Delivering goods inside the EU

Your customers file VAT returns: use the 0% VAT rate

Do you sell goods to a business customer in another EU country? If so, you will usually apply the 0% VAT rate. Your customer pays VAT in their own country. You may apply the 0% VAT rate if:

• your customer has a valid VAT identification number, and
• your customer submits VAT returns, and
• the goods are dispatched from the Netherlands to another EU country

This is known as an intra-Community supply.

Does the client collect the goods? Then always ask for a transport document. That way, you can prove the goods were actually transported to another EU country. Otherwise, you will not meet the conditions for the 0% VAT rate and will have to charge VAT.

Your customers do not file VAT returns: calculate VAT

Do you export goods within the EU to customers who do not file a VAT return? For example:

• private individuals,
• entrepreneurs who supply exempted goods or services,
• legal entities that are not entrepreneurs, such as some foundations

If so, you usually need to charge the VAT of the EU country where your customer is located. Do you expect your total turnover will not exceed €10,000 per calendar year? If so, you will usually charge Dutch VAT.

Read more about supplying goods to customers who do not submit VAT returns (in Dutch).

Maximum revenue of €10,000

Do you expect that your total revenue from distance sales and digital services to private individuals within the EU will not exceed €10,000 in 1 calendar year? Then you can choose 1 of the following 2 possibilities for declaring VAT:

1. You charge and pay Dutch VAT. Do you exceed €10,000 after all? Then from that moment on, you charge the VAT of your customer's EU country. You also file your VAT return in that country. The following year you will also have to calculate foreign VAT. Even if your revenue remains less than €10,000 that year.
2. Would you rather calculate the foreign VAT for the EU country you deliver to? For example, because the VAT rate is lower. You must report this to the Netherlands Tax Administration using the form Melding omzetbelasting – Keuze plaats van prestatie digitale diensten en afstandsverkopen (in Dutch). You will then also file your VAT return in that country.

Filing VAT returns in different EU countries (one-stop-shop)

Do you deliver goods to one or more EU countries? Does it involve distance selling and digital services? And is your annual revenue more than €10,000? You can then make use of the Union scheme. This means you can submit your quarterly VAT returns within the EU in the one-stop shop (OSS). You no longer have to do this separately in each EU country.

Check the product requirements

Products must be safe to use before they are launched on the market. That is why you should check the EU product requirements for your product. If your product meets the European requirements, you are usually free to export it to every EU member state.

There are exceptions. For instance, for goods that pose a risk to the health of people and animals or to public safety. The EU Product Contact Points (PCP) offer information on this with the relevant organisations in other EU countries.

Check the local legislation

You should also check the national regulations of the country where you are selling. For example:

• Many countries demand that you provide product information in the country’s language(s). That applies to packaging, labels, and user manuals.
• Sometimes you must make a technical adaptation to the product. For instance, a different type of power plug.
• Some countries have rules to reduce the amount of packaging waste.
• Do you export electrical or electronic equipment? If so, you may have to deal with rules on electrical or electronic waste.

Find out what the rules and regulations (in Dutch) in your chosen destination country are on rvo.nl.

Stricter requirements for packaging

From 12 August 2026, stricter requirements for packaging apply. These are the first obligations under the European Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR).