Glossary
VAT MOSS
Also called Mini One Stop Shop, MOSS
VAT MOSS, the Mini One Stop Shop, was the EU system from 2015 that let sellers of digital services such as ebooks report VAT for every EU country in one return, until the One Stop Shop took over in 2021.
What it means
From 1 January 2015, VAT on digital services sold to EU consumers became due in the buyer’s country. Ebooks, audiobooks and online courses were all covered. The Mini One Stop Shop, MOSS, let sellers file one return in one country instead of registering in every EU country.
On 1 July 2021, MOSS was extended and renamed the One Stop Shop, OSS. OSS covers the same digital sales and adds distance sales of goods, such as paperbacks posted to readers in other EU countries.
Authors still say “VAT MOSS” in forums and older guides. A fantasy author who sold ebooks direct in 2016 filed MOSS returns. A nonfiction author starting today files OSS returns for the same kind of sale.
Why it matters when you sell direct
When MOSS arrived, many independent authors stopped selling ebooks direct to EU readers, because the rules felt like too much work for a few sales. Some guides from that time are still online. Read them with care: the scheme is now OSS, and there is a €10,000 threshold for small sellers based in the EU.
How Lanternbee handles it
Stripe Tax works out the right VAT for each reader at checkout, and you file it through OSS if you need to. Coming: Lanternbee acting as merchant of record for digital editions, so EU VAT on ebooks is handled for you. It is planned, not live.