VAT registration

[mercedesbits]

I've received the e-mail from eBay instructing me to register for VAT as I have broken the £90,000 threshold.

My understanding is that only UK orders are VAT qualifying.

I have sold
£64,773 worth of goods to the UK & Ireland
£26,625 worth of goods sold to the rest of world
Total £91,398

Cumulatively this does take me over the VAT threshold but surely the rest of world is exempt and ebay has all of this data anyway so should be able to account for this?

[m.j.rodgers · Accepted solution]

As I understand it the goods still need to be included as part of your VAT calculations in the UK. This is because the goods themselves are not VAT exempt. 

That said I am not a tax accountant and I would recommend you get advice from a professional rather than trust the collective wisdom of a bunch of random posters on a forum. 

HMRC doesn't cut you any slack for claiming ignorance of the law. 

[therenewalworkshopltd]

Nope, it is the total (GROSS) sales including postage.  Irrespective of where you have sent the items.

However, surely the place to find this out is on HMRC's website, rather than asking on a forum?

How exactly do you expect Ebay to account for this, when you could be selling on multiple websites and not just Ebay? Honestly, I'm surprised that they have waiting as long as they have to force you to do so.

https://www.gov.uk/register-for-vat

[4_bathrooms]

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@mercedesbits wrote:

Cumulatively this does take me over the VAT threshold but surely the rest of world is exempt 

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Exports are zero-rated where VAT is concerned; they are not exempt. Therefore you do include exports in your turnover calculation for VAT.

[shaman7uk]

 £91,398 is the figure the tax man wants - that is above the threshold.