Overview for businesses in Great Britain

When you purchase goods over the value of £135 from overseas, you may have to pay import VAT if the goods you import are subject to VAT in the UK. For most imported goods the standard 20% VAT rate is applied.

 TIP: Any VAT registered business can decide how to account for the import VAT. You can choose to pay the import VAT on or soon after the goods arrive at the UK border or you can use postponed accounting to pay and reclaim VAT in one go.

Find out how to use postponed accounting.

You need to make customs declarations when importing goods. You can do this yourself or hire a customs agent or transporter to do it for you.

Before you start, make sure you have an Economic Operators Registration and Identification (EORI) number starting with GB.

HMRC guide to importing goods from UK (opens in new tab)

1. Go to Purchases, Purchase Invoices, and select New Invoice.
2. In the Supplier field, select your overseas supplier from the list, or type the supplier name.
   If the supplier is not a saved contact, select Add a supplier to create a record for them.
    TIP: Make sure each supplier has the correct country set on their address and a VAT registration number where applicable. 
3. On the first invoice line, select a product from the list, or start typing its name to find it. If the product is not a saved item,enter a description for the item or select Create item to create a record for it.
4. In EU Goods/Services select Goods (and related services).
5. Select zero-rated VAT as the VAT will be charged at customs.
   Repeat steps 3 to 5 on a new line for as many items as you need to add to your invoice
6. Select Save.

The VAT return

VAT is reported in Box 1 - VAT due in this period on sales and other outputs and Box 4 - VAT reclaimed in this period on purchases and other inputs. The net value is recorded in Box 7 - Total value of purchases and all other inputs excluding any VAT.

Return to invoicing overseas from Great Britain

Postponed accounting