What you need before opening a store

WireGum covers the operational side of selling. Before the first real sale there are a few legal and tax boxes to tick that no software covers for you. This guide maps them at a high level so the conversation with your accountant is faster. It is general information, not tax or legal advice.

You are running a business

Selling physical products online on a continuing basis is a business activity in every EU country. That normally means registering a business and getting a VAT number before the store goes live. Hobby and occasional-sale exceptions exist in most countries, but they are narrow: an always-on store with a catalog, checkout, and shipping rarely qualifies.

In Italy: opening an online store means getting a partita IVA with an e-commerce activity code, registering with the Registro delle Imprese, and filing a SCIA with your municipality through the SUAP desk. Sole traders typically also enroll in the INPS commercianti scheme. The regime forfettario can be a lighter way to start; your commercialista will tell you if you qualify.

Domestic VAT is the default

Until you cross the EU cross-border threshold, you charge your own country's VAT according to your registration and regime. Add that registration in Stripe Tax and enable automatic tax in Settings, Checkout, and WireGum asks Stripe to calculate the right rate on every checkout.

The 10,000 euro EU threshold and the OSS

Selling to consumers in other EU countries has one shared threshold: 10,000 euro of cross-border B2C sales per calendar year, counted across all EU countries together, not per country, and combined with cross-border digital services. Below it you may keep charging home VAT. Above it every sale is taxed in the customer's country.

Registering for VAT in each destination country works but is heavy. The practical route is the One Stop Shop (OSS): one quarterly VAT return filed in your home country that covers all EU consumer sales. In Italy, OSS registration runs through the Agenzia delle Entrate portal.

What Stripe Tax does and does not do

Stripe Tax calculates and collects the right tax at checkout based on the registrations you add in Stripe, monitors registration thresholds including the EU one, and gives you the reports your accountant needs for filing.

It does not register you for VAT or the OSS, does not file returns, and does not issue e-invoices. Registration, filing, and e-invoicing mandates such as the Italian SDI stay with you and your accountant. Think of Stripe Tax as the calculator and the ledger, not the commercialista.

Selling to businesses too

If business buyers matter for your store, WireGum can enable tax ID collection in Stripe Checkout: buyers add their company name and VAT number, eligible cross-border EU B2B sales apply the reverse charge automatically, and each paid order gets a post-payment Stripe invoice. The going-live checklist covers how to turn it on and its limits.

Before you launch, talk to an accountant

Rules change and depend on your country, legal form, and volumes, and this page can lag behind them. Treat it as a map, not as advice: have an accountant review the setup before the first real sale. The technical side is covered by the going-live checklist.