Article 5b Implementing Regulation (EU) No 282/2011
Supply of goods
Chapter IV · Taxable transactions › Section 1 · Supply of goods
Text of Article 5b
For the application of Article 14a of Directive 2006/112/EC, the term ‘facilitates’ means the use of an electronic interface to allow a customer and a supplier offering goods for sale through the electronic interface to enter into contact which results in a supply of goods through that electronic interface.
However, a taxable person is not facilitating a supply of goods where all of the following conditions are met:
(a)that taxable person does not set, either directly or indirectly, any of the terms and conditions under which the supply of goods is made;
(b)that taxable person is not, either directly or indirectly, involved in authorising the charge to the customer in respect of the payment made;
(c)that taxable person is not, either directly or indirectly, involved in the ordering or delivery of the goods.
Article 14a of Directive 2006/112/EC shall not apply to a taxable person who only provides any of the following:
(a)the processing of payments in relation to the supply of goods;
(b)the listing or advertising of goods;
(c)the redirecting or transferring of customers to other electronic interfaces where goods are offered for sale, without any further intervention in the supply.
Consolidated version on EUR-Lex (CELEX 02011R0282-20250414). © European Union. Only the Official Journal is authentic.
Commission explanatory notes on Article 5b
Not binding. Guidance published by the Commission (DG TAXUD).
Explanatory Notes on the VAT e-commerce rules
Import One Stop Shop and deemed supplier rules, revised text applicable from 01-01-2027
- 2.1.6 When is the taxable person facilitating or not facilitating the supply? (p. 20) Article 5b of the VAT Implementing Regulation provides clarifications on when a taxable person should be considered to facilitate the supply of goods for the purpose of the application of the deemed supplier provision. The term ‘facilitates’ means the use of an electronic interface to allow a customer and a supplier, o
- 2.2.1 What are the record-keeping obligations of a deemed supplier? (p. 30) As explained above in section 2.1.4, the result of the deemed supplier provision is that the taxable person facilitating the supply through the use of an electronic interface is treated like the actual supplier of goods for VAT purposes. For the purpose of this provision, the deemed supplier takes over the rights and o
- 2.1.1 Relevant provisions (p. 14) The relevant provisions can be found in the VAT Directive and in the VAT Implementing Regulation. VAT Directive VAT Implementing Regulation • Article 14, Article 14a • Article 5b • Article 31 – 33 • Article 5c • Article 36b • Article 5d • Article 66a • Article 41a • Article 136a • Article 54b • Article 169 • Article 54
- 2.1.7 Activities to which the deemed supplier provision does not apply (p. 24) Article 5b of the VAT Implementing Regulation includes a limited list of activities to which the deemed supplier provision does not apply. When the electronic interface exclusively carries out any of these listed activities or a combination of them, it will not be treated as a deemed supplier. These activities are: a)