HELP!! I am an overseas seller selling into UK and confused with HMRC and VAT rules

I am running an online fashion website and also selling via Etsy. I have a sale which is valued above 135pounds. In this instance etsy, the marketplace wont be collecting VAT on my behalf. The invoice indeed didnt show any VAT collected. How can I now send the dress over to my buyer in UK (Glasgow) without any hiccups? I have been reading so much and I thought I should register for a HMRC acc. I clicked on the setup link and brought to this page where i have to enter my name, but the National Security Number and UK postal code got me really puzzled. How can we as overseas sellers set up any account in this case?? I also have my own website and thought maybe I should also set up since I might sell some from my own website than via a marketplace. The HMRC is really like something for UK residents / citizens to use for their tax related issues but it wont apply to me residing in Singapore and just selling occasionally to someone in UK. Can someone help!!

Hi,

If you are sending goods to the UK with a value of over £135 then there will need to be a customs declaration made.
If you are the importer of the goods in the UK then you will be then making a UK taxable supply to your customer.
If you are an overseas business then you will need to register for VAT upon the first sale made.
If your customer is the importer of the goods then they will be responsible for paying the import VAT upon drelivery. In this scenario you will not be making a taxable supply in the UK and therefore there will be no requirement to register for VAT.

Thank you.

I have a closely related question to this thread. I am setting up an ecommerce business which manufactures jewelry in Italy and will sell directly to UK customers. The company does not have any physical presence in the UK. All items sold will have a value over £135. I would like to use the DDP incoterms for shipping, so that the customer does not need to pay the VAT upon delivery (i will cover it as the seller, and add it on to the sales price). In order to complete the HMRC VAT registration form, I need to understand if I will be making any taxable supplies in the UK. Can you confirm if this would be the case in the scenario I have outlined? Thank you.

Hi RGItaly,
If you are selling items in to the UK over a value of £135 then you will only be making taxable supplies in the UK if you are the importer of the goods in to the UK.
If you are the named importer of the goods then you will be making a supply of goods within the UK and as a non established business there will be a requirement to register for VAT straight away.
Please see guidance below:
9. Non-established taxable persons — basic information.
Thank you.