VAT Treatment of B2C and B2B Transactions with Simultaneous OSS Use and Local Registration in Austria

Summary

Com­pa­nies using the OSS pro­ce­dure for B2C trans­ac­tions and simul­ta­ne­ous­ly reg­is­tered for VAT in Aus­tria must con­tin­ue to report their B2C trans­ac­tions through the OSS. The local reg­is­tra­tion for B2B trans­ac­tions does not affect the OSS report­ing oblig­a­tion for B2C trans­ac­tions. Dual report­ing is not per­mit­ted.

Introduction

The intro­duc­tion of the One-Stop-Shop (OSS) pro­ce­dure on July 1, 2021, sig­nif­i­cant­ly sim­pli­fied the report­ing of cross-bor­der B2C trans­ac­tions with­in the EU. Com­pa­nies can ful­fill their VAT oblig­a­tions cen­tral­ly through the OSS pro­ce­dure in their coun­try of estab­lish­ment. At the same time, com­pa­nies may be VAT reg­is­tered in anoth­er EU mem­ber state, such as Aus­tria, due to B2B trans­ac­tions. This rais­es the ques­tion of how B2C trans­ac­tions should be han­dled in such cas­es. Find the most rel­e­vant ques­tions and answers here.

OSS Procedure and Local Registration

The OSS pro­ce­dure allows com­pa­nies to report their B2C trans­ac­tions cen­tral­ly with­out hav­ing to reg­is­ter sep­a­rate­ly in each EU mem­ber state. It is impor­tant to note that once a com­pa­ny has opt­ed to use the OSS pro­ce­dure, it is manda­to­ry for all cor­re­spond­ing B2C trans­ac­tions. Par­al­lel report­ing of these trans­ac­tions in the local VAT return is not per­mit­ted.

If a com­pa­ny is addi­tion­al­ly VAT-reg­is­tered in anoth­er EU mem­ber state, such as Aus­tria, for exam­ple due to B2B trans­ac­tions, this does not affect the report­ing of B2C trans­ac­tions. B2C trans­ac­tions must con­tin­ue to be report­ed exclu­sive­ly via the OSS pro­ce­dure. The local VAT reg­is­tra­tion is used sole­ly for han­dling B2B trans­ac­tions and has no impact on the OSS report­ing oblig­a­tion.

Practical Implementation

Com­pa­nies should ensure that their inter­nal process­es clear­ly dis­tin­guish between B2C and B2B trans­ac­tions. B2C trans­ac­tions are to be report­ed through the OSS pro­ce­dure, while B2B trans­ac­tions are to be declared in the local VAT return in Aus­tria. Dual report­ing of B2C trans­ac­tions in both the OSS and the local VAT return is not only imper­mis­si­ble but can also lead to tax dis­ad­van­tages.

It is impor­tant for com­pa­nies to con­fig­ure their account­ing and ERP sys­tems accord­ing­ly to ensure cor­rect allo­ca­tion and report­ing of trans­ac­tions. They should also reg­u­lar­ly review whether their process­es com­ply with cur­rent legal require­ments.

Conclusion

Simul­ta­ne­ous use of the OSS pro­ce­dure for B2C trans­ac­tions and local VAT reg­is­tra­tion in Aus­tria for B2B trans­ac­tions is pos­si­ble and legal­ly per­mis­si­ble. How­ev­er, it is cru­cial that B2C trans­ac­tions are report­ed exclu­sive­ly through the OSS pro­ce­dure and do not appear addi­tion­al­ly in the local VAT return. Com­pa­nies should adjust and reg­u­lar­ly review their inter­nal process­es accord­ing­ly to avoid tax risks.

Contact

For more infor­ma­tion and indi­vid­ual advice, the firm Heinz Kobled­er – Tax Advi­sors is at your dis­pos­al. We sup­port you in cor­rect­ly imple­ment­ing your VAT oblig­a­tions domes­ti­cal­ly and abroad.