How to use EU VAT Exports
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Easy Digital Downloads (Pro) includes a number of reports and export tools to make it easier for you to download the data necessary to submit your MOSS EU VAT returns. Before getting started, be sure that your site has the most up-to-date version of Easy Digital Downloads (Pro). If you need help getting started with Easy Digital Downloads and EU VAT, you can read our guide on how to set up EU VAT.
Note: The information in this article is not tax advice and is provided in order to help understand the tools available with Easy Digital Downloads to aid in your MOSS VAT return submissions. All information should be verified with a tax professional for accuracy for your business.
When do I have to submit my MOSS VAT returns by?
When collecting VAT from customers in the EU, it is generally suggested that you submit your VAT return by the 20th of the month following the end of each quarter. This means by the 20th of April, you would submit data for the period of January 1st through March 31st. It is also recommended to use the Mini-One-Stop-Shop (MOSS) system to handle submitting a single tax return and payment for the entire EU, as it allows you to register for a European VAT no matter your location.
Below we’ll provide you with multiple methods to export your MOSS VAT data from Easy Digital Downloads (Pro) to aide you in gathering the required information for these returns. These three methods are:
- EU VAT Summary Export – This is the easiest option, and is best for when your store’s main currency is the same currency that you have set in the MOSS VAT return.
- Third-Party Accounting Systems – If you are using a system like Xero, Sage, or QuickBooks, and have added the VAT collected from each country, use this method.
- EDD Orders Export – If your store’s main currency is different from the currency used in the MOSS VAT return, and you aren’t using a 3rd party system, use this method.
EU VAT Summary Export
Easy Digital Downloads (Pro) provides a report that will summarize all VAT collected. This export will be provided in the same format that you will need when uploading/inserting in to your MOSS tax return, making it quick and easy for you to file your returns.
What does this report contain?
The EU VAT Summary report contains all the necessary information needed for your MOSS return, by country. This includes:
- Country
- Standard VAT Rate
- Value of Items (Excluding VAT)
- VAT
This CSV is formatted to match the same way that your MOSS VAT return asks for it, making your return quick and easy.
Exporting the EU VAT Summary
- Go to Downloads > Reports > Exports
- Scroll down to the Export EU VAT export.
- Select the Start and End Dates for the period that you are reporting for.
- Click Generate CSV.
- When the Export is done, a CSV file will be downloaded to your computer automatically.
- Open the CSV file using any spreadsheet software (Google Sheets, and Microsoft Excel work great).
- This spreadsheet will contain all the information you need to input into your MOSS VAT return, separated by country.
Important currency information
The EU VAT Summary Export is provided based on the Easy Digital Downloads store currency found at Downloads > Settings > General > Currency. If you use our Multi Currency plugin, no additional steps are needed, as all price information for each payment is saved in your store’s main currency.
If your store currency does not match the currency that you need to submit your MOSS VAT return in, then you should use a different method.
Tax collected in your own country
If you are located in the EU, then you may notice that the report does not include details of the tax collected for your own home country. This is intentional as the report generated is information you need for your EU VAT tax return, which should not contain tax collected in your home country. Tax collected in your home country should be submitted in your local tax returns.
Third-Party Accounting Systems
Many people use Easy Digital Downloads alongside an electronic accounting platform such as Xero, QuickBooks or Sage. If you add all your sales (including the tax collected and details of the customer’s country) to a separate system – either via manual import or by integrating your accounting system with EDD – then you can use this system to generate a report listing all the EU VAT that you collected during a specific period. You can use this report to create your quarterly MOSS return.
For instructions on how to generate MOSS VAT reports using this method, please consult the documentation for your chosen accounting system.
EDD Orders Export
You can use the Easy Digital Downloads orders export to get the information you need for the MOSS VAT return:
1. Go to Downloads > Reports > Export.
2. In the Export Orders tool, select the dates for the period for which you need to submit a tax return. Click the button to download the order records for ‘All statuses’.
3. This will save a CSV file to your computer. Open it using any spreadsheet software (e.g. Excel, Numbers or Google Sheets).
4. Reformat the spreadsheet as follows (for instructions on how to sort columns etc., please see the documentation for your spreadsheet software):
- Delete all the columns apart from ‘Country Name’, ‘Amount’, ‘Tax’ and ‘Date’.
- Sort the spreadsheet by the ‘Tax‘ column and remove all records where no VAT was paid, as you don’t need to report on these.
- Sort the spreadsheet by the ‘Status’ column and delete any statuses that you don’t need to report on. For example, you should remove ‘refunded’, ‘abandoned’ (if you are using an abandoned cart plugin), ‘failed’, ‘cancelled’ etc. If you are using the Recurring Payments extension then you should keep all payments with the ‘complete’ and ‘edd\_subscription’ statuses because new sales and renewal payments should be included in your EU VAT tax return.
- Next sort the spreadsheet by the ‘Country Name’ column.
- If your company is based in the EU or UK – Delete any payments from customers in your own country, because you will be submitting a separate domestic tax return for this and don’t need to include it in your MOSS return. (For example, if you’re in the United Kingdom then you should remove any UK sales and submit this on your UK tax return instead.)
- Insert a new row between the payments for each country.
- Now use your mouse to highlight the ‘Tax’ column for all the payments relating to the first country in the table (e.g. Belgium).
- If your store’s main currency is not Euros, then you should then look up the exchange rate published by the European Central Bank on the last reporting day of the VAT MOSS quarter (or if it’s a weekend, or bank holiday the next available day), and convert the totals for each country into Euros. This is essential because you must submit your MOSS return in Euros and not your base currency.
Use the SUM function to calculate the total price and VAT collected for that country. This is the information that you need to enter on the MOSS VAT return.
Frequently Asked Questions
What if a country’s VAT rate changed during the period covered by my return?
EU countries normally change their VAT rates at the end of a reporting period, so this is unlikely to happen. If it ever does happen, then the report will show the latest VAT rate if it has changed. The amounts collected will be correct, so long as you keep Easy Digital Downloads itself up to date.
If you have “Automatic VAT Rates” enabled, EDD will take care of updating tax rates automatically.
How do I download an EC Sales List?
In addition to the MOSS tax return, if you are in an EU country, then you may need to submit a list of all your sales where the VAT was reverse charged.
Easy Digital Downloads also includes an export for this purpose.
To create the report, go to Downloads > Reports > Export and find the Export EC Sales List report. You can then select the start and end date that you are reporting on, and download the data into a CSV file.
The report contains all the information that is required for the EC Sales List. You can open it using any spreadsheet software.