MOSS: success or disaster?

What is MOSS again? MOSS for “electronic services” is the possibility to account for the VAT via a single point of contact for reporting and paying VAT (via a web portal) in the member state in which the business is VAT registered, which VAT is due in other member states². Since there is no threshold, MOSS applies to all businesses in the EU that perform such “electronic services” to private individuals.

However, in February 2015, overall only around 7,000 businesses have registered for MOSS in the various EU countries. Considering that in the UK alone 200,000 MOSS registrations were expected, this number of 7,000 is far below the expectations. Furthermore there are various publications that indicate that MOSS at least is not as easy as intended.

Based on the number of actually filed returns until the 20^th of April 2015 it will be clear whether the introduction of the MOSS results in a “VAT disaster” or not. There are no figures published yet, so: to be continued…

1. MOSS is only applicable for VAT on telecommunication services, television and radio broadcasting services and electronically supplied services, charged to consumers residing in other EU Member States (non-VAT taxable persons).
2. For more explanation about MOSS we refer to 2015 is coming, Mini One Stop Shop related Highlights