Member-only story
FREE to not TRADE
EU online retailers stop selling to UK consumers
Having only just written in glowing terms about The Revival Club, a boutique men’s fashion brand based in Italy, I was disappointed but not surprised to see a mail from them titled, ‘We’ll be back soon’. I’m amazed that more has not been said about this latest development. Online retailers across the EU have stopped selling to UK consumers. What’s going on?
It’s all to do with value added tax (VAT), HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and where the tax is now collected.
Until the end of 2020, while we were still in the club, small European sellers were able to sell to private individuals in the UK under their local VAT number at their home country’s VAT rate. For example, I paid 22% VAT on my Italian shirt and not the 20% UK rate. Sellers were all subject to a ‘distance selling threshold’ which depended on the country. There was no need to register for UK VAT to sell to UK consumers provided the UK threshold of £70,000 was not exceeded. Ironically, from July 2021, sellers in the EU dispatching their goods from a single country, will not be required to register for foreign VAT, the thresholds have been abolished. This is designed to close a loophole and collect more tax as a result.
But it’s different here in the UK now we’re out. HMRC is keen to catch its’ fair share of VAT from ‘Johnny…
