Compliance, tax and consent
EU VAT and OSS, cookie consent under Consent Mode v2, and accessibility requirements — the obligations that are cheapest to handle early.
Compliance work is the part of a store that produces no visible benefit when it is done and considerable cost when it is not. It is also, unusually, cheaper to do early than to retrofit.
These articles cover the three areas that actually affect European trading: tax registration and reporting, consent and tracking, and accessibility.
Articles on this topic
EU VAT and OSS for Shopify: Selling Cross-Border Without Nasty Surprises
Distance selling thresholds, One Stop Shop registration, correct tax display and what changes when you cross €10,000 in EU sales.
Shopify accessibility: what selling into the EU now requires
Accessibility moved from good practice to a compliance question for e-commerce in the EU. What that means for a Shopify store, and the fixes that carry most of the weight.
Cookie consent on Shopify: what Consent Mode v2 changes
Consent banners are not just a legal checkbox. Since Consent Mode v2, the signal your banner sends decides whether conversion tracking works at all in the EEA.
Frequently asked questions.
What is OSS and do we need it?
The EU One Stop Shop lets you report VAT for all EU sales through one registration rather than registering per country. Whether you need it depends on your EU sales volume and where you are established.
Is a cookie banner just a legal formality?
Not any more. Since Consent Mode v2, the signal your banner sends determines whether conversion tracking works at all for EEA traffic — so it is a measurement question as much as a legal one.
Does accessibility apply to online stores?
European accessibility requirements extend to e-commerce. Beyond obligation, most fixes — contrast, focus states, form labels, keyboard navigation — improve conversion for everyone.