You are selling to UK customers, and somewhere along the way the question landed on your desk: do we need a UK VAT number, and how do we get one? You want a straight answer and someone to take it off your hands. Here it is.
In short: if you are an overseas business with no UK establishment and you make taxable sales in the UK, which selling on DDP (Delivered Duty Paid) terms means you do, you have no registration threshold. You must register for UK VAT from your first UK sale. We can register you, usually in around a month, and get your VAT-linked GB EORI at the same time.
If you have no place of business in the UK, you are a non-established taxable person (NETP) in HMRC’s terms. NETPs do not get the standard UK VAT registration threshold that UK businesses enjoy. So the moment you make taxable supplies in the UK, you are required to register. There is no “wait until you reach a turnover figure”.
For a DDP seller this usually bites straight away, because delivering DDP makes you the importer and then the UK seller of the goods (see DDP explained).
A serviced office, a virtual address or a mail-forwarding service does not give you a UK establishment. Renting those will not move you out of NETP status.
No. You register your overseas company for UK VAT. You do not need to set up a UK limited company to have a UK VAT number, and for most sellers a UK company just adds cost and filing obligations. We will tell you honestly if a UK company would help you.
No. You do not need to appoint a fiscal representative to trade in the UK. A non-UK business can register for UK VAT in its own name. A fiscal representative is different from a tax agent, such as Türner & Co, who will communicate with the UK tax authority on your behalf.
To register you we typically need:
You will receive:
Timing depends on HMRC, but registrations commonly complete in around a month. If your goods are about to ship, tell us. We handle urgent cases regularly and will prioritise the GB EORI so nothing sits at the border.
Once you are registered you must charge UK VAT on your UK sales and file VAT returns (usually quarterly, digitally, under Making Tax Digital). We run those returns for you, account for import VAT the efficient way using postponed VAT accounting, and keep the whole thing ticking over so you can get back to your business.
Author: Amanda Bowles (VAT).
Reading time: about 4 minutes.
Sources (verified 12 Aug 2026): VAT Notice 700/1: who should register; non-established taxable persons: VATREG37150, VATREG37050; Register for VAT. Standard rate 20%: VAT rates.
Correct. The UK removed the registration threshold for non-established taxable persons in 2012 and withdrew the simplifications for EU businesses in 2021. If you make taxable UK supplies, you register, whatever the value.
It can be, but it is fixable. We handle late and backdated registrations and put things right with HMRC. See Correcting past UK VAT and import errors.
Yes. We can run the whole process in German or English.
The standard rate is currently 20%. Some goods are reduced-rated or zero-rated; we will confirm the rate for what you sell.
Send us a short description of what you sell into the UK and when you expect your first sale, and we will confirm whether you need to register and start the process. Contact our VAT team.
Senior Manager
VAT
Director
Head of Indirect Tax & HR
