Digital products follow EU-wide place-of-supply rules — where VAT is due depends on your customer’s location, not just where your business is based.
Last updated: June 2026
If you’re an Ireland-based business selling ebooks, software, apps, or online courses to Irish consumers, standard VAT rules apply: once your taxable turnover exceeds €40,000, you charge 23% VAT on those sales like any other taxable supply.
If you sell digital products to consumers in other EU member states, you generally must charge VAT at the rate of the customer’s country, not the Irish rate, once your combined cross-border digital sales exceed the EU-wide €10,000 threshold. Rather than registering separately in every EU country, most Irish sellers use the EU’s OSS (One Stop Shop) scheme — register once, charge the correct local VAT rate per customer country, and file one consolidated OSS return.
If your customer is a VAT-registered business in another EU country, the sale is usually outside Irish VAT scope, with the business customer accounting for VAT themselves under the reverse charge mechanism. Verify their VAT number via the EU’s VIES system before treating a sale this way.
Yes, OSS is a separate registration, though many businesses need both once selling digital products across the EU above the relevant thresholds.
The standard VAT rate of the consumer’s own country, not the Irish 23% rate. Your OSS return breaks sales down by country and rate.
Yes, a combined EU-wide €10,000 threshold applies to cross-border digital/telecoms sales — below this, you may be able to continue charging Irish VAT, but check current rules as this depends on your overall situation.
Often yes for larger marketplaces, which may act as deemed supplier under EU platform rules. Check your specific platform’s terms.
No — that’s exactly what OSS avoids. One OSS registration covers reporting for all EU consumer sales.
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