcohol and manufactured tobacco) you can't use the import scheme.
Nor can you use the import scheme for goods that you store 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.
The import scheme is for businesses established in and outside the EU if they provide distance selling of goods to private consumers in the EU which are sent directly to the consumer from non-EU countries. The value of the goods may not exceed EUR 150.
Businesses in the EU
If your business is established in the EU, you can use the scheme if you are providing distance selling of goods to private consumers in the EU which are sent directly to the consumer from a non-EU country.
Business outside the EU
If your business is established outside the EU and has no place of business in the EU, you can ask an intermediary in the EU to register your business for the import scheme on your behalf. The intermediary must be registered in the EU. When a consumer in the EU buys good on your website, it is your intermediary in the EU who declares and pays VAT on your sale via the import scheme.
Remember that you are jointly liable for the amounts that your intermediary has declared on your behalf on your sales in Denmark. Read more about how you register and what you need to have at hand to do so.
Is your business Norwegian?
If your business is established in Norway, you can register your business for the import scheme in Denmark without having to engage an intermediary. However, you are required to send your goods from Norway.
Are you an intermediary for a non-EU business?
If you represent a business that provides distance selling of goods imported from outside the EU to private consumers in the EU, you can register for the import scheme as an intermediary for that business. However, your business has to be registered in the EU. Read more about how you register and what you need to have at hand to do so.
A platform business facilitates distance selling of goods imported from countries outside the EU to private consumers in the EU by means of an online interface functioning as a market place, a platform, a portal or something similar.
The platform is considered to be the business selling the goods which is why you have to register the platform in the VAT One Stop Shop scheme and not the businesses selling their goods via the platform.
The goods sold to private consumers may come directly from a non-EU country, and the platform may then be registered and pay VAT via the import scheme. This applies no matter where the businesses selling goods via the platform are established, as long as the goods come from a country outside the EU. The import scheme is only an option as long as the value of the goods does not exceed EUR 150.
If the goods come from a warehouse in the EU and are delivered to private consumers in the EU, either as distance selling or domestic sale, and the businesses selling the goods via the platform are not established in the EU, the platform can be registered and settle VAT via the EU scheme, and in this case the limit of EUR 150 does not apply.
The platform cannot use the EU scheme to sell own goods domestically. The scheme can only be used for domestic sales, if the platform is considered the business selling the goods. The platform’s sale of own goods domestically, such as goods from a warehouse in Denmark, which are sold to a private consumer in Denmark, should be declared and paid via the normal Danish VAT rules and not in the EU scheme.
Registering your platform business
You can register your platform business for the EU scheme or the import scheme under the VAT One Stop Shop Scheme.
Read more about how you register your platform business in the VAT One Stop Shop scheme.
What is distance selling?
Distance selling is considered to be the sale of goods that are sold from a business and sent to a private consumer crossing a national border where the seller is involved in the transport of the goods. This mostly applies to online sales.
If you want to register your business for the import scheme under the VAT One Stop Shop scheme, you can do so via the link.
Read more about how you register and what you need to have at hand to do so.
Do you want to register your business for another scheme?
The VAT One Stop Shop scheme consists of three schemes: The Union scheme, the non-Union scheme and the import scheme Your business can be registered for one or more of the schemes. It all depends on where your business is established and what you are selling.
You can use the import scheme when you sell goods to private consumers in the EU that are imported from outside the EU. But if the goods are sent from a warehouse in the EU to consumers in other EU countries, you should register for the Union scheme instead.
Read and find answers to the most frequently asked questions about the import scheme of VAT One Stop Shop.
If your business provides distance selling of goods and sells certain services to private consumers in the EU, special rules apply for businesses to declare and pay VAT in the member country where the consumption will take place. Among other things, the new rules mean that:
- national borders for distance selling have been abolished.
- in relation to distance selling of goods and sale of certain services (electronically supplied services, including telecommunication services and radio and television broadcasting services) a common EU limit is introduced, meaning that only when the total sales of the business exceed EUR 10,000 per calendar year should the VAT be paid in the country of consumption. However, this limit only applies to businesses within the EU.
- the VAT exemption for goods of a value of less than DKK 80 (small consignments of goods) from countries outside the EU is abolished and VAT will be charged on the first Danish krone.
- the current VAT Mini One Stop Shop scheme will be called the VAT One Stop Shop scheme.
- distance selling of goods and several types of services will be included in the rules on declaring VAT via the VAT One Stop Shop scheme.
Read more about the new VAT rules on sales to private consumers from 1 July 2021.
If your business is registered for the current VAT Mini One Stop Shop scheme, it will automatically be transferred to the new VAT One Stop Shop scheme from 1 July 2021. However, we need more information from you before you can start using the VAT One Stop Shop scheme.
We have sent a letter to the relevant businesses in April.
See which information we need from you to start using the VAT One Stop Shop scheme.
Yes. It is optional if you want to register your business for the VAT One Stop Shop scheme. But the scheme makes it a lot easier for you to sell goods or services in the EU as you can do all your VAT declaration and payment in one EU country.
Yes, your business can be registered for more than one of the three schemes in the VAT One Stop Shop scheme at the same time. Which scheme/schemes you can register your business for depends on where your business is established, which goods or services you supply and where they come from.
Yes. If your business is not established the EU, you should ask an intermediary in the EU to register your business for the import scheme under the VAT One Stop Shop scheme. However, the goods have to be sent directly to the consumers in the EU from outside the EU, and the value of the goods cannot exceed EUR 150.
It is then your intermediary in the EU who registers your business and declares and pays VAT on your sales to private consumers in the EU.
Remember that you are jointly liable for the amounts that your intermediary has declared on your behalf on your sales in Denmark.
Read more about how you register your business and what you need to have at hand to do so.
That depends on from which country the jewellery is sent to the consumer.
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, however, you keep the jewellery in Denmark and send it from Denmark to consumers in Sweden or another EU country, you can declare and pay VAT on your sales to the Danish tax authorities via the EU scheme under the VAT One Stop Shop scheme.
If you care still unsure of which scheme to use, we are ready to take your call on (+45) 72 22 28 67.
For further legal information in Danish see our legal guide .