EU finance ministers agreed on November 9, 2026 to shift responsibility for collecting VAT on cross-border online sales onto the platforms themselves. From July 1, 2028, the IOSS single-window scheme will cover every good imported into the European Union, whatever its value, and every non-EU marketplace will have to pay.

The Ecofin Council, which brings together national finance ministers, approved the measure as a general approach. It marks a sharp break with current practice.

Platforms such as Temu, Shein and Aliexpress become deemed suppliers, obliged to collect the VAT and remit it. That obligation now applies only to shipments worth EUR 150 or less.

VAT is already due on all imported goods. But purchases above EUR 150 are taxed when the goods clear customs, and the bill often lands on the buyer at the door.

What changes in 2028 for VAT on online purchases?

Extending the IOSS (Import One Stop Shop) past the EUR 150 threshold means VAT must be built into the buyer’s cart, at checkout and payment. The same treatment will apply to goods that non-EU operators store in the new EU customs warehouses.

The VAT directive is tied to EU Regulation 2026/2108, which sets out the customs reform. The date of July 1, 2028 is no accident. It coincides with the expiry of the temporary EUR 3 duty introduced on July 1, 2026, and with the launch of the Customs Data Hub, the EU customs platform built to centralize goods flows and fight tax fraud and duty avoidance.

The new VAT rule has to start as the hub goes live.

What happens at the point of purchase?

The 2028 measure is meant to level the playing field. Traditional retailers and EU-based e-commerce sellers pay their VAT; non-EU operators exploit fragmented customs rules to avoid it.

Automating the charge at checkout makes prices transparent. It could also push the big Asian groups to raise prices to absorb the cost of the VAT they will owe from 2028.

Under the deemed supplier mechanism, a purchase counts for VAT purposes as two simultaneous sales: one exempt, from the seller to the platform, and one taxable, from the platform to the buyer. That second step is what forces the platform to pass on the VAT.

Ecofin on tobacco excise duties

Ministers were unanimous on e-commerce. They found no answer on excise duties on tobacco and other smoking products.

Five hours of talks ended without a deal after Malta, backed in part by Finland, judged the EU minimum rates too high against Maltese benchmarks. A minimum tax on nicotine pouches has in effect been pushed back to 2029. Ecofin ministers will take up the file again on December 11, 2026.

Editor’s note

This article was originally published in Italian on money.it by Patrizia Del Pidio on November 11, 2026 as «La svolta dell’UE sull’e-commerce, dal 2028 l’IVA la versano le piattaforme». It has been translated and adapted for an international audience by the Money.it International desk.