Nordlet

€6,700 or €105,000? The VAT registration gap and the EU SME scheme

How much can a small business sell before it must charge VAT? In Denmark, about €6,700 a year. In the UK, about €105,000 - sixteen times more. And since 2025 the answer has a new twist: under the EU SME scheme, a company established in one member state can use another member state’s domestic threshold, up to €100,000 of EU-wide turnover.

公開日 2026-07-16最終確認日 2026-07-16

The spread

CountryRegistration threshold≈ EUR
🇬🇧 United Kingdom£90,000≈ €105,000
🇫🇷 France / 🇮🇪 Ireland (goods)€85,000€85,000
🇱🇹 Lithuania€45,000€45,000
🇩🇪 Germany€25,000 (prior year)€25,000
🇫🇮 Finland€20,000€20,000
🇸🇪 SwedenSEK 120,000≈ €10,700
🇩🇰 DenmarkDKK 50,000≈ €6,700
🇳🇱 NL / 🇪🇸 ES / 🇮🇹 IT / 🇬🇷 ELNone - register from the start-

[1][2][3][4]

Even the “no threshold” countries soften the edge with domestic schemes: the Dutch KOR exempts turnover up to €20,000, and Italy’s forfettario regime is VAT-exempt up to €85,000 of revenue. The full table for all 29 countries is on the VAT thresholds comparison page.[5][6]

The EU SME scheme: legal threshold shopping

Until 2025, a domestic VAT exemption stopped at the border: a Lithuanian company selling in Germany owed German VAT from the first euro. Directive 2020/285 changed that. A company established in one member state can now use the small-business exemption of another member state, provided it stays under that state’s domestic threshold and under €100,000 of turnover EU-wide, using an “EX” identification and quarterly reporting at home.[8][2]

For B2C distance sales of goods there is a second, older mechanism: below €10,000 of cross-border turnover a seller charges home VAT; above it, destination-country VAT applies, filed through the single OSS return rather than country-by-country registrations.[7]

The catch

Exemption is not free money - an exempt business cannot deduct input VAT, which makes the schemes attractive to service businesses with few costs and unattractive to anyone buying much. Thresholds also count differently (calendar year in Lithuania, any 12 months in Latvia, prior plus current year in Germany), and crossing Germany’s €100,000 in-year cap ends the exemption immediately. The UK’s £90,000 is the outlier it looks like, but it is available only to businesses actually established in the UK.[3][1][2]

よくある質問

Can a company use another EU country’s VAT threshold?

Yes, since 2025: under the SME scheme (Directive 2020/285) a company established in one member state can apply another member state’s small-business exemption, if it stays under that threshold and under €100,000 of EU-wide annual turnover.

Which EU country has the highest VAT registration threshold?

Among EU members, France and Ireland at €85,000 for goods; Romania and Czechia sit near €79,000. The UK - outside the EU - is higher still at £90,000 (≈ €105,000).

Is staying under the threshold always worth it?

No. An exempt business cannot reclaim VAT on its purchases, and B2B customers often prefer suppliers with VAT invoices. The exemption pays off mainly for B2C services with low input costs.

国境を越えた結果は、税務上の居住地、CFC(タックス・ヘイブン対策)税制、および実態(サブスタンス)によって異なります。机上のストラクチャーだけでは不十分です。以下の免責事項をご覧ください。

情報源

この記事全体で引用されている番号付きの参照。法令は、公式レジストリの統合テキストにリンクしています。

  1. VAT - ガイダンスHMRC(GOV.UK) · 当局
  2. 付加価値税(VAT)登録が義務となる時点VMI(州税務局) · 当局
  3. 付加価値税法 (Umsatzsteuergesetz, UStG)gesetze-im-internet.de - 連邦法 · 法律
  4. 付加価値税 - 期限および登録Skattestyrelsen · 当局
  5. 事業者向けVATBusiness.gov.nl(政府ポータル) · 当局
  6. VATおよび電子インボイス - ガイドラインAgenzia delle Entrate · 当局
  7. 付加価値税ワンストップショップ(OSS)ルール欧州委員会 · EU
  8. 理事会指令 (EU) 2020/285 - 小規模企業向け中小企業免税制度EUR-Lex - EU法 · EU

このガイドは一般情報であり、税務や法的な助言ではありません。税率や期限は変更される可能性があるため、行動を起こす前に必ずリンクされた法令や公式情報源を確認するか、ライセンスを持つアドバイザーにご相談ください。