VAT in Spain for foreign online sellers: OSS, thresholds and when you need a Spanish VAT number

If you sell products or digital services online to customers in Spain, you have probably asked yourself the same question as thousands of other e-commerce entrepreneurs: do I have to charge Spanish VAT, and where do I declare it? The answer depends on where you are established, what you sell and where your goods are stored. This guide explains the basics from scratch.

First, some vocabulary. VAT is called IVA (Impuesto sobre el Valor Añadido) in Spain. The tax authority is the AEAT (Agencia Estatal de Administración Tributaria), the Spanish equivalent of the IRS or HMRC. A NIF-IVA is the Spanish VAT identification number; for foreigners, the underlying tax ID is usually the NIE (Número de Identidad de Extranjero) for individuals, or a NIF assigned to a company.

The basic rule: VAT is paid where the customer is

Since the EU’s e-commerce VAT reforms, sales to private consumers (B2C) are generally taxed in the country where the customer is located, not where the seller is. Spain’s standard VAT rate is 21%, with reduced rates for certain goods and services, so the rate you charge depends on what you sell. Check the applicable rate for each product before you set your prices.

There is one important simplification. If you are established in a single EU country, your total cross-border B2C sales of goods (distance sales) and of digital services (software, streaming, e-books, online courses and similar) to other EU countries are measured against a €10,000 annual threshold for the whole EU. Below it, you can keep charging the VAT of your own country. Once you exceed it, you must charge the VAT rate of each customer’s country, Spain included.

Three details are often missed. The threshold is combined for all EU countries, not per country. It applies only to businesses established in one EU member state, so sellers based outside the EU do not benefit from it. And you can choose to apply destination-country VAT from the first euro.

OSS: one registration instead of 27

Before the reform, selling above the thresholds meant registering for VAT in every country where you had customers. The One-Stop Shop (OSS) removed that burden. You register once, in a single country, and report and pay the VAT due in all other EU states through one quarterly return.

• Union OSS: for EU-established sellers of distance sales of goods and cross-border services. You register in the country where you are established.
• Non-Union OSS: for non-EU businesses selling services to EU consumers. You choose one EU country as your point of registration, which could be Spain.
• Import OSS (IOSS): for low-value goods (consignments of up to €150) shipped to the EU from outside it.

OSS is optional, but it is normally the easiest route. You file the return electronically through the tax authority of your registration country, and it is then shared with the other member states. Deadlines are quarterly, so check the exact dates in the official calendar rather than relying on memory.

When you need a Spanish VAT number

OSS does not cover every situation. You will usually need to register for VAT directly in Spain, and file the ordinary quarterly VAT return (modelo 303), in cases such as these:

• You store goods in Spain, for example in a logistics warehouse or under a fulfilment programme, and sell them to Spanish customers. These domestic sales fall outside OSS.
• You have a business presence in Spain, such as a company, branch or permanent establishment, and carry out taxable activity here.
• You sell to businesses (B2B) in ways that create local VAT obligations, such as installation or supplies from Spanish stock.
• You import goods into Spain and need to recover import VAT.

Non-EU sellers can face extra requirements, such as appointing a tax representative in Spain, depending on the seller’s country. Also remember that the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla are outside the EU VAT area and follow different rules.

If you sell through a marketplace, the platform may be treated as the party responsible for VAT on certain sales. That changes who reports what, so review how your sales are structured.

Finally, VAT is only one part of the picture. Income tax or corporate tax, your registration in the Spanish census and invoicing obligations are separate and depend on your residence and structure.

At Zythos Business, we help freelancers and small companies, including foreign entrepreneurs, work out which VAT regime applies to them. We handle registrations, VAT returns and OSS filings, so you can focus on selling while your tax compliance stays in order.