The mini One Stop Shop comes into force on 1 January 2015 and will allow taxable persons supplying telecommunication services, television and radio broadcasting services and electronically supplied services to non-taxable persons in the EU Member States in which they do not have an establishment to account for the VAT due on those supplies via a web-portal in the EU Member State in which they are identified.
This scheme is optional, and is a simplification measure following the change to the VAT place of supply rules, in that the supply takes place in the Member State of the customer, and not the Member State of the supplier. This scheme allows these taxable persons to avoid registering in each Member State of consumption. The mini One Stop Shop mirrors the scheme in place until 2015 for supplies of electronically supplied services to non-taxable persons by suppliers not established in the European Union.
In practice, under the scheme, a taxable person which is registered for the mini One Stop Shop in a Member State (the Member State of Identification) electronically submits quarterly mini One Stop Shop VAT returns detailing supplies of telecommunications, broadcasting and electronically supplied services to non-taxable persons in other Member States (the Member State(s) of consumption), along with the VAT due. These returns, along with the VAT paid, are then transmitted by the Member State of Identification to the corresponding Member States of consumption via a secure communications network.
The mini One Stop Shop (MOSS) VAT returns are additional to the VAT returns a taxable person renders to its Member State under its domestic VAT obligations. The mini One Stop Shop is available to taxable persons which are established in the EU (the Union scheme), as well as taxable persons which are not established within the EU (the non-Union scheme). Without the mini One Stop Shop, the supplier would be required to register in each Member State in which he supplies services to his customers. The mini One Stop Shop scheme is optional for taxable persons.
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However, in choosing to use the mini One Stop Shop the taxable person must apply the scheme in all relevant Member States. It is not an optional scheme on an individual Member State basis. The legislation relating to the mini One Stop Shop is contained in a number of legislative acts (see Annex 1). In order to provide taxable persons and Member States with a clear understanding of the operation of the mini One Stop Shop, the Commission has brought the salient points together in the form of a Guide to the mini One Stop Shop. This Guide to the mini One Stop Shop covers four elements:
• The registration process, including deregistration;
• The return process;
• The payment process, including reimbursements;
• Miscellaneous, including record keeping.
Also the members of the Tax Representative Alliance (TRA) are able to assist clients by doing a MOSS registration and by handling the further VAT compliance. If you are interested or have questions about MOSS, please contact us via e-mail to contact@tax-representative-alliance.org