Do I charge VAT selling goods into the UK from overseas?

Where an online marketplace facilitates the sale, the marketplace is usually treated as the supplier for VAT purposes and must charge and account for UK VAT itself, not the overseas seller. Selling directly through your own website makes the seller responsible for registering and charging VAT on low-value consignments.

Above the £135 threshold, normal import VAT and customs rules apply at the border, generally paid by the importer of record rather than charged by the seller at checkout.

Any business, wherever based, that is liable to charge UK VAT on these sales must register for UK VAT and file returns, with no threshold protecting overseas sellers from the requirement. Records of consignment values and delivery addresses need to support the VAT treatment applied.

Getting the wrong treatment, charging VAT when import VAT should have applied or vice versa, is a common and costly error for overseas sellers new to the UK market, so mapping the sales channels before launch is worthwhile.

Our fixed monthly packages for a UK limited company start at £89 plus VAT and run to £169 and £289 plus VAT as bookkeeping, VAT, payroll and reporting are added. One-off filings are sold at fixed prices, and the Companies House fees we pay for you are charged at cost with no VAT added. Overseas owners are quoted on exactly the same published prices as UK-resident clients.

Rates, thresholds and deadlines here reflect the 2026/27 UK position and current Companies House and HMRC guidance. Check GOV.UK, or ask us, before relying on them for your own company.