MARKET INTELLIGENCE REPORT
Cross border compliance risks for Italian retailers
Packaging obligations and indirect tax exposure in the EU United States Switzerland and United Kingdom
Purpose and objective
An overseas order can create a packaging obligation, a tax registration requirement, or both. For Italian retailers, the commercial risk is that these costs become visible only after the sale, when prices have been agreed and the customer has already paid.
While Italy’s packaging contribution and EU One Stop Shop (OSS) arrangements can make cross border administration feel familiar, neither provides complete coverage abroad. Packaging compliance remains national, US sales tax is assessed state by state, and Switzerland and Great Britain operate outside the EU VAT reporting system.
This report examines four areas where Italian retailers selling physical goods directly to consumers can lose margin: unrecovered CONAI contributions, US state sales tax, Swiss mail order VAT and UK direct sales VAT. It explains the trigger, the business impact and the checks the finance team should make. Marketplace transactions must be assessed separately from sales through the retailer’s own webshop.
| Area | Main exposure | Finance team priority |
|---|---|---|
| Export packaging | Italian contribution left unrecovered while destination EPR costs arise | Reconcile export relief with destination registrations |
| United States | State obligations missed across sales channels | Monitor each state’s current nexus rules |
| Switzerland | Qualifying small consignments trigger domestic VAT | Track the relevant turnover and effective date |
| Great Britain | Direct low value consumer sales require VAT from the outset | Apply checkout VAT and registration rules |
SECTION 1
Exported packaging can carry two costs
Italian retailers may bear the CONAI environmental contribution, known as the Contributo Ambientale CONAI (CAC), on packaging purchased or imported. Packaging exported for waste management abroad falls outside CONAI’s remit and is eligible for relief through the applicable procedures. The exemption or refund must be claimed; it is not an automatic consequence of recording an export. [1]
CONAI offers an ex post procedure for recovering contributions already paid on qualifying exported packaging and an ex ante procedure based on an expected export share. The ordinary ex post claim uses Form 6.6 and is due by the last day of February following the export year. Eligibility, documentation and the appropriate procedure should be checked against the current CONAI guidance. [1]
Relief in Italy does not discharge obligations in the destination market. Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) requires the responsible producer to fund packaging waste management under the relevant national arrangements. An Italian registration is not an EU wide EPR passport. A retailer should assess its role and obligations separately in every country where its packaging is placed on the market. [2]
The Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) generally applies from 12 August 2026. Article 45(3) requires producers within the relevant cross border direct supply categories to appoint an authorised representative for EPR in member states where they are not established. National registration and reporting obligations must also be assessed. [2]
A change is being negotiated. On 21 October 2026, the Council adopted a negotiating position proposing relief from the representative requirement for EU producers placing less than one tonne of packaging per calendar year on another member state’s market. This is a negotiating mandate, not an adopted exemption. It should not be used to stop current compliance arrangements. [3]
| Italian side | Destination side |
|---|---|
| Claim applicable CONAI export relief and retain supporting packaging records | Identify the producer, register where required and account for local EPR charges |
| Record packaging by material and export destination | Check whether a local authorised representative is required |
For the company, paying destination EPR charges while leaving recoverable CAC unclaimed creates an avoidable second cost on the same packaging. The finance team should reconcile export records, packaging weights, supplier contribution data and claim deadlines, then include destination compliance fees in cost per order.
SECTION 2
US sales tax triggers change by state
The United States has no equivalent to the EU’s OSS for a single national sales tax return. States set their own rules for economic nexus, which is the connection created by sales activity that can require a remote seller to register and collect tax. Italian retailers must assess the states where their customers are located rather than monitor one US revenue total.
US$100,000 is a common revenue threshold, but the precise amount, sales included, measurement period and collection start date vary. Some jurisdictions retain transaction tests or apply higher revenue thresholds. Physical presence, including certain inventory or fulfilment arrangements, can create a separate obligation before an economic threshold is reached.
Utah removed its 200 transaction test from 1 July 2025. Its remote seller revenue trigger is more than US$100,000 in qualifying Utah sales in the current or previous calendar year. Illinois removed its 200 transaction test from 1 January 2026; the trigger is US$100,000 or more, reviewed quarterly against the preceding 12 months. These differences matter when building monitoring rules. [4–6]
| State | Current revenue trigger | Transaction test |
|---|---|---|
| Utah | More than US$100,000 in current or previous calendar year | Removed 1 July 2025 |
| Illinois | US$100,000 or more over preceding 12 months with quarterly review | Removed 1 January 2026 |
Marketplace collection does not automatically cover a retailer’s direct sales. Whether marketplace sales enter the seller’s nexus calculation must be checked state by state; the treatment cannot safely be inferred from the platform’s collection of tax. The retailer should retain evidence of which transactions a facilitator covers and separately identify sales through its webshop.
For the company, a missed registration can turn tax that should have been collected from the customer into a cost funded from margin. Earlier exposure must be reviewed under the rules in force at the time: removal of a transaction threshold does not by itself erase historical liabilities.
For the finance team, this means maintaining a state and channel sales ledger, reviewing nexus at the required intervals and assigning responsibility for registration, product taxability and returns. A marketplace statement and a national sales total are insufficient to establish the position for every state.
SECTION 3
Swiss webshop sales need separate VAT monitoring
Switzerland is outside the EU VAT system, so an Italian OSS return does not settle Swiss VAT. Under the mail order rules, a seller dispatching qualifying small consignments from abroad becomes liable when annual turnover from those consignments reaches at least CHF 100,000. The rules have applied since 2019. [7]
A small consignment is defined by import tax of no more than CHF 5, rather than by a universal retail price ceiling. At rates of 8.1% and 2.6%, the approximate taxable bases are CHF 62 and CHF 193 respectively. Freight and other components of the import tax base can affect the calculation. The CHF 200 figure should not be treated as the current reduced rate limit. [12]
Under the FTA’s guidance, domestic supply treatment generally begins in the month after the threshold is reached. Once it applies, the seller must account for Swiss VAT on all relevant deliveries from abroad to Switzerland, not only the small consignments that triggered registration. The earlier orders are relevant to the threshold calculation; they do not all become retrospectively taxable merely because the threshold is later crossed. [7]
Since 1 January 2025, qualifying electronic platform operators are treated as suppliers for the transactions they facilitate. Platform VAT treatment does not settle the retailer’s own webshop position. Direct orders need their own analysis, while the treatment of platform sales depends on the platform’s status and the statutory supply chain. Sellers also retain subsidiary liability for tax due on supplies attributed to a platform under Article 15(4bis) of the Swiss VAT Act. [8, 13]
| Question | What the retailer should establish |
|---|---|
| What counts towards the trigger | Turnover from qualifying small consignments under the applicable supply model |
| When collection starts | The correct effective month after reaching the threshold |
| What changes after registration | Domestic VAT treatment and importer arrangements for relevant Swiss deliveries |
| Who handles registration | A tax representative resident or established in Switzerland |
A foreign taxable business must appoint a Swiss tax representative, and the FTA states that online registration is not possible without one. [9] For the company, delayed implementation can mean Swiss VAT comes out of sales receipts from the date liability began. The finance team should coordinate checkout tax, customs instructions and carrier data so customers are not charged incorrectly at delivery.
SECTION 4
Great Britain sales sit outside the OSS return
Italian retailers cannot use an EU OSS return to account for VAT on goods sent to consumers in Great Britain. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) states that overseas sellers making taxable UK supplies have no registration threshold of the kind available to UK established businesses. The domestic £90,000 threshold should not be used as a safe allowance for an Italian seller. [10–11]
For ordinary non excise goods outside the UK at the point of sale and sold directly to consumers in Great Britain, consignments with an intrinsic value of £135 or less generally require VAT to be charged at checkout. The overseas seller must register and account for it. The £135 test applies to the consignment, not simply to each product in the parcel. [10–11]
Where a qualifying online marketplace facilitates the same low value sale, it is generally treated as the supplier for VAT purposes. The retailer must still identify which orders the platform covers. Its own webshop does not acquire that treatment merely because the business also trades through a marketplace. [10]
Above £135, normal import VAT and customs rules apply. The retailer must establish who acts as importer and how delivery terms allocate the charges. Holding stock in the UK can create a separate registration requirement for direct taxable sales regardless of the consignment value. [10–11]
| Route | Main treatment to assess |
|---|---|
| Direct sale to a Great Britain consumer of goods abroad worth £135 or less per consignment | Seller registration and point of sale VAT |
| Qualifying marketplace sale of the same goods | Marketplace generally accounts for VAT |
| Consignment above £135 | Normal import VAT and customs rules |
| Goods dispatched from Italy to Northern Ireland | Separate EU goods VAT and distance selling analysis |
Northern Ireland needs separate treatment. EU goods VAT rules continue to apply in relevant cases, and eligible Italy to Northern Ireland consumer distance sales may be reported through Union OSS. A single UK rule applied to all postcodes can therefore produce errors. [10]
For the company, direct sales made without the required registration can leave VAT, interest and potential penalties payable on revenue already booked. For the finance team, the priority is to separate Great Britain from Northern Ireland, identify the seller or platform liable on each order and validate the consignment value before checkout.
SECTION 5
Where Italian retailers encounter difficulty
The same operational gaps recur across these four areas. A retailer records revenue correctly but does not connect the order to the packaging, channel, destination and effective date that determine its compliance obligations.
Leaving CONAI relief unclaimed. Export sales generate destination packaging costs while the Italian contribution remains in the cost base.
Treating registration as a passport. An Italian EPR registration or EU OSS return is assumed to cover obligations that remain national or lie outside the EU.
Relying on marketplace collection. The finance team treats a platform’s tax collection as evidence that direct webshop orders are also covered.
Monitoring the wrong total. A national US figure, all Swiss revenue or a single UK total hides the state, consignment or territorial distinction that matters.
Applying new rules to old periods. A revised threshold is used to dismiss liabilities arising before its effective date.
Finance team checklist
- Reconcile exported packaging with CAC already paid and submit the appropriate CONAI claim within the applicable deadline.
- Map packaging registrations, reporting, fees and representation requirements by destination country.
- Monitor PPWR amendments through adoption and publication before relying on proposed relief.
- Track US sales by state and channel using the correct revenue base, period and historical rule.
- Identify qualifying Swiss small consignments and the month the CHF 100,000 threshold is reached.
- Confirm Swiss representation, importer instructions and the allocation of platform responsibilities.
- Separate Great Britain and Northern Ireland orders and test the £135 consignment rule where applicable.
- Review historical exposure before changing checkout settings or making retrospective filings.
Tax Desk provides indirect tax compliance services for businesses expanding across borders, including VAT, GST and US sales tax registration, filing and ongoing compliance. Italian retailers reviewing the issues in this report can discuss their tax exposure with Tax Desk and coordinate packaging matters with the relevant EPR specialists.
SECTION 6
Sources and scope of the report
Official sources checked on 28 October 2026. References support the rules described; retailer specific obligations depend on the facts. The report addresses compliance exposure rather than estimating the size of the retail export opportunity.
- CONAI — EPR Fee exemption for exports. View source
- European Union — Regulation EU 2025 40 Articles 44 45 and 71. View source
- Council of the European Union — Negotiating stance on small packaging producers 21 October 2026. View source
- Utah State Tax Commission — Out of State Remote Sellers. View source
- Illinois Department of Revenue — FY 2026 12 Destination Based Retailers Occupation Tax Changes. View source
- Illinois Department of Revenue — Destination Based Sales Tax Assistance. View source
- Swiss Federal Tax Administration — Mail order trade and platform taxation. View source
- Swiss Federal Tax Administration — VAT registration for platform operators. View source
- Swiss Federal Tax Administration — VAT liability foreign companies. View source
- HMRC — VAT and overseas goods sold directly to customers in the UK. View source
- HMRC — Charging VAT on goods sold direct to customers in the UK. View source
- Swiss Federal Office for Customs and Border Security — Courier by post online shopping and mail order imports. View source
- Swiss Confederation — Swiss VAT Act Article 15 paragraph 4bis. View source
This report is for general information and does not constitute tax or legal advice. It focuses on cross border consumer goods sales and does not provide an exhaustive account of exemptions, registration routes or product specific rules. Legislation, administrative guidance and proposals can change. Obtain a transaction specific review before making registration or filing decisions.
