Compliance

DAC7

EU amendment to the tax administrative cooperation directive that obliges digital platforms to report seller income to tax authorities.

Aliases: DAC7, Directive (EU) 2021/514, 平台税务信息申报, 欧盟税收行政合作指令第七版

What DAC7 requires

DAC7 is the seventh amendment to the EU directive on administrative cooperation in taxation, adopted in 2021. It extends automatic exchange of information to digital platform operators. Platforms must collect, verify and report data on sellers and on the income those sellers earn through the platform.

Reporting applies from 1 January 2023, with the first exchanges in 2024 covering the 2023 calendar year.

The data set

For each reportable seller, platforms report:

Identity: name, registered address, tax identification number, VAT number where applicable
Financial: fees, commissions and taxes withheld by the platform
Activity: number of relevant activities and, for property rentals, the address
Bank account identifier where the platform holds it

For goods sold through a platform, the relevant activity is the sale of goods. The reportable element is the consideration paid, net of fees and commissions.

Who is reportable

A seller is reportable when it is resident in a member state, or when it rents immovable property located in a member state. Non-EU sellers are reportable when they sell through a platform that is reportable in the EU, depending on the platform's establishment and registration position. Many platforms therefore collect the data from all sellers and determine reportability later.

Excluded from reporting are entities such as listed companies, governmental bodies and certain small sellers with fewer than 30 relevant transactions and less than 2,000 euros in consideration in the year, though platforms may still collect the data.

Why sellers feel it

The immediate effect is a verification flow: a tax identification number submitted at onboarding that does not match national records triggers a request, and continued mismatch can lead to withholding or account suspension. This is the same verification logic that appears in seller verification for identity checks.

The second effect is transparency. Reported income is matched against VAT returns and income tax filings, so the gap between declared sales and platform-reported sales is visible to tax authorities.

Relationship to other reporting

DAC7 is about income data. It does not replace VAT registration or the OSS and IOSS returns, and it is unrelated to the US marketplace facilitator laws, which govern sales tax collection rather than information reporting.

Practical preparation

Keep the legal entity name, address and tax number consistent across the platform account, the VAT registration and the bank account. Inconsistency across those three systems is the most common cause of a failed verification.

Primary source: Council Directive (EU) 2021/514; national implementing provisions.

FAQ

Which platforms are covered by DAC7?

Digital platforms that allow sellers to carry out relevant activities in the EU, including marketplaces for goods, services, and property rental platforms. The obligation is on the platform, not on the seller.

Do non-EU sellers need to act?

They must provide accurate identity and tax data when a platform requests it. Reportability depends on the platform and the seller's residence, and platforms generally collect data from all sellers first.

What happens if the tax number does not match?

The platform must follow up and may withhold income or suspend payouts if the discrepancy persists. The mismatch is checked against national tax records.

Is DAC7 the same as VAT reporting?

No. DAC7 reports platform income to tax authorities. VAT returns under [OSS](/wiki/oss) or [IOSS](/wiki/ioss) report transaction-level VAT and are separate obligations.

Are small sellers exempt?

There is a de minimis exclusion for sellers with fewer than 30 relevant transactions and no more than 2,000 euros in the year, applied by the platform. It does not remove the seller's own tax obligations.