VAT threshold and international sales - confused

[BWcamcorders]

Although I have not yet exceeded £73,000 turnover it looks likely that if my sales continue at the current rate I will do so before the end of my first year of trading.

However many of my sales are to international customers both inside and outside of the EU.

Do these international sales count towards my turnover for the purposes of seeing whether I exceed the VAT threshold?

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[internetspaceships]

Yes I think they do but please wait until a qualified person comes to tell whether I'm right or not.

If you sell to the EU and outside it's still separate columns on a VAT return (when you register) but I'm open to being corrected.

 

[Figurate]

Have a look here:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/vat/start/register/when-to-register.htm#4

(You don't say what you're selling, but also consult the "place of supply" rules: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/vat/managing/international/exports/services.htm )

 

[BWcamcorders]

Have a look here:
hmrc.gov.uk/vat/start/register/when-to-register.htm#4

(You don't say what you're selling, but also consult the "place of supply" rules:--- )

Thanks, had a look at that already, but the use of the term 'supplies' rather than 'sales' is confusing me. But to to me it seems to imply that I do not include the international sales when finding my VAT taxable turnover.

Oh sorry, I am selling goods (camcorders) on the internet.

Thanks again for your help

 

[Figurate]

"supplies" is just the word that HMRC use to describe either goods or services that you are supplying to your customers.

Not exactly, you might need to look into the guidance on "Distance Selling" - eg. are your customers private individuals/non VAT registered?
Have a look at (which :
http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channels...CE_CL_000086&propertyType=document#P133_11300

and also the supplement here (giving new VAT thresholds):
http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channels...ntent&id=HMCE_CL_000081&propertyType=document

(And, oops, prob could have ascertained you were selling camcorders from your login name )

 

[BWcamcorders]

"supplies" is just the word that HMRC use to describe either goods or services that you are supplying to your customers.

Not exactly, you might need to look into the guidance on "Distance Selling" - eg. are your customers private individuals/non VAT registered?
Have a look at (which :
customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageExcise_ShowContent&id=HMCE_CL_000086&propertyType=document#P133_11300

and also the supplement here (giving new VAT thresholds):
customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageVAT_ShowContent&id=HMCE_CL_000081&propertyType=document

(And, oops, prob could have ascertained you were selling camcorders from your login name )

Thanks that makes a bit more sense now

Almost all of my customers are private individuals.

So, if I have understood it correct... Providing my taxable supplies in the UK do not exceed the threshold then I do not need to register?

 

[Figurate]

Per Vat notice 700/1, You need to register for VAT when your taxable supplies breach the VAT threshold and taking into account para 1.5 (on VAT notice 700/1 on aforementioned link ),
"The law defines ‘taxable supplies’ as any supply made in the UK that is not exempt from VAT..."

But, watch out for the future: if "distance selling" applies to your business, you are also going to also have to watch that the value of your distance supplies to any one EU country does not breach their distance selling threshold (into that country), if it does, you will have to register in that country.
(each country has different thesholds - some much higher or lower than others. You could find that you have to register in another country before you register in the UK!)

Also, if your distance sales exceed the current £250k threshold, you'll have to complete an intrastats return.

If distance selling applies to you, do read this, too:
http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channels...CE_CL_000152&propertyType=document#P492_37636

 

[BWcamcorders]

Yay, I understand now! I should be able to get away without worrying about VAT registration for a year or so.

I will have to keep an eye on the distance selling threshold for my EU sales, but do not think this will be an isue as I do not sell a great deal to any EU country in particular. (this is the one bit that did make perfect sense to me already!)

I think I should be ok for a long while before I have to worry about an intrastats return.

Thanks again you have been incredibly helpful.

 

[Moocher]

Keep a close eye on those thresholds though as some EU States have very low registration limits. E.g. Portugal I believe is 0, so any trade (goods or services) with a Portuguese customer may trigger a registration requirement.

 

[Figurate]

Glad it's a bit clearer

The VAT thresholds for distance selling into each EU country is here:
http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_custom...at/traders/vat_community/vat_in_ec_annexi.pdf

and the link to distance selling part of the eu website is here:
http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/taxation/vat/how_vat_works/distance_selling/index_en.htm

(I don't think Portugal is zero, but it's certainly one of the lower ones as you'll see from the list in the first link, it's currently 35000 euros for distance selling )