UK 27,000 e-retailers face £772m Brexit VAT compliance bill

An estimated 27,040 UK small companies selling goods online across the European Union could face an annual £772m VAT compliance bill after Brexit.

In a survey of 989 small e-retailers, VAT technology firm, Avalara, estimated the cost per company of new EU VAT registration and returns obligations at €28,568 p.a. for each business.

Currently, most small e-retailers, selling on their own websites or through Amazon and eBay, do not have to register for VAT in other EU states if their local sales are under the local registration threshold.  This means they are not required to VAT register in each EU country where they are selling, but can instead charge UK 20% VAT and pay the tax collected to HMRC. Once over the national VAT distance selling thresholds, ranging between €35,000 and €100,000 p.a., they must instead VAT register, file and pay to the different countries.

Following Brexit, UK companies will lose this relief. They will instead have to immediately register for VAT in each country where they are selling, and file each month under the local national laws and VAT returns. Small UK e-retailers are going to be hit by new administrative hurdles and costs in order to continue trading. This may prove off-putting, and lead to geo-blocking of customers from mainland Europe.

None of the future trading relationships so far raised by the EU or UK in the Brexit negotiations have included retaining this relief for online merchants.”

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