EU finance ministers agreed on 9 November 2026 to delete the €150 cap on the Import One-Stop Shop, known as IOSS. The Council’s outcome of proceedings document says the limit should go, which would pull VAT on imported distance sales into IOSS no matter how big the order is.
For a high-ticket seller this is the rule that has quietly pushed European sales into a corner. Almost every sofa, treadmill or workshop machine costs more than €150, so IOSS never covered it. We track changes like this at Ecommerce Paradise because rules for big-ticket parcels land on sellers first.
Below you get what the ministers actually agreed, the road from 2021 to 2028, my read on what it means for a high-ticket store, and a short list of things to do this week. Nothing here takes effect until July 2028 at the earliest, so this is a planning story and not a panic story.
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What EU Ministers Agreed on the IOSS €150 Limit
This section sticks to reported facts. The Council reached a general approach on a draft directive that amends the VAT Directive 2006/112/EC. The file is 2023/0158(CNS), and the legal basis is Article 113 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. That means a special legislative procedure, and in the Council it needs unanimity.
The core change is short. The text says the €150 limit should be deleted. Once it goes, the deemed-supplier rule in Article 14a(1) and IOSS cover distance sales of imported goods regardless of their value. A marketplace or platform that facilitates the sale can become the party responsible for the VAT.
The Council paper adds several other points:
- Article 14(4) adds dispatch from customs warehouses to the scope.
- Article 369l excludes excise goods.
- A new Article 369la requires a Commission assessment report by 1 December 2030.
- Under Article 369o, intermediaries acting for non-EU taxable persons from countries without a mutual assistance agreement must show capacity, solvency and probity. The Council criteria are due on a Commission proposal by 31 December 2027.
The timeline is where sellers should pay attention. Member states would transpose the directive by 30 June 2028, and it would apply from 1 July 2028. There is a catch. If the IOSS functionality under Article 285(2) of Regulation (EU) 2026/2108 is not operational by 1 June 2028, application starts only when the Article 285(7) transitional solution ends. Entry into force comes on the 20th day after publication in the Official Journal.
The European Commission welcomed the deal on its taxation and customs news page. It points out that VAT has applied to all imports regardless of value since 1 July 2021. It also says IOSS has collected more than €21 billion since it launched, and that consumers face no new tax because with IOSS the VAT is already in the checkout price.
The same page says marketplaces and platforms become responsible for VAT on the sales they facilitate, and that IOSS extends to customs warehouses. The Commission will harmonise the intermediary criteria through an implementing act and review the scheme by December 2030.
What comes next is procedural. Parliament is consulted again, then the Council formally adopts the text. The new rules apply from 1 July 2028 provided the EU Customs Data Hub is operational. The Council document records no delegation positions, so there is no public count of who pushed for what.
How the IOSS €150 Threshold Got Here: 2021 to 2028
IOSS arrived with the 2021 VAT e-commerce reform. Since 1 July 2021, VAT applies to all imports whatever the value. The scheme only worked smoothly for consignments up to €150, though.
A European Parliament research service briefing explains the problem for bigger parcels. A seller shipping goods above €150 must register for VAT in each member state it sells into. If it does not, the customer pays VAT at customs on pickup. Businesses avoid that second route because it surprises buyers at the door.
The Commission put forward the fix as proposal COM(2023) 262 on 17 May 2023. It wanted the change in place by 1 March 2028. The briefing records several useful numbers:
- Goods above €150 make up roughly 10 to 20 percent of the value of e-commerce distance sales into the EU.
- More than 75 percent of consultation respondents supported removal.
- About one in five EU online shoppers bought from a non-EU seller in 2023.
- Non-EU e-commerce dispatched into the EU was about €29 billion in 2020.
- The EU collected around €2 billion in VAT in the first six months after the 2021 reform.
The briefing also carries a warning. A study found that removing the threshold alongside the customs duty exemption could have a significant fraud impact if the threshold effect disappears. Parliament’s economic affairs committee, with Olivier Chastel as rapporteur, gave a non-binding opinion in November 2023 without amendments.
Notice what moved since then. The start date slipped from 1 March 2028 in the original proposal to 1 July 2028 in the Council text, and it now depends on a data system being ready.
Meanwhile, other costs are already here. Logistics Insider reports that the EU product identifier rule and the €2 Union handling fee both took effect on 1 November. It also notes a temporary €3 duty per item type that has run since 1 July 2026 and lasts until 1 July 2028.
We covered the pieces as they landed. Start with the EU product identifier customs rule. Then read about the €2 handling fee.
Our earlier look at the EU parcel duty cited Council data showing the EU imported 4.6 billion parcels under €150 in 2024, and 91 percent came from China. That volume explains why Brussels keeps tightening the low-value rules. The high-value side was simply the next gap to close.
Why Removing the IOSS Limit Matters for High-Ticket Dropshippers
This section is my analysis, not reporting. Trevor Fenner here, and I am not a tax or legal advisor, so treat it as a way to think and not as advice for your specific business.
Start with a made-up example. Say you sell a €1,200 item to a buyer in a country with an assumed 20 percent VAT rate. The VAT on that order is €240. Today you either register in that country or hope the buyer accepts a €240 surprise at customs. Under the Council text, that €240 would sit in the checkout price through IOSS, with one registration instead of one per country. That is my read of how the mechanism is meant to work. The numbers are illustrative only.
Why does this help high-ticket sellers more than low-ticket ones? Because the bigger the order, the bigger the surprise. A buyer who sees a clean total at checkout is far less likely to refuse delivery or file a dispute. If you want to see how expensive those disputes get, read our guide on chargeback prevention for high-ticket stores.
Now the honest counterpoints, because this is not a done deal:
- The 2028 date depends on the EU Customs Data Hub and the IOSS upgrade being ready. A slip is possible, and the Council text already allows for one.
- Parliament still has to be consulted and the Council still has to adopt the text, and unanimity is required.
- The fraud warning in the briefing is real. Lawmakers may add safeguards that change the final shape.
- Regulatory Reporting Desk notes that the Commission’s summary of platform liability reads broader than the operative text, and that the text does not explain how import VAT works for consignments above €150 if application is deferred.
That last point matters most to small sellers. Between now and July 2028 the rules for orders above €150 stay as they are. Do not assume you can skip VAT registration today because a change is coming.
I also could not find official guidance on whether a Shopify storefront counts as an electronic interface that makes you, or the platform, the responsible party. Ask an EU VAT adviser before you build a plan on either assumption. Your own seller setup, where you hold stock and who the importer of record is all change the answer.
If your store sells only inside the United States, none of this touches you. It matters if you ship to Europe or plan to.
The bigger story is the direction of travel. Governments want VAT and duty collected at checkout by sellers and platforms, not chased later at the border. The UK is moving the same way, which we covered when UK marketplaces were told to collect VAT. Platforms are adjusting too, as our August story on Shopify and DDU duties showed. Expect Europe to follow the same pattern, with more collection at the point of sale and fewer surprises after delivery.
For a store owner the practical lesson is to build for clean checkout totals now. That is the thinking behind our done-for-you Turnkey build, where the store, the supplier setup and the selling markets get planned together instead of patched later. If you are still choosing what to sell, start with our guide to high-ticket niches and pick products you can ship legally into the markets you want.
On the tooling side, a few categories deserve a look as the rules tighten. Shipping tools such as Easyship are worth comparing for how they handle European parcels. Tracking tools such as AfterShip deserve the same comparison.
Want a weekly playbook for selling high-ticket into Europe? Start the 7-day free trial, then paid membership →
What to Do This Week Before the 2028 IOSS Change
None of this needs a rush. These steps take an afternoon and leave you ready whichever way the vote goes.
- Measure your exposure. Pull the last 90 days of orders and mark every order shipped into the EU that sits above €150. That share is the part of your business this change affects. If it is zero, you can stop here and just bookmark the story.
- Read the two primary sources. Skim the Council document and the Commission page linked above. Ten minutes of reading beats a day of social media threads that get the dates wrong.
- Decide if Europe is a real market for you. Compare the extra work against what you would earn. Our guide on what high-ticket dropshipping is helps you check the margins before you commit.
- Get your money setup ready for multiple currencies. Look at Wise for receiving and converting funds. Then see our walkthrough on how to set up Airwallex and compare what each account offers.
- Keep your books ready for VAT lines. Clean books make any later registration far easier. Connect QuickBooks to your store so every order is recorded. Or look at Finaloop if you want ecommerce-focused bookkeeping.
- Write your adviser question list. Ask whether a Shopify storefront counts as an electronic interface, how orders above €150 are treated before July 2028, and whether you would need an intermediary. Take the list to an EU VAT adviser, not to a forum.
- Set up the entity side properly. If you do not have a US company yet, read how to form an LLC for a high-ticket dropshipping store before you open foreign registrations.
If you want a second pair of eyes on your numbers, our coaching program is where to start. Bring your order data and your destination list. If you still need a store platform, Shopify is the one our builds run on.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the IOSS €150 threshold?
IOSS is the Import One-Stop Shop, a scheme that lets sellers charge and report VAT on imported distance sales at checkout. Until now it has covered consignments up to €150. The Council wants to delete that limit.
Has the EU already approved the change?
No. On 9 November 2026 the Council reached a general approach. Parliament is consulted again, and then the Council formally adopts the text. The special legislative procedure needs unanimity.
When would the new rules start?
The text says application from 1 July 2028, provided the EU Customs Data Hub is operational. If the IOSS functionality is not ready by 1 June 2028, application starts when the transitional solution ends.
Does this affect a store that only sells inside the United States?
No. The change covers distance sales of imported goods into the EU. A store with no EU buyers has no new obligation from this story.
Will European customers pay more?
The Commission says consumers face no new tax. VAT has applied to imports regardless of value since 1 July 2021, and with IOSS the VAT is included in the checkout price. What changes is when and how the buyer sees it.
Who will be responsible for collecting the VAT?
The Commission says marketplaces and platforms become responsible for VAT on sales they facilitate. Reporting by Regulatory Reporting Desk says that summary reads broader than the operative text, so check with an EU VAT adviser about your own setup.
Is this tax advice?
No. I am not a tax or legal advisor. This post reports public documents and gives my own read, and your situation may differ.
Want a high-ticket store built for you? Our done-for-you Turnkey service sets up the store, the supplier side and the launch work, so you spend your time selling instead of wrestling with admin. See the Turnkey service →
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Trevor Fenner is an ecommerce entrepreneur and world traveler from Seattle, Washington, and the founder of Ecommerce Paradise, a platform focused on helping entrepreneurs build and scale profitable high-ticket ecommerce and dropshipping businesses. With over a decade of hands-on experience, Trevor specializes in high-ticket dropshipping strategy, niche and product selection, supplier recruiting and onboarding, Google & Bing Shopping ads, ecommerce SEO, and systems-driven automation and scaling. Through Ecommerce Paradise, he provides free education via in-depth guides like How to Start High-Ticket Dropshipping, advanced training through the High-Ticket Dropshipping Masterclass, and fully done-for-you turnkey ecommerce services for entrepreneurs who want a faster, more hands-off path to growth. Trevor is known for emphasizing sustainable, real-world ecommerce models over hype-driven tactics, helping store owners build scalable, sellable, and location-independent brands.
He maintains homes in Seattle and Bali, spends most of the year overseas, and usually returns to Seattle for about a month each summer.
