VAT Registration Thresholds in Europe 2026: Country Guide

“What’s the VAT threshold?” has a different answer in every European country, and several of those answers changed recently. Ireland raised its limits twice in two years. Germany rebuilt its small-business scheme in 2025. France suspended a reform mid-flight. And Spain, remarkably, still has no threshold at all: the European Commission took it to the EU Court of Justice over exactly that in March 2026.

If you sell across borders, or you’re just tired of finding stale numbers, here is the 2026 map: what each major market exempts, how the tests work, and the EU-wide scheme that changes the game for cross-border sellers.

The 2026 Thresholds at a Glance

Below the threshold you can generally invoice without charging VAT (each country brands it differently: small supplier, Kleinunternehmer, franchise en base, forfettario). Above it, registration and periodic returns become mandatory.

Country by Country: the Fine Print That Bites

Ireland: two thresholds, rolling window

€42,500 for services and €85,000 for goods, measured over any rolling 12 months and with a forward-looking test: if a signed contract will take you over, you register now. The figures moved twice recently, so plenty of guides still show €37,500/€75,000. Our Irish thresholds guide covers the tests, the deadlines and late-registration costs in detail.

United Kingdom: £90,000 and a 30-day forward test

Outside the EU but impossible to leave off this table: £90,000 in taxable turnover over any rolling 12-month period, or registration within 30 days if you expect to cross it. Deregistration sits at £88,000. Once registered, Making Tax Digital applies to everyone; see how the UK VAT return works or run quick numbers with the UK VAT calculator.

Germany: the double test with a trapdoor

Since 2025, the Kleinunternehmerregelung (§19 UStG) requires both conditions: prior-year revenue under €25,000 and current-year revenue under €100,000. The trapdoor: cross €100,000 mid-year and you become VAT-liable from that very invoice, not from January. Sweetener: small businesses under the scheme file no VAT pre-returns and, since 2024, no annual VAT return either.

France: the reform that wasn’t

The franchise en base stands at €37,500 for services and €85,000 for goods in 2026. The 2025 budget tried to replace it with a single €25,000 threshold; the measure was suspended amid protest and later dropped, and a 2026 attempt to revive it for construction was rejected too. If you read about a €25,000 French threshold, you’re reading history.

Italy: exemption through the forfettario

Italy structures it differently: the regime forfettario (up to €85,000 in revenue) is a flat-tax regime for individuals that includes VAT exemption. Companies and anyone above the ceiling register normally, and e-invoicing through SDI applies broadly regardless.

Portugal: low bar, fast exit

€15,000 under article 53 of the CIVA (raised from €14,500 in July 2025). Cross €18,750 during the year and you exit the regime immediately rather than at year-end. Everyone else files periodic returns; deadlines and rates are in our Portuguese VAT guide.

Spain: the odd one out

Spain never transposed the EU small-business directive: there is no revenue level below which you can skip VAT. Every autónomo invoices with IVA from the first euro, quarter after quarter. The European Commission referred Spain to the Court of Justice in March 2026 over the missing regime, so this row may finally change; until it does, treat any “Spain €85,000 exemption” claim as premature.

The EU-Wide Layer: the €100,000 Cross-Border SME Scheme

Since January 2025, the EU adds a second dimension. Under the SME scheme (Directive 2020/285), a business established in one member state can use the other countries’ domestic exemptions for its cross-border sales, provided its total EU-wide turnover stays under €100,000.

In practice: a Portuguese freelancer selling into France can invoice French clients VAT-free under France’s franchise, without registering there, as long as the EU-wide total stays under €100,000 and they notify their home tax authority (an “EX” identifier). Before 2025, domestic exemptions stopped at the border; now they travel.

Two cautions:

1. Distance selling has its own line: the €10,000 EU threshold for B2C e-commerce and digital services still applies separately, pushing sellers into OSS registration much earlier
2. Spain complicates the picture: with no domestic franchise, foreign small businesses cannot use the scheme in Spain either

Reading the Table Strategically

• Thresholds are turnover, not profit, everywhere. Costs are irrelevant to the test
• Rolling windows beat calendar years in Ireland and the UK; Germany and Portugal look at calendar years but with immediate mid-year triggers
• Voluntary registration is available everywhere and often smart for B2B businesses: your clients reclaim the VAT anyway, and you unlock input VAT recovery
• Crossing a threshold late is expensive in every jurisdiction: back-VAT out of your own pocket plus interest and penalties. If you’re within 20% of your local line, start tracking monthly

How Odiverse Helps

Odiverse operates in all the countries on this table. It tracks your rolling taxable turnover against the local threshold so you see the line coming, applies each country’s VAT rates correctly per invoice, and keeps the books ready for whichever return regime you land in. One platform, eleven countries, and the thresholds stay current so your invoices don’t quote 2024 rules.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the VAT registration threshold in the EU? There is no single EU threshold: each member state sets its own, from €15,000 in Portugal to €85,000 in France (goods) and Italy. Since 2025, an EU-wide €100,000 ceiling lets small businesses use other countries’ exemptions for cross-border sales.

Which European country has the highest VAT threshold? Among major markets in 2026: the UK at £90,000, with France and Italy at €85,000 (goods and forfettario respectively) and Germany’s €100,000 current-year ceiling as an upper bound on its two-part test.

Does Spain have a VAT registration threshold? No. Spain is the only EU member state without a small-business VAT franchise, and the European Commission referred it to the EU Court of Justice in March 2026 over the missing regime.

Can I use another EU country’s VAT exemption? Yes, since January 2025, if you’re established in the EU and your total EU-wide turnover is under €100,000. You apply through your home tax authority for the cross-border SME scheme.

Is the VAT threshold based on profit or turnover? Turnover, in every country listed. A goods business with €86,000 in Irish sales and thin margins is over the €85,000 line regardless of profit.

Know Your Lines

One table, seven countries, and at least four numbers that changed in the last two years. If you’d rather software watched the thresholds for you while you work, try Odiverse free, or start with the deep dives for Ireland and the UK.