The Transfer of Own Goods Under ViDA: From Today’s Registration Maze to the Single VAT Registration

The Transfer of Own Goods Under ViDA: From Today’s Registration Maze to the Single VAT Registration

Introduction

Few areas of EU VAT create as much quiet administrative pain as the movement of a business’s own goods across internal borders. There is no customer, no sale and no money changing hands — yet the act of shipping your own stock from a warehouse in one Member State to a warehouse in another can generate a full chain of VAT obligations, foreign registrations and periodic filings. For businesses operating pan-European supply chains, fulfilment networks or regional distribution hubs, this has long been one of the most significant drivers of multiple VAT registrations across the Union.

The VAT in the Digital Age (ViDA) package, adopted on 11 March 2025 as Council Directive (EU) 2025/516 and entering into force on 14 April 2025, sets out to dismantle much of this complexity. Its second pillar — Single VAT Registration (SVR) — introduces a new, optional special scheme for the transfer of own goods, extends the One Stop Shop (OSS), and retires the call-off stock simplification that businesses have relied on since 2020. The technical machinery for all of this was delivered on 27 July 2026 by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1869, published in the Official Journal the following day. [vatfaqs.com], [eur-lex.europa.eu]

This article walks through how the transfer of own goods and the call-off stock simplification work today, how both will change from 1 July 2028, and — crucially — what all of this means for input VAT deductibility, reporting obligations, invoicing and Intrastat, both now and in the future. It also stresses a point that is easily overlooked: the new scheme is optional, and a business that declines it can continue to move its own goods the “old way,” between two of its own VAT registrations — but from 2030 that choice comes with a full Digital Reporting Requirements obligation. Finally, it draws on the leading Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) case law that shapes how these movements are characterised and taxed.

Part One — How the Transfer of Own Goods Works Today

The deemed supply and deemed acquisition

When a taxable person moves goods forming part of their business assets from one Member State to another, and there is no sale, EU VAT law does not simply ignore the movement. Instead, Article 17(1) of the VAT Directive (2006/112/EC) treats that transfer as a supply of goods made for consideration — a legal fiction that turns an internal logistics event into a taxable transaction. The purpose is to preserve the integrity of the destination-based VAT system: goods should ultimately be taxed where they are consumed, and the deemed supply/acquisition mechanism ensures the tax base follows the goods.

The transaction therefore splits into two legs. In the Member State of departure, there is a deemed intra-Community supply, exempt with the right to deduct under Article 138(2)(c). In the Member State of arrival, there is a corresponding deemed intra-Community acquisition under Article 21, which is taxable in that State. Because the same person is both the notional supplier and the notional acquirer, the business effectively supplies goods to itself across a border — from its VAT identity in the departure State to its VAT identity in the arrival State. [vatupdate.com], [bdo.nl]

Why this forces multiple registrations

The problem lies in the arrival leg. To account for the deemed intra-Community acquisition in the destination country, the business must generally hold a local VAT registration there. It has to self-assess acquisition VAT, report it in a local return, and — in the departure State — reflect the exempt intra-Community supply and file a recapitulative statement (EC Sales List) quoting its own foreign VAT number as the “customer.” A company that stocks inventory in five distribution centres across five Member States can therefore find itself holding five separate VAT registrations, none of which reflect any actual third-party sale — they exist purely to account for the movement of its own goods. [vatupdate.com]

The exclusions in Article 17(2) provide some relief. Movements are not treated as deemed transfers where the goods are, for example, installed or assembled in the destination State, subject to distance selling rules, used temporarily (broadly up to 24 months), subject to work and then returned, or exported outside the EU. But these carve-outs are narrow and condition-heavy, and they do not help the classic case of a business simply relocating stock to a foreign warehouse for future sale.

Part Two — How the Call-Off Stock Simplification Works Today

The 2020 Quick Fix

Recognising that one very common pattern — sending goods to a known customer’s premises for that customer to draw on later — should not trigger a foreign registration, the EU introduced the call-off stock simplification in January 2020 as one of the “Four Quick Fixes.” It lives in Article 17a of the VAT Directive, complemented by Article 36a on the ascription of transport in chain transactions. [eur-lex.europa.eu]

Call-off stock arises where a supplier sends goods from one Member State to a warehouse or storage facility in another Member State, but title remains with the supplier until the customer physically takes (“calls off”) the goods. The customer is known and identified from the outset, is aware of the stock movement, and has the right to take the goods at will. Where the conditions are met, the simplification switches off the deemed transfer/acquisition mechanism entirely. [eur-lex.europa.eu]

How the simplification changes the VAT outcome

Under Article 17a, the cross-border movement into the customer’s call-off stock is not treated as a deemed transfer of own goods. No deemed intra-Community supply and acquisition arise at the moment of shipment, and — critically — the supplier does not need to VAT-register in the destination Member State merely to hold the stock there. Instead, VAT is deferred: only when the customer actually calls off the goods is the supplier deemed to make a direct intra-Community supply to that customer, matched by an intra-Community acquisition in the customer’s hands. At that point the supplier records an exempt intra-Community supply under its own domestic VAT number, applying the 0% rate, and the customer self-accounts for acquisition VAT locally under the reverse charge. [eur-lex.europa.eu], [vatupdate.com]

Several conditions must hold throughout: the customer’s identity and VAT number must be known at dispatch; the supplier must not be established or have a fixed establishment in the destination State; the goods must be called off within 12 months; and detailed call-off stock registers and recapitulative statement entries must be maintained. If any condition fails, the simplification collapses and a deemed transfer of own goods (and thus a registration obligation, with potential retroactive liabilities, interest and penalties) crystallises. [eur-lex.europa.eu]

The crucial distinction: call-off stock versus consignment stock

It is worth stressing that the simplification is narrow. Where goods are sent to a warehouse in another Member State but there is no single, predetermined customer — the classic consignment stock or own-warehouse scenario — Article 17a does not apply. The movement is a deemed intra-Community supply, requiring the supplier to register for VAT in the destination country and file periodic returns. It is precisely this large residual category — own stock held for multiple or unknown future buyers — that ViDA sets out to solve. [vatupdate.com]

Part Three — How It Will Work Under ViDA

The new Transfer of Own Goods scheme

From 1 July 2028, ViDA introduces a dedicated, optional special scheme for the transfer of own goods (TOOG), sitting alongside the non-Union OSS, the Union OSS and the Import One Stop Shop (IOSS) as a fourth special scheme. It is housed in a new Title XII, Chapter 6, Section 5 of the VAT Directive (new Articles 369xa to 369xk), inserted by Directive (EU) 2025/516, with the operational detail supplied by Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1869. [eur-lex.europa.eu], [bdo.nl]

The scheme applies whenever a taxable person moves goods from one Member State to another for their own business purposes — to a warehouse, branch, fulfilment centre or any other destination — without an immediate sale. Its stated objective is to eliminate the need for multiple VAT registrations across the EU when companies move their own goods across borders, thereby advancing the Single VAT Registration goal. [fintua.com]

The single registration and single return

The heart of the reform is administrative simplicity. A business registers in one Member State of identification (MSI) — its Member State of establishment if it is EU-based, or, for a non-EU business without an EU fixed establishment, the Member State where the transport of the goods begins. Through that single registration it reports all qualifying intra-EU movements of its own goods on a single, monthly OSS-style return, rather than opening and maintaining separate local registrations in each destination country. The intra-Community acquisition in the Member State of arrival is exempt from VAT, and transfers made under the scheme do not have to be reported in the recapitulative statement. [fintua.com], [bdo.nl]

Under Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1869, the scheme is woven into the existing OSS architecture: a new definition of the “transfer of own goods scheme” is added; a dedicated column G is created in the identification register (Annex I); and the common electronic VAT return message (Annex III) gains a dedicated column F for transfers, together with the taxable-amount, adjustment and correction boxes needed to report them. Registration data already held by the tax authority is pre-filled, though the taxable person remains responsible for its accuracy, and return data is exchanged between Member States over the CCN/CSI network via a central register. [eur-lex.europa.eu], [taxnotes.com]

The absorption and retirement of call-off stock

Because the TOOG scheme is comprehensive — it captures the full universe of cross-border own-goods movements, including those currently handled as call-off stock — the Article 17a call-off stock simplification is being phased out. No new call-off stock arrangements may be entered into after 30 June 2028. Goods dispatched under call-off stock arrangements before that date may continue to benefit from the existing Article 17a simplification, including the 12-month window, until 30 June 2029. From 1 July 2028, all new movements of goods to be held for a customer’s future use are reported instead through the TOOG OSS return. Any legacy call-off stock still held at 30 June 2029 must be dealt with by that date to preserve the zero-rating; thereafter the simplification ceases entirely. [eur-lex.europa.eu], [pwc.com]

In effect, call-off stock is not so much abolished as subsumed: a narrow, condition-heavy simplification for known-customer scenarios gives way to a broad, single-registration scheme that covers both known-customer and own-warehouse movements alike.

Part Four — The Scheme Is Optional: You Can Still Move Goods the “Old Way”

One of the most important — and most easily missed — features of the reform is that the TOOG scheme is entirely optional. Nothing in ViDA compels a business to use it. A taxable person that prefers not to opt in may continue to move its own goods across borders exactly as it does today: as a deemed intra-Community supply in the departure State and a deemed intra-Community acquisition in the arrival State (Articles 17(1) and 21), accounted for through the business’s own VAT registrations in each Member State concerned. In substance, this is a transfer between two VAT numbers of the same company, supported by a self-billed or pro-forma stock-transfer document, with the exempt intra-Community supply, the recapitulative statement and the local acquisition return all continuing. [vatupdate.com], [bdo.nl]

This is a crucial clarification, because the scheme’s “voluntary but open” and “all-or-nothing” character can easily be misread. The“all-or-nothing” point does not mean the traditional route disappears once TOOG exists. It means only this: once a business chooses to opt in, the scheme applies to all of its intra-EU transfers of own goods — it cannot cherry-pick, routing some movements through TOOG and keeping others under local registrations. But a business that decides not to opt in at all retains the classic deemed-transfer model in full. Member States are obliged to allow eligible businesses to use the scheme; they are not entitled to force them into it. [vatupdate.com]

It is equally important to be precise about what ViDA actually repeals. The reform does not abolish the ordinary transfer-of-own-goods mechanism in Articles 17 and 21; that machinery — deemed supply, deemed acquisition, local registration — remains fully available for businesses that stay outside the scheme. What ViDA genuinely abolishes is the call-off stock simplification in Article 17a. So after 1 July 2028 a business has, in effect, two live options for moving its own goods: opt into TOOG and report everything through a single monthly OSS return, or decline and continue the traditional multi-registration model. What it will no longer have is the Article 17a call-off shortcut. [eur-lex.europa.eu], [pwc.com]

Part Five — If You Opt Out: What You Must Do Under the Digital Reporting Requirements

Opting out is not a return to the quiet life. From 1 July 2030, any transfer of own goods that is not reported through the OSS/TOOG scheme falls squarely within the Digital Reporting Requirements (DRR) — ViDA’s first pillar. Under the DRR, the intra-EU transfer of own goods is one of the enumerated cross-border transactions subject to mandatory e-invoicing and near-real-time e-reporting, unless the special scheme is used. In other words, the very act of declining TOOG places the movement into the DRR net. This is the decisive trade-off, and it deserves to be spelled out in detail. [bdo.nl], [ey.com]

Mandatory structured e-invoicing

From 1 July 2030, electronic invoicing becomes the default for transactions within the DRR scope. The e-invoice must be issued in a structured electronic format compliant with the European standard EN 16931 — the same standard used in public-procurement e-invoicing. Unstructured formats such as ordinary PDFs will not qualify as e-invoices, although hybrid formats (a structured XML core with a human-readable layer, e.g. ZUGFeRD or Factur-X) are in principle acceptable. For a transfer of own goods, where there is no external customer, the business will therefore need to generate a structured “self-invoice” style document between its own VAT identities to satisfy the e-invoicing obligation. [pwc.nl], [bdo.nl]

The 10-day issuing deadline

The cross-border e-invoice must be issued within 10 days of the chargeable event. Where summary invoicing is permitted, a summary invoice may cover supplies made within the same calendar month and must be issued within 10 days of the end of that month. For own-goods movements this means the transfer must be documented and the structured invoice generated almost contemporaneously with the physical movement — a significant tightening compared with today’s periodic recapitulative statement. [pwc.nl], [bdo.nl]

Real-time transaction-level reporting

The invoice data must be transmitted to the tax authority in real time — at the moment the e-invoice is issued or should have been issued — on a transaction-by-transaction basis. The data is submitted to the Member State that issued the VAT identification number used for the transaction, which then forwards it to the central VIES database operated by the Commission within one day, where it is automatically cross-checked and aggregated. In principle both sides of a transaction report; for self-billing or reporting by the buyer, a five-day window applies. For a transfer of own goods, the business is effectively both “supplier” and “acquirer,” so it must ensure both legs are captured through its own registrations. [bdo.nl], [deloitte.com]

The end of the recapitulative statement

The DRR replaces the recapitulative statement (EC Sales List) for in-scope transactions. So a business that opts out of TOOG does not simply keep filing today’s EC Sales List — from 2030 that listing is abolished and substituted by the far more granular, real-time e-reporting described above. The practical upshot is stark: the “old way” preserves the local VAT registrations and layers on structured e-invoicing plus real-time reporting for every own-goods movement. [bdo.nl]

The strategic consequence

This is why the opt-in decision is as much a reporting-strategy decision as a registration one. A transfer of own goods reported through TOOG is expressly excluded from the DRR — no e-invoice, no real-time reporting, just the monthly OSS return. The same movement kept outside TOOG attracts the full DRR machinery from 2030. The genuine choice a business faces is therefore not “scheme versus nothing,” but“single monthly OSS return under TOOG” versus“multiple local registrations + structured e-invoicing + real-time DRR reporting.” For most multi-country operators, that comparison will point firmly towards opting in — but businesses with a heavy local footprint (substantial domestic sales or local input VAT) that already require a registration may still find the traditional route, DRR overlay and all, the pragmatic answer. [bdo.nl], [bdo.nl]

Part Six — Intrastat: A Separate Obligation That Survives

A recurring misconception is that the TOOG scheme relieves businesses of Intrastat obligations. It does not. Intrastat is a statistical regime — it collects data on the physical movement of goods between Member States for trade-statistics purposes — and it is legally and functionally distinct from the VAT reporting of those movements. TOOG streamlines the VAT treatment; it neither abolishes nor replaces the statistical reporting. [vatupdate.com]

Intrastat continues largely unchanged

Under ViDA, businesses that exceed the national Intrastat thresholds must continue to submit Intrastat dispatch declarations in the Member State of departure and Intrastat arrival declarations in the Member State of arrival for their cross-border movements of own goods, largely following current procedures. The transfer of own goods is a physical movement of goods across an internal EU border, and as such it remains reportable for statistics irrespective of how — or whether — it is captured for VAT. [vatupdate.com]

The practical mechanics: Nature of Transaction codes and “dummy” VAT numbers

Two operational details matter for own-goods movements. First, businesses must apply the correct Nature of Transaction code to characterise the movement in the Intrastat declaration — distinguishing, for instance, a transfer without change of ownership from an ordinary sale. Second, because a transfer of own goods has no external customer, there is no partner VAT identification number to quote for the partner country. Current practice — expected to continue under ViDA — is to use a“dummy” VAT identification number for the partner Member State in the Intrastat return where no specific customer is known. Businesses opting into TOOG must therefore keep their Intrastat processes running in parallel with the OSS return, and ensure the two data sets remain reconcilable. [vatupdate.com]

Why this matters

The persistence of Intrastat tempers the “single-return” narrative. Even the cleanest TOOG opt-in does not collapse all reporting into one filing: the monthly OSS return handles VAT, but Intrastat dispatch and arrival declarations continue separately wherever thresholds are met. For businesses building the compliance case for TOOG, Intrastat should be modelled as an enduring, independent workstream — one that must be maintained regardless of the VAT route chosen, and that draws on the same underlying logistics data as both the OSS return and (for opt-outs) the DRR e-reporting. [vatupdate.com]

Part Seven — What the ECJ Case Law Tells Us

Although the TOOG scheme is new, the underlying concepts it builds on — deemed intra-Community supplies, the right to dispose of goods as owner, the ascription of transport, and the primacy of substance over form — have been shaped by decades of CJEU jurisprudence. These judgments remain highly relevant to characterising movements, defending exemptions and structuring compliance both before and after 2028, and equally so for businesses that stay on the traditional route.

Josef Plöckl (C-24/15) — substance over form for transfers of own goods

The most directly relevant judgment is Josef Plöckl v Finanzamt Schrobenhausen (C-24/15), concerning an intra-Community transfer of own goods where the taxable person had not provided a destination VAT identification number. The Court held that the tax authority may not refuse the exemption for the intra-Community transfer solely on that formal ground, where there is no evidence of tax evasion, the goods genuinely moved to another Member State, and the other substantive conditions are met — a cornerstone for defending the zero-rating of own-goods movements against purely formal challenges. EUR-Lex [pwc.nl]

Collée (C-146/05) — neutrality and the limits of formal requirements

The neutrality principle underpinning Plöckl was established in Collée (C-146/05): an intra-Community supply that actually took place cannot be denied exemption merely because of a formal (e.g. timing or bookkeeping) failure, provided the substantive conditions are satisfied and there is no risk to tax revenue. For own-goods movements, the exemption follows the economic reality, not the paperwork alone. EUR-Lex

EMAG Handel Eder (C-245/04) — one transport, one exempt supply

EMAG Handel Eder OHG (C-245/04) is the foundational chain-transaction ruling: where two successive supplies of the same goods give rise to a single intra-Community transport, that transport can be ascribed to only one supply, and only that supply is exempt. This forces a clean distinction between a genuine transfer of own goods and a movement forming part of a chain of actual supplies — mischaracterisation can lead to denied deductions. EUR-Lex [regfollower.com], [eur-lex.europa.eu]

Herst (C-401/18) — the “right to dispose as owner”

Herst s.r.o. (C-401/18) refined how the transport is ascribed in a chain, focusing on which operator holds the right to dispose of the goods as owner during the single intra-Community transport. For complex flows (including excise-suspension arrangements), Herst is the key authority for determining whether a movement is a transfer of own goods, an intra-Community acquisition, or part of a chain supply — a threshold question that dictates whether TOOG, the OSS, or ordinary rules apply. EUR-Lex [vatcalc.com]

The through-line for ViDA

Two enduring messages emerge. First, the characterisation of a movement turns on economic substance and the right to dispose as owner (EMAG, Herst). Second, once a movement is genuine, formal shortcomings should not destroy substantive VAT treatment absent fraud or revenue risk (Plöckl, Collée). Both remain vital under TOOG and the traditional route alike.

Part Eight — The Deductibility Dimension

Deduction today

Under the current deemed-transfer model, the arrival-leg acquisition is taxable in the destination State. A locally registered business self-assesses acquisition VAT and deducts it in the same return to the extent the goods serve taxable activities — typically nil net cash effect, but only because it holds the local registration. Where the business is not registered, or is partially exempt, the acquisition VAT can become a real cost or cash-flow drag, and recovering local input VAT (warehousing, handling) may require the registration or an 8th/13th Directive refund claim. The neutrality jurisprudence (Plöckl, Collée) protects the deduction against purely formal challenges. [pwc.nl]

Under call-off stock today, there is no acquisition on movement — the deferral means no destination-State entries until call-off, when the customer handles the acquisition and deduction. [vatupdate.com]

Deduction under the ViDA scheme

TOOG makes the movement itself VAT-neutral at transfer — no output VAT to fund and no acquisition VAT to pre-finance. But the scheme covers the transfer only; it does not provide a vehicle for recovering local input VAT on unrelated costs, nor does it cover the onward domestic supply of the goods once sold from foreign stock. A local registration may therefore still be needed for those purposes — another reason a business with a substantial local footprint may rationally prefer the traditional route. [fintua.com]

The Implementing Regulation reflects this directly: the TOOG return (Annex III) contains a specific line for the adjustment of deduction on transferred goods, including for capital goods and the start of the adjustment period following a transfer. Businesses with partial exemption, capital-goods scheme assets, or mixed-use inventory should model these mechanics carefully before opting in. [eur-lex.europa.eu]

Part Nine — Reporting and Invoicing: A Consolidated View

Reporting today

The current footprint is heavy: an exempt ICS entry in the departure-State return; a recapitulative statement quoting the mover’s own destination VAT number; a taxable acquisition entry in the destination-State return; and Intrastat dispatch/arrival declarations. Call-off stock adds a dedicated register. [eur-lex.europa.eu]

Reporting under ViDA

For those who opt in, VAT reporting collapses into the single monthly TOOG return, and transfers are excluded from both the recapitulative statement and (from 2030) the DRR. For those who opt out, the recapitulative statement is abolished and replaced by DRR e-reporting from 2030 (Part Five). Intrastat continues for everyone (Part Six). [bdo.nl], [bdo.nl]

Invoicing

For a deemed transfer under Article 17(1) today, businesses raise a pro-forma / self-documenting invoice between their own VAT identities, at cost or purchase price (Article 76), supporting the ICS and acquisition entries. Under TOOG, the emphasis shifts to capturing the transfer data in the return message (Annex III, column F): taxable amount, States of dispatch and arrival, and corrections. For opt-outs, from 2030 the document must be a structured EN 16931 e-invoice issued within 10 days and reported in real time (Part Five). [vatupdate.com], [eur-lex.europa.eu], [bdo.nl]

Part Ten — Advantages, Disadvantages and the Opt-In Decision

The TOOG scheme is voluntary but open: any EU or non-EU taxable person making cross-border transfers of own goods may opt in, and Member States must permit eligible businesses to use it. The opt-in is all-or-nothing in scope — once registered, it covers all intra-EU own-goods transfers. As Part Four explains, declining the scheme keeps the traditional deemed-transfer model in full; “all-or-nothing” governs the scope of participation, not the survival of the old route. [vatupdate.com]

Advantages: a genuine single VAT registration for stock movements; VAT-neutrality at transfer; consolidation of VAT reporting into one monthly OSS return; exclusion of transfers from the recapitulative statement and the DRR; openness to non-EU businesses; and the rationalisation of the fragmented call-off stock regime. [fintua.com], [bdo.nl]

Disadvantages / watch-outs: a monthly filing cadence; the all-or-nothing scope once in; no coverage of onward domestic supplies or unrelated input VAT recovery; persistent Intrastat obligations; transitional complexity in winding down call-off stock (2028–2029); and, for those who stay out, the full DRR e-invoicing and real-time reporting burden from 2030. Throughout, the CJEU’s characterisation case law (EMAG, Herst) means movements must still be correctly classified, and its neutrality case law (Plöckl, Collée) remains the shield against formal challenges. [eur-lex.europa.eu], [bdo.nl], [vatupdate.com], [vatcalc.com]

Part Eleven — Timeline at a Glance

ViDA was adopted on 11 March 2025 and entered into force on 14 April 2025 (Directive (EU) 2025/516, Regulation (EU) 2025/517, Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/518). From 1 January 2027, administrative and registration-data changes supporting the OSS expansion apply (Article 2 of IR (EU) 2026/1869). On 1 July 2028, the TOOG scheme goes live, the wider SVR reforms take effect, and no new call-off stock arrangements may begin (Articles 1 and 3). By 30 June 2029, the call-off stock simplification ceases entirely. From 1 July 2030, the Digital Reporting Requirements apply, so that own-goods movements not reported through the OSS must be e-invoiced in a structured format and e-reported in real time. [eur-lex.europa.eu], [vatfaqs.com], [pwc.com], [bdo.nl]

Conclusion

The transfer of own goods sits at the crossroads of ViDA’s ambitions. Today it is one of the principal reasons businesses accumulate foreign VAT registrations, and the call-off stock simplification reaches only a narrow slice of the problem. From 1 July 2028, the new Transfer of Own Goods scheme promises to convert that registration maze into a single registration and a single monthly OSS return, absorbing call-off stock and rendering movements VAT-neutral at transfer.

Yet the reform is a choice, not a compulsion — and the choice is not symmetrical. A business may keep moving its stock the old way, between two of its own VAT numbers under Articles 17 and 21; only the Article 17a call-off shortcut genuinely disappears. But opting out is decisively more onerous from 2030: the recapitulative statement is abolished and replaced by structured e-invoicing within 10 days and real-time DRR reporting of every own-goods movement, on top of the local registrations the old route never removed. And whichever VAT route is chosen, Intrastat endures as a separate statistical obligation. The scheme is also not a blanket exemption from local presence: onward domestic supplies, unrelated input VAT recovery and deduction adjustments may still require a local registration. The CJEU’s jurisprudence remains the interpretive backbone throughout — EMAG and Herst on characterisation, Plöckl and Collée on neutrality. Businesses that begin now — mapping their intra-EU stock flows, modelling the TOOG-versus-DRR trade-off, maintaining Intrastat in parallel, planning the call-off wind-down, and configuring ERP and invoicing for both the 2028 return and the 2030 DRR layer — will be the ones that turn ViDA’s Single VAT Registration promise into a genuine simplification.

Key legal references

VAT Directive 2006/112/EC: Articles 17(1), 17(2), 17a, 36a, 21, 76 and 138(2)(c).
New scheme: Title XII, Chapter 6, Section 5 (Articles 369xa–369xk), inserted by Council Directive (EU) 2025/516.
DRR / e-invoicing: ViDA Pillar 1 — structured EN 16931 e-invoice within 10 days of the chargeable event; real-time transaction-level reporting; recapitulative statement abolished; applies from 1 July 2030. [bdo.nl], [pwc.nl]
Implementing rules: Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1869 — definitions, register column G, VAT-return column F and deduction-adjustment reporting (Annex III).
CJEU case law: Plöckl, C-24/15; Collée, C-146/05; EMAG Handel Eder, C-245/04; Herst, C-401/18.

Own Goods (TOOG) and Single VAT Registration (SVR)

Subject: Review of the VAT in the Digital Age (ViDA) Package: Focus on Transfer of Own Goods (TOOG) and Single VAT Registration (SVR)

Executive Summary

The EU’s “VAT in the Digital Age” (ViDA) package, adopted in March 2025 and entering into force in April 2025, aims to significantly streamline cross-border VAT compliance. A cornerstone of ViDA’s second pillar, Single VAT Registration (SVR), is the introduction of a new, optional special scheme for the Transfer of Own Goods (TOOG), effective 1 July 2028.

This reform addresses the “quiet administrative pain” of moving a business’s own stock across internal EU borders, which currently often necessitates multiple VAT registrations. The TOOG scheme offers a single registration and a single monthly OSS-style return for all intra-EU own-goods movements, absorbing and ultimately retiring the existing call-off stock simplification.

Crucially, the TOOG scheme is optional. However, businesses opting out face stringent new Digital Reporting Requirements (DRR) from 1 July 2030, including mandatory structured e-invoicing and real-time transaction-level reporting for these movements, replacing the existing recapitulative statement. Intrastat obligations, being statistical in nature, will persist regardless of the chosen VAT path. The decision to opt in or out represents a strategic trade-off between administrative simplification and enhanced digital reporting burdens.

Current Landscape: The “Registration Maze”

2.1 The Deemed Supply and Acquisition Mechanism

Currently, when a business moves its own goods between Member States without a sale (e.g., from one warehouse to another), EU VAT law does not ignore the movement. Instead, Article 17(1) of the VAT Directive (2006/112/EC) treats it as a “deemed supply of goods made for consideration.” This legal fiction ensures that goods are taxed where they are consumed.

“The transaction therefore splits into two legs. In the Member State of departure, there is a deemed intra-Community supply, exempt with the right to deduct under Article 138(2)(c). In the Member State of arrival, there is a corresponding deemed intra-Community acquisition under Article 21, which is taxable in that State.”

2.2 Why This Leads to Multiple Registrations

To account for the deemed intra-Community acquisition in the destination country, businesses must typically hold a local VAT registration there. They self-assess acquisition VAT, report it, and in the departure state, file a recapitulative statement (EC Sales List) quoting their own foreign VAT number as the “customer.” This means a company with distribution centers in multiple EU countries can “find itself holding five separate VAT registrations, none of which reflect any actual third-party sale — they exist purely to account for the movement of its own goods.”

Narrow exclusions in Article 17(2) exist (e.g., for temporary use, installation, distance selling), but they do not alleviate the burden for businesses simply relocating stock for future sale.

2.3 The Call-Off Stock Simplification (Currently)

Introduced in 2020 as a “Quick Fix,” the call-off stock simplification (Article 17a) addresses a specific scenario: a supplier sends goods to a known customer’s premises in another Member State, but title remains with the supplier until the customer “calls off” the goods.

Under this simplification:

The cross-border movement is not treated as a deemed transfer of own goods.
“No deemed intra-Community supply and acquisition arise at the moment of shipment, and — critically — the supplier does not need to VAT-register in the destination Member State merely to hold the stock there.”
VAT is deferred until the customer calls off the goods, at which point the supplier makes an exempt intra-Community supply to the customer, who then self-accounts for acquisition VAT.

Crucial Distinction: This simplification is narrow and applies only where there is a single, predetermined customer. It does not apply to “consignment stock or own-warehouse scenario,” where goods are held for multiple or unknown future buyers, which still requires a deemed transfer and local registration.

The ViDA TOOG Scheme: A New Path from 1 July 2028

3.1 Introduction of the Optional TOOG Scheme

From 1 July 2028, ViDA introduces a dedicated, optional special scheme for the Transfer of Own Goods (TOOG), embedded within a new Title XII, Chapter 6, Section 5 of the VAT Directive. Its objective is to “eliminate the need for multiple VAT registrations across the EU when companies move their own goods across borders.”

3.2 Single Registration and Monthly OSS-Style Return

The core benefit is administrative simplicity:

Businesses register in a single Member State of Identification (MSI) (their establishment or where transport begins for non-EU businesses).
Through this single registration, they report all qualifying intra-EU movements of their own goods on a single, monthly OSS-style return.
The intra-Community acquisition in the Member State of arrival is exempt from VAT.
Transfers made under the scheme do not have to be reported in the recapitulative statement.

The scheme leverages the existing OSS architecture, with new definitions and dedicated columns in the electronic VAT return message.

3.3 Absorption and Retirement of Call-Off Stock

The TOOG scheme is comprehensive and will absorb the current call-off stock simplification:

No new call-off stock arrangements may be entered into after 30 June 2028.
Existing call-off stock arrangements may continue under the Article 17a simplification until 30 June 2029.
“From 1 July 2028, all new movements of goods to be held for a customer’s future use are reported instead through the TOOG OSS return.”
Any legacy call-off stock still held at 30 June 2029 must be dealt with by that date, as the simplification ceases entirely thereafter.

“In effect, call-off stock is not so much abolished as subsumed: a narrow, condition-heavy simplification for known-customer scenarios gives way to a broad, single-registration scheme that covers both known-customer and own-warehouse movements alike.”

The Optional Nature and the “Old Way”

The TOOG scheme is entirely optional. Businesses are not compelled to use it and can continue to move goods the “old way”:

As a deemed intra-Community supply (departure State) and deemed intra-Community acquisition (arrival State) under Articles 17(1) and 21.
Accounted for through separate VAT registrations in each Member State.
Supported by a self-billed or pro-forma stock-transfer document.
The exempt intra-Community supply, recapitulative statement (until 2030), and local acquisition return all continue.

“All-or-Nothing” Scope: While the scheme is optional, if a business opts in, it applies to all of its intra-EU transfers of own goods; it cannot “cherry-pick.” However, this does not mean the traditional route disappears if not chosen; it simply means the chosen scheme covers all transfers. The key is that the Article 17a call-off stock simplification is genuinely abolished; the deemed transfer mechanism in Articles 17 and 21 remains available for those who opt out.

Consequences of Opting Out: The Digital Reporting Requirements (DRR)

Opting out of the TOOG scheme is “not a return to the quiet life.” From 1 July 2030, any transfer of own goods not reported through the TOOG/OSS scheme will fall under ViDA’s first pillar: the Digital Reporting Requirements (DRR).

5.1 Mandatory Structured E-invoicing

Default for DRR-scope transactions: Electronic invoicing becomes mandatory.
Format: E-invoices must be in a structured electronic format compliant with European standard EN 16931. PDFs are insufficient; hybrid formats (e.g., ZUGFeRD) are generally acceptable.
Self-invoicing: For own-goods transfers, businesses will need to generate a structured “self-invoice” between their own VAT identities.

5.2 The 10-Day Issuing Deadline

Cross-border e-invoices must be issued within 10 days of the chargeable event (i.e., the transfer). This is a “significant tightening” compared to current practices.

5.3 Real-Time Transaction-Level Reporting

Invoice data must be transmitted to the tax authority in real-time (at the moment of issue or due date) on a transaction-by-transaction basis.
Data is submitted to the Member State issuing the VAT ID, then forwarded to the central VIES database within one day for cross-checking.

5.4 Abolition of the Recapitulative Statement

The DRR replaces the recapitulative statement (EC Sales List) for in-scope transactions from 2030.
Businesses opting out will face “the full DRR machinery,” including structured e-invoicing and real-time reporting for every own-goods movement, in addition to maintaining local registrations.

5.5 The Strategic Trade-Off

The decision to opt in or out is a “reporting-strategy decision as much as a registration one.”

TOOG opt-in: Single monthly OSS return, excluded from DRR (no e-invoice, no real-time reporting).
Opt-out: Multiple local registrations + structured e-invoicing + real-time DRR reporting.

Intrastat: A Separate, Enduring Obligation

A critical point often overlooked is that the TOOG scheme does not relieve businesses of Intrastat obligations.

Intrastat is a statistical regime for collecting data on physical movements of goods, distinct from VAT reporting.
Businesses exceeding national Intrastat thresholds must continue submitting dispatch (departure MS) and arrival (arrival MS) declarations.
“The transfer of own goods is a physical movement of goods across an internal EU border, and as such it remains reportable for statistics irrespective of how — or whether — it is captured for VAT.”
Operational details include using correct “Nature of Transaction” codes and “dummy” VAT identification numbers for partner countries when no specific customer is known.

Therefore, even with a TOOG opt-in, Intrastat remains “an enduring, independent workstream” that must run in parallel and draw on the same underlying logistics data.

Deductibility Considerations

7.1 Deduction Today

Under the current deemed-transfer model, a locally registered business self-assesses and deducts acquisition VAT in the same return, typically resulting in a nil net cash effect. However, for non-registered or partially exempt businesses, acquisition VAT can be a real cost or cash-flow drag, potentially requiring registration or 8th/13th Directive refund claims to recover input VAT.

7.2 Deduction Under ViDA TOOG

The TOOG scheme makes the cross-border movement itself VAT-neutral at transfer. However:

It does not cover the recovery of local input VAT on unrelated costs (e.g., warehousing, handling) or onward domestic supplies of goods.
A local registration may still be needed for these purposes. This is a key consideration for businesses with a substantial local footprint.
The Implementing Regulation includes provisions for adjusting deduction on transferred goods within the TOOG return.

CJEU Case Law: The Interpretive Backbone

Decades of Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) jurisprudence continue to shape the characterization and taxation of own-goods movements, regardless of whether the TOOG scheme is adopted.

Josef Plöckl (C-24/15): Affirmed “substance over form” for own-goods transfers. An exemption for intra-Community transfer should not be refused solely on formal grounds (e.g., missing destination VAT ID) if there’s no tax evasion, goods genuinely moved, and substantive conditions are met.
Collée (C-146/05): Established the “neutrality principle,” stating that an intra-Community supply should not be denied exemption due to formal failures if substantive conditions are met and there’s no revenue risk.
EMAG Handel Eder (C-245/04): The foundational ruling for chain transactions, establishing that where goods are subject to a single intra-Community transport involving multiple supplies, the transport can only be ascribed to one supply for exemption purposes. This underlines the importance of correctly distinguishing genuine transfers from chain supplies.
Herst (C-401/18): Refined the ascription of transport in chain transactions, focusing on which operator holds the “right to dispose of the goods as owner” during the single intra-Community transport. This is critical for determining whether a movement is a transfer of own goods or part of a chain supply.

Through-line for ViDA: These judgments reinforce that the characterization of a movement depends on economic substance and the right to dispose, and that formal shortcomings should not nullify substantive VAT treatment in the absence of fraud.

Advantages, Disadvantages, and the Opt-In Decision

Advantages of TOOG:

Genuine single VAT registration for intra-EU stock movements.
VAT-neutrality at the point of transfer.
Consolidation of VAT reporting into one monthly OSS return.
Exclusion of transfers from the recapitulative statement and future DRR.
Openness to non-EU businesses.
Rationalization of the fragmented call-off stock regime.

Disadvantages / Watch-outs of TOOG:

Monthly filing cadence.
“All-or-nothing” scope once opted in.
No coverage for onward domestic supplies or unrelated input VAT recovery (may still require local registration).
Persistent Intrastat obligations.
Transitional complexity in winding down call-off stock (2028–2029).
For those who stay out, the full DRR e-invoicing and real-time reporting burden from 2030.
Ongoing need for correct classification of movements based on CJEU case law.

The “genuine choice a business faces is therefore not ‘scheme versus nothing,’ but ‘single monthly OSS return under TOOG’ versus ‘multiple local registrations + structured e-invoicing + real-time DRR reporting.'” For most multi-country operators, the former will likely be more attractive, though businesses with significant local footprint or domestic sales may find the traditional route, even with DRR, more pragmatic.

Timeline at a Glance

11 March 2025: ViDA adopted (Council Directive (EU) 2025/516).
14 April 2025: ViDA entered into force.
1 January 2027: Administrative and registration data changes supporting OSS expansion apply.
1 July 2028:TOOG scheme goes live.
Wider SVR reforms take effect.
No new call-off stock arrangements may begin.
30 June 2029: Call-off stock simplification ceases entirely (existing arrangements expire).
1 July 2030: Digital Reporting Requirements (DRR) apply for own-goods movements not reported through TOOG (mandatory structured e-invoicing and real-time e-reporting).

Conclusion

The ViDA package fundamentally reshapes how cross-border transfers of own goods are treated in the EU. The TOOG scheme offers a significant simplification for businesses seeking to reduce their VAT registration footprint and reporting complexity for internal stock movements. However, its optional nature, coupled with the stringent DRR for opt-outs, creates a crucial strategic decision point. Businesses must map their intra-EU stock flows, model the TOOG-versus-DRR trade-off, ensure Intrastat compliance, plan for the call-off stock wind-down, and configure their ERP and invoicing systems for both the 2028 changes and the 2030 DRR overlay to fully leverage ViDA’s potential for simplification.

Key Legal References

VAT Directive 2006/112/EC: Articles 17(1), 17(2), 17a, 36a, 21, 76, and 138(2)(c).
New TOOG Scheme: Title XII, Chapter 6, Section 5 (Articles 369xa–369xk), inserted by Council Directive (EU) 2025/516.
DRR / E-invoicing: ViDA Pillar 1 – structured EN 16931 e-invoice within 10 days, real-time transaction-level reporting; recapitulative statement abolished; applies from 1 July 2030.
Implementing Rules: Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2026/1869 – definitions, register column G, VAT-return column F, and deduction-adjustment reporting (Annex III).
CJEU Case Law: Plöckl, C-24/15; Collée, C-146/05; EMAG Handel Eder, C-245/04; Herst, C-401/18.