If you are a business based anywhere outside the UK and decide to store goods in the UK, or if you ship from the EU to the UK and exceed the UK's distance selling of £70,000, then you will have VAT obligations. We can make this simple and quick to handle.
UK VAT can be straigt-forward and hassle free
“The cost of compliance to be active in the UK is very different from the US, Canada, and RoW. The UK has a relatively simple VAT regime.
With Ecommerce Accountants, we can get you registered and handle your VAT returns with minimal cost (monetary and time) to you.”
We'll have a conversation with you and explain which VAT scheme is appropriate for your business
Set-it-and-forget-it approach. Once set up, we'll get all of the data for you and there's nearly nothing you need to do
We'll make sure your returns are submitted on time every time. All advice required is included.
If you are a company based outside of the UK, there are two conditions that can trigger an obligation. The first is if you are a non-UK business and you store and ship goods from the UK. In this scenario the 'place of supply' is the UK and you need to register straight away. The second condition is if you are shipping to UK consumers from the EU. If the total sales exceed £70,000 in a calendar year, you will need to register for UK VAT.
In the vast majority of cases the answer will be quarterly. It is possible to file monthly as well, but this option is rarely selected as it entails more work than is required, and is normally only selected by businesses who routinely receive VAT repayments each return.
HMRC will process c. 70% of applications within 10 working days. The remainder are usually processed within a month. Historically the turnaround times have been higher than this.
If you are importing goods into or out of the EU, then you will need to apply for an EORI number. We can obtain this as part of VAT application when required.