EU Council agrees, but has not yet adopted, removal of the EUR 150 limit from the IOSS and the deemed-supplier rule from 1 July 2028 at the earliest

What changed in detail

This is a draft directive, not law. On 9 November 2026 EU Member States in the Council reached a general approach on the draft Council Directive on distance sales of imported goods and import VAT, as the European Commission announced the same day. The text is in Council document 15179/26 (interinstitutional file 2023/0158 (CNS)), dated 4 November 2026, which put it to the Economic and Financial Affairs Council of 9 November with a decision to invite the European Parliament to give its opinion again. The Council adopts the directive only after that opinion.

Under the annexed text:

• the deemed-supplier rule in Article 14a(1) of Directive 2006/112/EC would apply to all distance sales of goods imported from third territories or third countries facilitated by an electronic interface, with the EUR 150 consignment-value limit deleted;
• the Import One-Stop Shop (IOSS) would likewise no longer be limited to consignments not exceeding EUR 150, and its definition would extend to supplies from customs warehouses for distance sales under Regulation (EU) 2026/2108;
• the Commission would propose, by 31 December 2027, harmonised criteria for intermediaries appointed by non-EU sellers, and report on the functioning of the change by 1 December 2030.

Member States would transpose by 30 June 2028 and apply the provisions from 1 July 2028, but that date is conditional: if the IOSS functionality of the EU Customs Data Hub under Article 285(2) of Regulation (EU) 2026/2108 is not operational by 1 June 2028, they would apply them only from the date the transitional solution under Article 285(7) ends.

What it means

The EUR 150 customs duty relief is already being abolished; this is the VAT half. Once adopted, a marketplace facilitating an import sale becomes the deemed supplier whatever the consignment value, and IOSS becomes usable for high-value consignments too, so a non-EU seller need not register in each destination state. The 1 July 2028 date is not fixed: it moves if the Customs Data Hub slips. Nothing changes until the Council formally adopts the directive after Parliament’s opinion.