For most cross-border Amazon sellers, the honest answer to “what is the VAT threshold in 2026?” is there isn’t one for you. A registration threshold is a relief granted to businesses established in the country that sets it. If you are a US seller shipping into France, or a UK seller storing stock in a German fulfilment centre, the applicable threshold in that country is normally nil and registration falls due before the first taxable sale. The figures in the table below are real and officially sourced, but knowing which of the three thresholds applies to your setup matters more than any single number.
This is a compliance-orientation guide, not tax advice. Every figure here is quoted from a government or European Commission page and dated; none of it can assess your actual position, which turns on establishment status, where your stock physically sits, and your entity type. Confirm with the relevant tax authority or a licensed adviser before registering or deciding not to. If you have already decided you need help filing, the separate question of who does the filing is covered in how to vet an EU/UK VAT provider.
The Only Three Thresholds in Play
Nearly every “VAT threshold” figure circulating in seller forums is one of three different things. Confusing them is the single most expensive mistake in this area.
1. The national small-business threshold. Each country sets a turnover level below which a business established there need not charge or account for VAT. Under EU law this is capped: “That threshold shall be no higher than EUR 85 000 or the equivalent in national currency” (Council Directive (EU) 2020/285, Article 284(1), data checked 2026-07-28). Historically these thresholds were closed to foreign businesses entirely.
2. The EU-wide EUR 10 000 distance-selling threshold. This one governs cross-border B2C sales shipped from one Member State to a consumer in another. Below it, your home country’s VAT rules apply to those sales; the European Commission states that once passed, “the general rule applies without exception” and “the place of supply of intra-Community distance sales is in the Member State in which the transport of the goods ends” (EU One Stop Shop, data checked 2026-07-28). It is a single EU-wide figure, not a per-country one, and it applies to goods dispatched from the Member State where the supplier is established. It is also not goods-only: the same page states the threshold “is not counted separately for supplies of cross-border TBE services and intra-Community distance sales, but the sum of all of these supplies must not exceed EUR 10 000” — TBE being telecoms, broadcasting and electronic services.
3. The EUR 100 000 Union turnover ceiling. The reformed SME rules apply “from 1 January 2025” (Directive (EU) 2020/285, Art. 3(1), data checked 2026-07-28). Since then, an EU-established small business can claim another Member State’s small-business exemption through the cross-border SME scheme. Two conditions apply at once: turnover “in the 27 EU Member States (Union turnover) in the current and previous calendar year must not exceed EUR 100 000”, and turnover in each country where the exemption is claimed must stay under that country’s national threshold (European Commission SME scheme portal, data checked 2026-07-28). This is the one genuinely new door opened to foreign sellers — and it is shut to non-EU businesses.
The Swedish tax agency states the exclusion in the plainest terms of any authority we checked: “If your business is based in a non-EU country, it cannot be granted a VAT exemption under the VAT exemption scheme for SMEs with low annual turnover” (Skatteverket, data checked 2026-07-28).
VAT Threshold 2026 by Country
Every figure below was read on the official page cited on 2026-07-28. The middle column is the threshold for a business established in that country; the right-hand column is what a foreign seller actually faces.
| Country | National threshold (business established there), 2026 | Available to a seller established elsewhere? | Official source |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | £90,000 taxable turnover over the last 12 months | No. You must register “regardless of taxable turnover” if you and your business are based outside the UK and you supply goods or services to the UK | GOV.UK VAT thresholds |
| Germany | EUR 25,000 in the previous calendar year and EUR 100,000 not exceeded in the current year | Not under the domestic rule — § 19 opens “Ein von einem im Inland … ansässigen Unternehmer”. EU-established businesses may use the cross-border SME scheme instead | § 19 UStG |
| France | EUR 85,000 goods / EUR 37,500 services (transitional in-year tolerance: EUR 93,500 / EUR 41,250) | Only via the cross-border SME scheme, EU-established businesses only | EC SME portal — France |
| Italy | EUR 85,000; “In Italy, there are no sectorial thresholds” | Only via the cross-border SME scheme, EU-established businesses only | EC SME portal — Italy |
| Ireland | EUR 85,000 goods / EUR 42,500 services | No by default. Revenue states that a person “not established in the State” supplying to “taxable customers” there must register “irrespective of the level of turnover, unless they avail of the VAT SME Scheme”; a B2C seller with Irish stock gets there via the domestic-supply rule below | Revenue.ie VAT thresholds |
| Netherlands | EUR 20,000 per calendar year (KOR) | Not under the domestic rule — a stated condition is “Uw onderneming is gevestigd in Nederland” | Belastingdienst KOR conditions |
| Belgium | EUR 25,000 excluding VAT, with a 10% in-year tolerance to EUR 27,500 | Only via the cross-border SME scheme, EU-established businesses only | SPF Finances — franchise regime |
| Poland | PLN 240,000 — raised from PLN 200,000 with effect from 1 January 2026 | Not under the domestic rule — conditioned on holding your seat of business in Poland | podatki.gov.pl — rates and limits |
| Sweden | SEK 120,000 in the current year and in each of the two previous calendar years | EU-established: possible under the SME scheme. Non-EU established: explicitly excluded | Skatteverket |
| Spain | Not confirmed — see the disclosure section below | No for a non-EU established seller whatever the figure proves to be — the cross-border SME scheme is EU-established only | AEAT — VAT regimes |
| EU-wide (distance selling) | EUR 10,000 annual, covering intra-Community distance sales of goods since 1 July 2021 and cross-border B2C TBE services in the same combined total | Applies to dispatches from the Member State where the supplier is established | EU One Stop Shop |
| EU-wide (SME scheme) | EUR 100,000 Union turnover ceiling, from 1 January 2025 (Directive 2020/285, Art. 3(1)) | EU-established businesses only | EC SME scheme |
Poland is the one figure on this list that changed for 2026: the official guidance reads “Od 1 stycznia 2026 r. limit zwolnienia podmiotowego zostaje podwyższony z 200 000 zł do 240 000 zł” (data checked 2026-07-28). The body of that same page still shows the old PLN 200,000 next to the notice of the increase, so read the notice. If you are working from a 2025 article, that row is stale.
Match Your Setup to the Right Row
Three fact patterns cover almost every Amazon seller. Find yours before you read any number in the table again.
A — Your stock sits in a country’s fulfilment centres. Sales from that stock to buyers in that same country are domestic supplies. No distance-selling threshold applies to them, and the One Stop Shop does not cover them: the Commission is explicit that in this situation “the supplies will be domestic supplies and cannot be declared in the OSS” (EU One Stop Shop, data checked 2026-07-28). Amazon frames the same rule operationally: “If you plan to use Pan-European FBA to store your inventory and fulfill your orders, you’ll need to register for VAT before you start selling to customers in Europe” (Amazon, published 2025-06-19, checked 2026-07-28). Local registration is the normal route, and the national threshold in the table is not available to you unless you are established there. Italy is the worked example: see the Italy VAT guide for the registration route, deadlines and filing calendar of a single country done end to end.
B — You ship cross-border from one EU country only. You hold no stock abroad. Here the EUR 10,000 EU-wide figure is the live threshold. Under it, your home Member State’s VAT applies to those sales; over it, VAT is due where the goods arrive, and OSS lets you declare all of it in one return rather than registering country by country. If you also sell digital products cross-border, add that revenue in: goods and TBE services share the one EUR 10,000 total.
C — You are established outside the EU (US, UK, China, Canada). The domestic thresholds are not available to you, and neither is the cross-border SME scheme. In the UK the rule is spelled out on the registration page itself; in Ireland the non-established registration rule is written for supplies to “taxable customers”, and a B2C seller arrives at the same place through the stock rule in pattern A. Plan on registering in each country where you create a taxable presence, and treat any article promising you a EUR 85,000 grace period as describing someone else’s business.
Note also what a threshold is not: passing one is not the only trigger. Storing goods, importing under your own EORI, or being deregistered and re-entering a market can each create an obligation on day one regardless of turnover.
What We Could Not Confirm on 2026-07-28
Three items are recorded as unresolved rather than filled in with a plausible number.
- Spain’s national small-business threshold. The AEAT page listing Spain’s VAT regimes names ten regimes and none of them is a small-business franchise with a euro threshold (checked 2026-07-28). The Commission’s Spain page confirms only that “It is possible to opt for the SME scheme in Spain” and defers the figure to the TEDB database, which we could not read on the day. Spain is therefore listed without a number. Historically Spain has required registration from the first taxable supply; verify with AEAT before relying on either reading.
- The effective date of the UK’s £90,000 figure. The GOV.UK thresholds page states the amount but carried no effective date at the time of checking, and no deregistration figure was shown on that page.
- Pan-European FBA country counts. Third-party guides circulate specific counts of how many EU registrations Pan-EU eligibility now requires. We could not confirm any such count on an Amazon-owned page on 2026-07-28; the country list shown under Pan-EU eligibility inside your own Seller Central is the operative one.
Common Mistakes
- Reading a domestic threshold as if it were yours. The most common failure mode: a US seller sees “Germany EUR 25,000” and concludes there is room to trade. The statute limits the relief to businesses established in Germany.
- Treating OSS as a substitute for local registration. OSS handles cross-border B2C distance sales. It does not handle a sale of German-stored stock to a German buyer.
- Assuming the EUR 10,000 figure is per country. It is a single EU-wide annual total. Small volumes into four countries can add up past it faster than sellers expect.
- Registering late and treating the VAT as a future cost. Where registration was due earlier, the VAT on past sales is generally owed by you whether or not you charged it, plus interest and penalties set nationally.
- Trusting a provider’s threshold table over the tax authority’s. Provider pages are marketing assets with no correction obligation; several still show pre-2025 figures. Check the government page, then check the date on it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the VAT threshold in 2026 for a non-EU Amazon seller?
In practice, nil in the countries checked here. National small-business thresholds require establishment in that country, and the EU cross-border SME scheme is closed to businesses based outside the EU (Skatteverket, checked 2026-07-28). Registration is normally due from the first taxable supply.
Is the EUR 10,000 threshold per country or EU-wide?
EU-wide. It is a single annual figure covering intra-Community distance sales of goods, applicable since 1 July 2021 to dispatches from the Member State where the supplier is established. Goods and cross-border B2C TBE services count towards it in the same total, not separately (EU One Stop Shop, checked 2026-07-28).
Does storing stock with FBA in a country force a VAT registration there?
That is the normal outcome. Sales from local stock to local buyers are domestic supplies that OSS cannot declare, and Amazon’s own guidance tells Pan-European FBA users to register before selling into Europe (Amazon, published 2025-06-19, checked 2026-07-28).
Can an EU small business use another country’s threshold?
Yes — through the cross-border SME scheme, applicable from 1 January 2025 (Directive (EU) 2020/285, Art. 3(1), checked 2026-07-28), provided Union turnover stays at or below EUR 100,000 in the current and previous calendar year and the national threshold of each chosen country is also respected (European Commission, checked 2026-07-28).
What is the UK VAT registration threshold, and does it apply to me?
£90,000 of taxable turnover over the last 12 months for a UK-based business. GOV.UK states that a business based outside the UK supplying goods or services to the UK must register “regardless of taxable turnover” (checked 2026-07-28).
Conclusion
Work in this order: identify where your stock physically sits, then classify each sales flow as domestic or cross-border, then — and only then — look up a number. For sellers established outside the country in question, the table above mostly resolves to “no threshold, register first”, and the useful planning question becomes which markets are worth a registration at all. That is a margin question: run the arrival cost of each market against the FBA unit economics and the referral fee by category before adding a country.
For a single market worked end to end, start with the Italy VAT guide. When you are ready to hand the filings to someone, the vetting criteria are in Best Amazon VAT services, and the contract red lines that apply to any outsourced compliance work are in the Amazon agency checklist.