How to complete the EU VAT Questionnaire (applicable to non-EU domiciled merchants shipping to the EU)?

The below article is part of a series covering EU VAT requirements effective July 1, 2021 12:00AM CEST. See here for more information.

To help Wish determine merchants’ European Union (EU) VAT obligations to comply with the new EU VAT regulations taking effect on July 1, 2021, Wish will require all non-EU domiciled merchants shipping EU-bound orders to complete the EU VAT Questionnaire, accessible starting June 24, 2021. Completing the questionnaire will indicate if merchants are considered to have an EU establishment or not. Non-EU domiciled merchants considered to have an EU establishment will have the same EU VAT obligations as EU domiciled merchants (please see this guide for an overview EU VAT changes). Incomplete questionnaires may lead to double taxation for non-EU domiciled merchants who do have EU VAT obligations. Inaccurate responses may lead to EU VAT underpayment for which Wish and/or EU tax authorities may hold merchants liable.

See below for a walkthrough of how to complete the EU VAT Questionnaire on Merchant Dashboard:

1. For non-EU domiciled merchants who have already enabled shipping to some or all EU countries in Account > Shipping Settings, the EU VAT Questionnaire can be accessed under the “Things to do” section of the Merchant Dashboard homepage by clicking “Start Questionnaire”. Applicable merchants will also be notified by email to complete this questionnaire.

Additionally, any non-EU domiciled merchant attempting to enable an EU destination country in Account > Shipping Settings will be prompted to complete the questionnaire after clicking “Apply to existing non-promoted products”. Please note that going forward, merchants will not be allowed to enable new EU countries in Shipping Settings until the questionnaire has been completed.

2. On the EU VAT Questionnaire page, answer the questions accurately to help Wish determine merchants’ EU VAT obligations.

1). Are you subject to Corporate Income Tax or Personal Income Tax in any of the European Union (EU) Member States?

If Yes, merchants will be required to upload their business registration extract document as proof. Merchants may find out how to request a copy of this document by contacting or visiting the website of their national or local company register.

If No, merchants will be prompted with questions 2, 3, and 4. 

2). Do you employ personnel in any of the EU Member States?

3). Do you have a business address (e.g. a rented office space) in any of the EU Member States?

If Yes, merchants will need to provide their business address. If merchants have multiple business addresses in EU countries, they will only need to provide one business address.

4). Are you registered with a trade registry, and/or are you VAT registered in any of the EU Member States?

If Yes, merchants will need to provide your VAT Number and/or Business Registration Number. To help with the information validation process, we strongly encourage merchants to provide both numbers if possible. Please note that entering any value in the VAT Number field will make the Country/Region for VAT Registration dropdown required to complete.

Click “Submit” after answering all applicable questions to submit the questionnaire to Wish for review.

3. See below for a breakdown of various EU Establishment statuses (seen on the Tax Settings page) based on answers to the questionnaire:

• Not Established: EU VAT Questionnaire has been successfully submitted and it has been determined that the merchant does not have an EU establishment. If the merchant believes that inaccurate information has been provided in the questionnaire, they may click the “Re-submit Questionnaire” button under the EU Establishment status area to access it again and re-submit.
• Pending Review: EU VAT Questionnaire has been successfully submitted and is currently being reviewed by the Wish team. Until the EU establishment status is finalized, Wish will assume that the merchant does not have an EU establishment yet. 
• Validated: Based on a review of the answers provided in the EU VAT Questionnaire, the Wish team has determined that the merchant has an EU establishment.
• Rejected: Based on a review of the answers provided in the EU VAT Questionnaire, the Wish team has rejected the merchant’s submission and determined that the merchant does not have an EU establishment. If the merchant believes that inaccurate information has been provided in the questionnaire, they may click the “Re-submit Questionnaire” button under the EU Establishment status area to access it again and re-submit.

Note that if merchants accidentally missed or skipped the prompt from the “Things to do” section on Merchant Dashboard homepage to access the questionnaire page, they may also access the questionnaire directly from Tax Settings homepage. Until the questionnaire is completed, the status of “European Union (EU) Establishment” shown above will be Not Started.

Next, EU domiciled merchants and non-EU domiciled merchants with an EU establishment (as determined by the above questionnaire) can use this guide to set up their EU Tax Settings (available to set up starting June 28, 2021).