Shopify stores: frequently asked questions

Everything tax-related about selling in several countries with a single point of contact: your store's accounting and tax in Spain, VAT registration and filings in 53 countries, OSS and IOSS, fiscal representative and EORI, US sales tax, and EPR for packaging, electrical equipment, batteries and textiles in seven European countries. DPL Asesores is a Shopify Partner.

In the 27 EU member states, in the UK, Norway and Switzerland, and outside Europe in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Japan, Mexico, Chile, South Africa, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, Egypt, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Nigeria, Indonesia, the Maldives and Iceland. For digital products, in more than 80 countries.

Yes. We work remotely with online stores across Spain and with foreign sellers selling in Europe. The office is in Alicante, but the work is done by email, video call and with your store connected to the accounts.

Because the transactions are connected: goods leaving Spain for your stock in another country are declared on both sides, and what is declared here has to reconcile with what is declared there. With a single point of contact, it reconciles first time.

No. The service covers taxes, registrations and accounting, with whichever warehouse, logistics provider or marketplace you choose.

A company recognised by Shopify to help merchants. Here it applies to everything around the store: accounting for sales and payouts and the taxes of selling in several countries.

Yes. Moving your goods to another member state is, for VAT purposes, a deemed intra-EU supply in Spain and an intra-EU acquisition in the destination country. To declare it, and to sell from there, you need a VAT number in that country. The registration is handled as part of the service.

In 53: the 27 EU member states, the UK, Norway and Switzerland, and outside Europe the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Japan, Mexico, Chile, South Africa, the Gulf and several more. Each country has its own page explaining what is filed.

Everything that country requires once you are registered: periodic VAT returns, the EC sales list, Intrastat above the thresholds, the annual return where one exists, tax demands from its authority and corrective or late filings if needed. Everything is filed on time and reconciled with your accounts in Spain.

Not if the customer is in that same country. A sale from your stock in Germany to a customer in Germany is a German domestic sale: it is declared in Germany, with the German VAT number. OSS only covers distance sales that cross a border.

No. Your Spanish company, or your self-employed registration, is registered for VAT in that country without setting up a company there. In some countries, if your business is from outside the EU, a fiscal representative is required, which is included in the service.

It depends on the country and the authority: from a few weeks to several months. That is why it pays to start before moving the goods, not after.

Your company must be registered in the Register of Intra-EU Operators (ROI) and declare the transfers on Form 349. If the volume exceeds the thresholds, also on Intrastat.

The tax logic is the same: wherever the stock is, there is VAT to declare. With Pan-European FBA, Amazon spreads your product across several countries and you need a VAT number and returns in each one. Registration and compliance in all of them are included.

Yes. The registration, the returns for the late periods and the replies to tax demands are filed. The sooner it is regularised, the lower the surcharges.

The scheme that lets you declare in Spain, in a single quarterly return (Form 369), the VAT on all your distance sales to consumers in other EU countries. That way you don't have to register in each country just for selling there.

The annual figure, adding up all EU countries, of sales to consumers in other member states. Below it you can apply Spanish VAT; above it, every sale carries the customer's country VAT, and OSS is the way to declare it.

The import one-stop shop. It applies if you sell EU consumers products coming from outside the EU in consignments of up to €150: you charge VAT at checkout and declare it every month, and the customer pays nothing on delivery.

Yes. For OSS you register in a member state of identification (under the Union scheme if you hold stock in the EU, or the non-Union scheme for services). For IOSS you need an intermediary established in the EU, included in the service.

Only for distance sales that cross a border. If you hold stock in another country and sell to customers in that country, that sale is domestic and you need the VAT number there. OSS and local VAT coexist.

The EU "VAT in the Digital Age" (ViDA) package extends the one-stop shop from July 2028 to transfers of own stock between countries and to more transactions, to reduce local registrations. Until then, the current rules remain in force, and the service will adapt.

Shopify can apply the customer's country VAT once you exceed the threshold and handle IOSS at checkout. The set-up is reviewed so that what is charged matches what is declared.

A person or company established in the country that answers to its tax authority for your VAT obligations: it files the returns, handles tax demands and, in many countries, is jointly liable for the debt. That is why it usually asks for guarantees.

For non-EU businesses, in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, Slovenia, Spain, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden and Switzerland. In Switzerland, for every foreign business. EU businesses register directly in the other member states, and in Germany, Slovakia, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, the Czech Republic, the UK and Norway non-EU businesses don't need one either.

The identification number for customs operations. Any company that imports or exports needs one: one for the whole EU, which in Spain is issued by the Tax Agency, and a separate one for the UK (GB EORI).

The statistical return for goods movements between EU countries. It is filed in each country once you exceed its arrivals or dispatches thresholds, and it must reconcile with the EC sales lists.

The registration is filed with effect from the date you started, together with the late returns for each period and, if the authority has already written, the reply to the tax demand. The sooner, the lower the surcharges.

Deed or certificate from the Companies Registry, tax ID, powers of attorney and, sometimes, tax residence certificates. Several countries require an apostille or sworn translation. All the documentation is prepared as part of the service.

At the gross amount of each sale, not at what reaches the bank. The sale goes to income for the total the customer pays and the Shopify fee is recorded separately as an expense. If you only book the net, you lose the deduction of the fees and the sales don't reconcile with the VAT declared.

With a credit note that cancels the original invoice in full or in part. A refund in Shopify without its credit note throws sales and VAT out of balance.

Yes. Every sale needs its invoice or simplified invoice, with consecutive numbering. Shopify can generate them, but the series and tax details have to be set up correctly from the start, and from 2027 the invoicing system must comply with Verifactu.

Each country and each rate in its own account, with OSS VAT kept separate from the local VAT of the countries where you hold stock. The automation splits it from the Shopify reports.

They are booked in euros at the exchange rate of each transaction, with Stripe or PayPal exchange differences recorded separately, and the sales tax collected as a liability to each state, not as income.

Yes. For companies from outside Spain: Spanish VAT, the fiscal representative if needed and, if you have an establishment here, full accounting.

The obligation of anyone placing a product on a country's market to register there, report how much they place and pay their share of collection and recycling. It applies to packaging, but also to electrical equipment, batteries, textiles, toys, furniture or DIY products. An online store shipping to customers in another country is usually the "producer" in that country.

Yes, in most cases. Each country where you sell to consumers has its own register and reporting system, and complying in Spain is not enough. In several countries, a company without an establishment there also needs an authorised representative.

In France, Germany, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden and Ireland. Packaging in all of them except the Netherlands; electrical equipment in France, Germany and Spain; batteries in France, Germany, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and Sweden; textiles, toys, furniture, DIY, sport and construction in France; and single-use plastics in Germany.

Marketplaces check the registers (LUCID in Germany, the UIN in France) and remove listings or block the account. There are also administrative penalties and, in Spain, undeclared plastic tax is a tax debt.

Regulation (EU) 2025/40 on packaging and packaging waste applies from August 2026. It harmonises many rules and requires appointing an authorised representative for extended producer responsibility in every country where you sell without being established. It is taken into account in every registration.

From your real sales. Because your store's accounting and taxes go through the same point of contact, the kilos by material and country come from the orders, not from an estimate.

No. There is a sales tax set by each state, and sometimes by each county or city, charged to the final consumer at the point of sale. There is no federal registration: you register state by state.

When you have nexus with it: physical presence (stock in a warehouse, for example) or economic nexus, which most states set at an annual sales volume or a number of orders to customers in that state. Each state has its own threshold.

In almost every state, no: marketplace facilitator laws require Amazon to collect and remit. But if you hold stock in its warehouses you may still have nexus and an obligation to register, and whatever you sell through your own store you do collect yourself.

Shopify is not a marketplace: you are the responsible party. Nexus study, registration in the states where you have it, tax collection set-up and filings: all included.

Yes: voluntary disclosure agreements (VDAs) let you catch up with fewer years and no penalties in many states. The negotiation with each state is included.

Canada has a federal tax (GST, or HST in the harmonised provinces) and, in some provinces, a separate provincial tax (QST in Quebec, PST in British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba). Foreign sellers to consumers have a simplified registration above a threshold. Registration and filings are included.

If you sell to Australian consumers above the registration threshold, yes, even for low-value consignments that enter without customs clearance: Australia makes the foreign seller responsible. Non-resident registration and the returns are included.

They work in a similar way: regimes for foreign sellers who charge the tax when selling to consumers. Each has its own threshold and calendar; we review them with you.

Japan requires non-residents to act through a tax agent and applies a qualified invoice system. The tax agent is included.

Yes. If your company is in Mexico, Chile or any other country and you want to sell in the EU from European stock, VAT registration in the country of your choice, with a fiscal representative where needed, and OSS registration are available. All in Spanish.

They do not yet apply a general VAT. If you sell there, it is monitored and the registration is prepared for when it comes into force.

Where the customer is, if they are a consumer. Within the EU you declare it through OSS from Spain; outside the EU, many countries require you to register for their digital services VAT from the first sale or from a threshold.

Downloadable or streamed courses and content, software and applications, subscriptions, ebooks, music, games, web hosting and, in general, anything supplied over the internet without human intervention.

In more than 80. In some only the digital services regime exists; in others, the same registration also covers goods. We tell you which applies to you.

In many countries the platform is responsible for the VAT. Each channel is reviewed: what you sell directly on your own website you do declare yourself.

If you sell on a regular basis, yes: you must be registered as self-employed or do it through a company. Which one suits you depends on the profit you expect; we look at it with you.

The Register of Intra-EU Operators. Being registered gives you a tax ID valid in VIES to trade with other EU countries: buy from European suppliers without VAT, sell to European businesses and move goods between countries.

It depends on your volume, the countries you sell in and the services you need. After the first call you receive a fixed quote, with no surprises.