The £135 threshold only applied to 'Business to Buisness' sales.

The real killer is sales to end cusotmers in the UK from the EU. The rules say 'For goods sent from overseas and sold directly to UK consumers without OMP (online market place) involvement, the overseas seller will be required to register and account for the VAT to HMRC.

For goods that are located overseas at the point of sale, the new arrangements will apply irrespective of where the OMP or the business selling the goods is established. This means that the following types of businesses will have to register for UK VAT (if not already registered) and account for VAT to HMRC:


  • any business that operates an OMP that facilitates sales of goods to UK customers
  • any business that sells goods directly (without OMP involvement) to UK customers where the goods are (a) outside UK at the point of sale (b) imported to the UK in consignments not exceeding £135 in value


Which means


  • The £15 Low Value Consignment Relief on imported goods will cease to apply. VAT will be due on all consignments of goods arriving into the UK (including Northern Ireland). Goods imported that would otherwise be eligible for VAT relief (reduced rate, or zero-rated) will continue to benefit from such relief.
  • Most overseas sellers selling goods located outside the UK at the time of sale valued at GBP135 or less will now have UK VAT obligations.
  • Online Market Places (OMPs) that “facilitate” sales of goods will broadly be responsible for the collection and payment of VAT. There are exceptions when OMPs will not be responsible.


Which seems totally mad to me. MAny wonlt bother selling to the UK because of the extra hassle.