Can I legally dropship to the US from Denmark?

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Topic summary

A Danish store owner asks if they can legally dropship from China to U.S. customers, whether a U.S. company is required, how state sales taxes work, and if an EU IOSS number covers U.S. customs.

Key points raised:

  • U.S. entity: Conflicting advice. One reply says a non‑resident should form a U.S. LLC (e.g., to enable Shopify Payments). Another says no U.S. company is needed if you don’t hold inventory in the U.S.
  • IOSS (EU import VAT scheme): Not applicable to shipments into the U.S.; it’s EU‑only and doesn’t handle U.S. customs.
  • Sales tax: You may need to register and collect once you hit “economic nexus” in a state (obligation based on sales volume/transaction counts without physical presence). Examples mentioned: 100k USD in annual sales, or 200 transactions, or 250k USD in a particular state, depending on state rules.
  • Customs/clearance: No concrete guidance provided beyond noting IOSS is irrelevant for the U.S.

Status: No consensus on the necessity of a U.S. LLC; sales tax obligations likely hinge on state‑specific economic nexus thresholds. Several questions (especially customs procedures) remain unanswered.

Summarized with AI on January 3. AI used: gpt-5.
3

HI Tobias,

IOSS have nothing to do with suppling to the USA. IOSS is a scheme exiting only for EU . If you dropship from China, but you do not keep stock in the USA you do not need to form a company there. You may need to register for sales tax when and if you reach an economic nexus in any of the states , but that presumes (depending on the state- rules vary) 100K annual sales or 200 individual sales or even 250 K sales in a particular state,