Last reviewed: 29 September 2026 · Reviewed by IFM's qualified accountant
Goods moving through Great Britain and Northern Ireland can follow different rules. This guide gives the main framework; specific supply chains, marketplaces, customs values and countries require transaction-level review.
What should you know about imports into Great Britain?
Goods imported into Great Britain can attract import VAT and customs duty. The importer of record needs a UK EORI number where required, correct commodity code, customs value and evidence.
A VAT-registered business can use postponed VAT accounting to declare and recover import VAT on the same VAT Return, subject to normal recovery rules. Obtain the monthly postponed import VAT statement and reconcile it to customs declarations and the return.
If import VAT is paid at the border instead, the C79 certificate is normally the evidence for recovery. A courier invoice or supplier invoice alone may not establish the import tax credit.
Agree Incoterms and importer responsibility with the supplier. Unexpected duty and VAT often follow a contract that did not state who clears the goods.
What should you know about exports of goods?
Goods exported from Great Britain to a destination outside the UK can generally be zero-rated when the conditions are met. Goods exported from Northern Ireland outside both the UK and EU can also qualify.
Zero rating requires valid evidence that the goods left the relevant territory, normally within three months of the time of supply. Evidence can include customs messages and commercial transport documents that together identify the goods, customer and movement.
If evidence is not obtained in time, account for VAT and adjust later if the conditions are subsequently met. A foreign delivery address on an invoice is not enough by itself.
Indirect exports collected by the customer have additional risk. Establish the customer's status, destination and evidence route before agreeing zero rating.
What should you know about northern Ireland and the EU?
The Windsor Framework means goods movements involving Northern Ireland and the EU can follow EU VAT concepts that do not apply to Great Britain. The “XI” VAT identifier, acquisitions, dispatches and distance-selling rules can become relevant.
Services generally follow UK-wide place-of-supply rules, while goods require separate GB and NI analysis. Do not copy a Great Britain export code into a Northern Ireland transaction without checking.
For consumer sales of goods from Northern Ireland into the EU, the EU-wide distance-sales threshold shown by GOV.UK for 2026/27 is £8,818, with registration or One Stop Shop implications when exceeded. Verify the currency-equivalent treatment at the transaction date.
What should you know about overseas services?
For most business-to-business services, the general place of supply is where the business customer belongs. For most business-to-consumer services, it is where the supplier belongs. Many exceptions apply, including land, events, transport, digital services and use-and-enjoyment rules.
A UK business supplying a general-rule service to an overseas business may treat it as outside the scope of UK VAT, but should obtain evidence of the customer's business status and location. The customer may operate a reverse charge locally.
Services received from overseas can require the UK business to apply a reverse charge, increasing both output and, where recoverable, input VAT. This affects the return even where no VAT appeared on the supplier invoice.
What should you know about online marketplaces and low-value goods?
For 2026/27, consignments of goods valued at £135 or less that are outside Great Britain at the point of sale generally have UK supply VAT charged at sale under the low-value rules. Where an online marketplace facilitates a qualifying consumer sale, the marketplace is normally liable to account for VAT.
The £135 limit applies to the total consignment's intrinsic value, not each item separately. Excise goods and business sales using a valid VAT number can follow different treatment.
For consignments above £135, normal import VAT and customs rules generally apply. Policy changes to customs treatment of low-value imports were announced in July 2026 but have future implementation work; use the rules legally in force on the shipment date.
What should you know about goods already in the UK?
Where an overseas seller stores goods in the UK, VAT registration can arise from the first taxable sale without the ordinary £90,000 threshold. Marketplace deemed-supplier rules can shift output VAT responsibility for some consumer sales, but the overseas seller may still have import, record and registration obligations.
A UK business using fulfilment centres abroad can create foreign VAT registrations. Moving its own goods is not ignored simply because no external customer bought them at that point.
Map physical stock locations, sellers, marketplace contracts and customer types by country.
What should you know about evidence and invoices?
Retain commercial invoices, orders, customer VAT numbers, transport documents, export messages, customs declarations, import statements, marketplace reports and proof of payment. The documents should form one transaction trail.
Validate VAT numbers through the appropriate service and save the evidence. A valid number does not by itself prove every other condition, but it supports customer status.
Translate marketplace settlement reports into gross sales, fees, refunds and VAT rather than posting only the net bank deposit.
What should you know about currency and tax points?
Convert foreign-currency amounts using an accepted rate and consistent method. VAT becomes due by reference to tax-point rules, which can depend on invoice, payment and supply dates.
Customs valuation can include freight, insurance and duty under rules different from the sales invoice. Reconcile customs values rather than forcing them to equal revenue.
What should you know about build the treatment before launch?
For each route, document seller, buyer, goods location, movement, importer, customer status, marketplace role, Incoterms, place of supply, VAT rate and evidence. Test returns and cancellations as well as successful sales.
Update website prices and terms so customers know whether tax and duty are included. Configure marketplace and accounting tax codes only after the treatment is signed off.
See VAT support for the relevant service page. Use the Deadline Finder for standard first accounts, first confirmation statement and Corporation Tax dates. For VAT, payroll, personal tax and other obligations, check the tax deadlines calendar and your official records.
What should you know about returns and refunds?
Returned goods can require credit notes, import relief or adjustments across marketplace, customs and VAT records. The physical return route matters; a customer refund alone does not prove export or re-import.
Agree who owns rejected goods and who acts as importer on their return. Match platform refunds to original orders and tax points.
What should you know about common failures?
Do not zero-rate an export because the customer supplied a foreign address while collecting from a UK location. Do not reclaim import VAT from a freight invoice when the business lacks the appropriate import statement or certificate.
Do not post marketplace net settlements as revenue. Separate gross customer sales, marketplace-deemed supplies, fees, refunds and VAT.
What should you know about quarterly reconciliation?
Match customs declarations and postponed statements to purchase and stock records. Reconcile export evidence to zero-rated sales and investigate missing departure messages before the evidence deadline.
Review overseas registrations, marketplace reports and stock locations. Cross-border VAT changes when a fulfilment route or customer type changes, even if the product stays the same.
Keep a country-and-channel matrix and update it before adding a marketplace or warehouse. Assign responsibility for customs, VAT registrations, evidence and returns in every location.
Where treatment is uncertain, obtain advice before invoicing. Correcting price and tax after goods have crossed a border is slower and may leave the seller bearing the cost.
What should you read next?
Use the Deadline Finder for standard first accounts, first confirmation statement and Corporation Tax dates. For VAT, payroll, personal tax and other obligations, check the tax deadlines calendar and your official records.
What do people also ask about this topic?
What should you know about imports into Great Britain?
Goods imported into Great Britain can attract import VAT and customs duty. The importer of record needs a UK EORI number where required, correct commodity code, customs value and evidence.
What should you know about exports of goods?
Goods exported from Great Britain to a destination outside the UK can generally be zero-rated when the conditions are met. Goods exported from Northern Ireland outside both the UK and EU can also qualify.
What should you know about northern Ireland and the EU?
The Windsor Framework means goods movements involving Northern Ireland and the EU can follow EU VAT concepts that do not apply to Great Britain. The “XI” VAT identifier, acquisitions, dispatches and distance-selling rules can become relevant.
What should you know about overseas services?
For most business-to-business services, the general place of supply is where the business customer belongs. For most business-to-consumer services, it is where the supplier belongs. Many exceptions apply, including land, events, transport, digital services and use-and-enjoyment rules.
Which official sources support this guide?
- https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-when-you-can-account-for-import-vat-on-your-vat-return
- https://www.gov.uk/guidance/vat-exports-dispatches-and-supplying-goods-abroad
- https://www.gov.uk/guidance/vat-how-to-work-out-your-place-of-supply-of-services
General guidance, not advice for your situation.
