Query on U.K & Irish VAT and Company registarion

W

wanderer

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82
Hi,

I am thinking of setting up an online business where most of the initial target market will be UK based.

If i am delivering goods to both UK & Irish customers, then do i charge UK VAT to UK customers & Irish VAT to Irish customers or how does that work exactly? (in laymans terms).

Is there any benefit to registering the company in the UK at all rather than Ireland? I was thinking that if registering in the UK then i could take advantage of lower UK VAT rates whereas if registered in Ireland then i would have to charge Irish VAT on sales even to UK customers which would put me at a competitive disadvantage.

thanks
 
Hi,

If you supply and deliver goods - or have them delivered, for example by mail or another delivery service - to customers in other EU countries who are not registered for VAT and don't have to be registered, this is known as distance selling. You don't include distance sales when working out whether you need to register for Irish VAT, but you may need to register for VAT in the countries you sell to. The Threshold in the UK is currently £70k but you may also opt to register.


See Revenue link below for further info.
http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/vat/leaflets/distance-sales-eu.html

Patrick
 
Just to further clarify.

If the threshold is not met (or you do not opt for VAT registration) charge Irish VAT at 21%.

Once the threshold is reached (or you opt), the place of supply is the country to which the goods are dispatched i.e. the country of destination. No Irish VAT then arises. The Irish established trader must then register for VAT in the country to which the goods have been dispatched.
Local VAT is then applied to the goods. The trader is not required to have a presence in the other country to register for VAT. Indeed the trader generally will not have a presence in the other country.



Patrick
 
Hello wanderer,

Patrick's reply (Paddy 199) is very good. If you PM me with your e-mail address I will e-mail you back the Irish VAT guide 2008 (still the latest version available). Suggest you refer to chapter 5, paragraph 11, since that relates specifically to distance sales. If you review appendix J as mentioned in 5.11 it will show you the VAT thresholds for every EU member state upon which you would need to register for VAT in that jurisdiction.

Best regards,
Rudolf289
 
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