EU will tax user sales on marketplaces

Online marketplaces such as Amazon, eBay and Vinted will now have to report sales made on their platforms by end users to the tax office. This is part of a new EU law. Private sellers will be reported when they make over 2,000 euros or have over 30 transactions per year.

Online platforms have to report sales by European users as of January 1st. This is part of the new Platform Tax Transparency Act, also known as DAC7. For many European countries, though, the deadline has been pushed to the end of Q1.

Sales reported starting from 2,000 euros

According to the new EU rules, online marketplaces have to report sales proceeds made by users on their platforms. In addition, user information such as the partner seller’s name, date of birth, address, bank details and tax ID also have to be reported.

Not every merchant is liable.

Rather than reporting to the country where Amazon or Bol.com resides, platforms have to report to the EU-country where the user is located. Not every merchant is liable though. Private sales qualify starting from 30 transactions per year or when generating over 2,000 euros.

2 months delay for most EU countries

The new tax law is in effect as of this year. However, over half of EU member states did not meet this deadline for implementing it in their national laws. This is the case for Belgium, Germany, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia and Spain. For these countries, the date has been pushed for another 2 months.

Over half of EU countries missed the deadline.

‘Make economic activities of vendors transparent’

Only last week, Germany implemented their national law for marketplaces reporting on their users’ sales. According to the German government, the legislation aims to make the ‘economic activities of vendors on digital platforms transparent for tax authorities’. Sellers who make money on these platforms should be taxed ‘equally and lawfully’, the law’s explanation document says.