VAT registration for overseas and non-established businesses

If your business has no fixed establishment in the UK, the usual registration threshold does not apply to you. Registration can be required from your first taxable UK sale. We prepare and submit the application the same working day; HMRC currently takes around forty days to issue a number.

UK businesses register once taxable turnover passes the threshold. A non-established taxable person, meaning a business with no fixed UK establishment, has no threshold. One taxable supply in the UK can create an obligation to register.

This catches overseas e-commerce sellers holding stock in UK warehouses, overseas service providers supplying UK consumers, and companies that incorporated in the UK but manage everything abroad.

Company details and incorporation evidence, identity and address evidence for directors, a description of the UK activity, expected turnover, the date of the first UK supply, and the bank account VAT repayments should go to. HMRC frequently comes back with follow-up questions on overseas applications, and answering them quickly is what keeps the timetable short.

We submit the application on the same working day we have complete information. HMRC's own processing is the long part and currently runs to roughly forty days, sometimes longer where checks are raised. You must still account for VAT on supplies made while waiting, so price accordingly and issue corrected invoices once the number arrives.

If you move goods into or out of the UK you also need an EORI number. It is a separate application from VAT registration and is usually much faster. Import VAT, postponed accounting and duty then need to be set up properly in your bookkeeping, or the numbers in your VAT return will not agree with your customs records.

Returns are filed under Making Tax Digital using compatible software. We run the quarterly returns, reconcile marketplace and payment-provider data, and deal with HMRC correspondence as your agent.

Rates, thresholds and deadlines quoted here reflect the current UK position and current HMRC and Companies House guidance. Check GOV.UK, or ask us, before relying on them for your own business.