Choosing your Member State of Identification

Which EU country you register through, when the choice is yours, and how long it binds you

Updated last month

Your Member State of Identification, or MSI, is the single EU country through which you register for OSS and file your OSS return. Whether you get to choose it depends on which scheme you are in, and for most businesses the answer is set by law rather than by preference.

Quick Summary

You have exactly one MSI, and exactly one OSS registration, no matter how many EU countries you sell into
Under Non-Union OSS, for businesses with no EU establishment, you choose your MSI freely from all 27 Member States
Under Union OSS, the MSI is usually fixed by law, and Kintsugi pre-fills and locks it
The MSI does not change what VAT you pay. You charge each customer their own country's rate either way
Where you do have a genuine choice, it binds you for the rest of the calendar year plus the two following years
You can only opt into OSS in your MSI, not in any other country where you operate

When the choice is yours, and when it is not

Non-Union OSS

If your business has no EU establishment and you supply services to EU consumers, you pick any Member State you like. There is no legally preferred country, and Kintsugi does not require a particular one.

Union OSS

Here the MSI follows a fixed order of determination, and a free choice arises only in two narrow cases.

Your situation	Your MSI	Choice or fixed?
Your business is incorporated or seated in an EU country	That country	Fixed. Kintsugi pre-fills and locks it
No EU seat, one EU fixed establishment	The country of that establishment	Fixed
No EU seat, two or more EU fixed establishments, VAT-registered in one of them	The country where you are VAT-registered	Fixed
No EU seat, two or more EU fixed establishments, VAT-registered in none of them	Your choice among those countries	Choice. Kintsugi shows a selection screen
No EU establishment, goods dispatched from one EU country	That dispatch country	Fixed
No EU establishment, goods dispatched from two or more EU countries	Your choice among the dispatch countries	Choice. Kintsugi shows a selection screen

If you never see a selection screen in Kintsugi, that is because your MSI is determined by law and there is nothing to decide.

What the choice does and does not affect

It does not affect:

The VAT rate on any sale. You charge the customer's country's rate, always
Which countries your return covers. One OSS return covers all 27 either way
Your filing frequency or deadline
How much VAT you owe in total

It does affect:

Which tax authority you deal with, and the language its correspondence arrives in
How supplies to consumers in that country are reported, which differs between the two schemes. Under Non-Union OSS they go on your OSS return. Under Union OSS a supply of services into a country where you are established is carved out of OSS and goes on that country's domestic return instead
How long you are committed, where a genuine choice existed

The commitment period

Where you made a real choice rather than having one determined for you, that choice binds you for the remainder of the current calendar year plus the two following calendar years. Treat it as a considered decision, not a setting to revisit.

Union OSS requires a local VAT registration in your MSI

Union OSS cannot operate without a VAT registration in the MSI country. If your OSS registration is triggered first, Kintsugi also triggers the local VAT registration in that country, even where that country's own domestic threshold has not been reached.

This does not apply to Non-Union OSS, which stands on its own.

FAQs

Q: Can I choose the country with the lowest VAT rate?

A: Choosing it will not lower your VAT. You charge each customer the rate of their own country, so the MSI has no effect on the rate applied to any sale.

Q: Can I have more than one OSS registration?

A: No. One entity has one MSI and one OSS registration, covering all its qualifying EU sales.

Q: Kintsugi didn't let me pick a country. Why?

A: Your MSI is fixed by law for your situation, so there is nothing to select. The table above shows which situations allow a choice.

Q: I'm a US SaaS business with no EU presence. Can I pick Italy?

A: Yes. Under Non-Union OSS the choice is free and any Member State is available.

Q: Can I change my MSI later?

A: Where you made a genuine choice, it binds you for the current calendar year plus the two following years. Contact us before assuming a change is possible.

Q: Do I need a VAT registration in my MSI country?

A: For Union OSS, yes, and Kintsugi triggers it for you. For Non-Union OSS, no.

This article is general information about how Kintsugi works, not tax advice for your specific situation.

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