Exporting goods to the UK for under 135£

Hello, I am part of a company that sells products worldwide. We are based in the Netherlands, and the UK is one of our markets. We receive weekly complaints from our customers regarding duties they need to pay for our orders, so we are considering changing our shipping terms to DDP. Through our research, if we do this, we will be charged VAT/duties by our shipper ( UPS) for orders above 135£. We are clear on this point. Nevertheless, we have questions regarding orders below 135£. We will not be paying VAT on those, but I believe we should. Are you able to guide me through the steps I need to take to make sure I report the values correctly and pay the VAT I need to pay for the orders below 135£? Does my company need to create a UK Entity / have a UK fiscal number to process these values? Please let me know if I can get this information from any of your pages, or if there is any phone number I should call. Thank you in advance, Miguel

New Rules on how to treat imports below £135 came into force in Jan 2021. Goods below £135 are relieved of import duties but are subject to VAT. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/changes-to-vat-treatment-of-overseas-goods-sold-to-customers-from-1-january-2021 Detailed guidelines are here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/vat-and-overseas-goods-sold-directly-to-customers-in-the-uk Perhaps one of the HMRC admins can add the live links. You do not need to create a UK entity but you probably should have been registered for VAT from 2021 as the scheme is not optional.

Hi ,
 

For help on this, I would advise contacting the Customs and International trade helpline on 0300 322 9434 for help .

Thank you .
 

Hello, Thank you very much for the answer and support. I tried to contact the number provided, but unfortunately I and was asked to send an email. One other question. My business is quite small in the UK, well below 90.000£ per year. I see that the VAT registration is only needed for businesses with sales above that threshold. ( https://www.gov.uk/register-for-vat) If I am selling below 90.000£ per year, then I assume I don't need to have a registration in the UK, even if I start selling with incoterms DDP ( delivery duties paid). Am I correct? If the above is true, can I assume that I don't need to pay any VAT on orders below 135£? Or no matter my volume of sales, I still need to complete a VAT return form and pay for VAT? Thank you once again, Miguel

Hi,

Yes the Registration threshold is currently £90K for companies established in the UK and making taxable supplies in tthe UK.
If your business belongs outside the UK then there is no threshold and so it would mean registering for VAT when your first sale is made.

Please see the guidance below:

9. Non-established taxable persons — basic information

If you belong overseas and you are importing goods over a value of £135 and you are the importer of the goods in to the UK then you will be making taxable supplies here and so would need to register for VAT straight away.

If you are importing goods above a value of £135 and you are not the importer of the goods then there is no requirememnt to register for VAT.

If you are sending goods to the UK below a value of £135 to consumers in the UK then there will be a requirement to register for VAT immediately unless a marketplace is facilitating the sale of the goods.

Please see the guidance below:

Changes to VAT treatment of overseas goods sold to customers from 1 January 2021

Thank you.

As per my previous post the correct VAT treatment for goods under £135 imported into the UK is as per the links posted. The incoterm you choose is not relevant. Consignments of goods with a value of £135 or less that are outside: the UK and sold directly to customers (not through an online marketplace) in Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) will have UK supply VAT charged at the point of sale Consignments valued at £135 or less The seller must charge and account for VAT at the point of sale, unless the consignment is a business to business sale and the customer has given them their UK VAT registration number. To charge and account for VAT the seller will need to: know the precise nature of the goods to find out the correct rate of VAT to charge register for VAT — sellers that are already registered for VAT do not need to re-register keep records of the goods sold, and make sure they get accurate information to apply the correct VAT treatment to them The £90,000 threshold does not apply to non UK based business the there is no threshold applicable for vat registration for sales from overseas to UK customers. Once VAT registered you will need to charge your customers the VAT at point of sale and remit that to HMRC via your VAT return. No import VAT will be charged.


Pear to Pear .