Selling Abroad From TikTok Shop: Cross-Border VAT Basics fo…

Your first order from Dublin lands, then one from Berlin, and suddenly you are wondering whether you owe VAT in another country. The short answer: selling abroad from TikTok Shop pulls you into a second VAT system that runs alongside your UK one, and the two must never be muddled. The good news is that for most small UK sellers the rules are manageable once you know which side of the €150 line a parcel falls on, and when TikTok handles the tax for you.

This guide walks through the EU's import VAT regime, the IOSS scheme for low-value goods, when the marketplace is the one accounting for VAT, and how to keep your UK VAT position clean. It is general information, not advice for your specific situation, so treat the worked example as a starting point and get advice before you register for anything.

First, keep UK VAT and export VAT in separate boxes

The single most common mistake we see is sellers blending domestic and cross-border numbers into one mental pot. They are different systems with different thresholds.

In the UK, you must register for VAT once your taxable turnover passes £90,000 on a rolling 12-month basis, or if you expect to cross that figure in the next 30 days. That threshold has been unchanged since 1 April 2024. If you are still working out whether you are near it, start with our guide to the TikTok Shop VAT threshold.

Goods you export to customers outside the UK are normally zero-rated for UK VAT (0%), provided you hold valid proof of export. Zero-rated is not the same as outside the scope: zero-rated sales still count toward your £90,000 threshold. So a healthy run of EU orders can tip you into UK VAT registration even though you charge 0% UK VAT on those particular sales. Always track your turnover including exports.

What happens on the EU side is a completely separate question about import VAT in the destination country. That is where IOSS comes in.

The €150 line: the number that decides everything

For goods sent from Great Britain into the EU, the EU splits consignments at a value of €150 (the intrinsic value of the goods, excluding transport and insurance shown separately).

At or below €150: these are "low-value" consignments. Import VAT is due in the destination country, but you can collect it at the point of sale and remit it through the Import One-Stop Shop (IOSS) instead of leaving your customer to pay on delivery. No customs duty applies under €150.
Above €150: IOSS cannot be used. Import VAT and potentially customs duty are due at the border, normally paid by the customer or via a delivered-duty-paid arrangement you set up with your courier.

The €150 test is per consignment, not per item. Three €60 items shipped together form one €180 consignment and fall outside IOSS.

What IOSS actually is

IOSS is an EU scheme that lets you charge the destination country's VAT rate at checkout on low-value goods (€150 or under) sent to EU consumers, then declare and pay it through a single monthly EU return rather than registering in every member state. The benefit is a smoother delivery: the customer is not ambushed by a VAT-plus-handling-fee bill from the courier before they can receive their parcel.

Two practical points for TikTok sellers:

You usually need an EU intermediary. As a non-EU (UK) business you generally must appoint an EU-established IOSS intermediary to register and file on your behalf. That is a real cost and an ongoing compliance commitment, which is why many small sellers do not run their own IOSS.
The marketplace may run its own IOSS. Where TikTok Shop is treated as the deemed supplier for a sale, TikTok uses its IOSS number, charges the EU VAT, and remits it. You do not need your own IOSS for those transactions. You do, however, need to recognise them correctly in your records.

When the marketplace handles it vs when you must

This is the crux. EU rules make online marketplaces the "deemed supplier" for certain low-value imported goods sold to EU consumers, mirroring the way UK rules make TikTok the deemed supplier for some imports here. If TikTok Shop is facilitating the sale and the consignment is €150 or under going to an EU consumer, TikTok will typically account for the EU import VAT through its own IOSS.

That broadly leaves three situations:

Marketplace handles it: low-value (€150 or under) B2C goods where TikTok is the deemed supplier. TikTok charges and remits the destination EU VAT. Your job is to ship correctly with TikTok's IOSS number on the customs data and keep evidence.
You must handle it: consignments over €150, B2B sales, sales off-platform, or situations where the marketplace is not the deemed supplier. Here import VAT (and possibly duty) is dealt with at the border, by you or the customer, and IOSS is not available for the over-€150 ones.
Mixed reality: most growing sellers have some of each. That is fine, as long as your bookkeeping separates the streams.

Because TikTok's deemed-supplier role is the engine behind so much of this, it is worth understanding how the same mechanism works for UK imports. See our explainers on the TikTok Shop deemed supplier VAT rules and on overseas sellers and UK VAT.

Do not forget the UK import side too

The €150 EU line has a UK cousin at £135. For goods imported into the UK in consignments of £135 or less, UK rules make the online marketplace the deemed supplier and TikTok accounts for the UK VAT on the sale. If you are a UK seller dropshipping items into the UK from abroad, or an overseas seller selling here, that £135 threshold governs who owes UK VAT. It is a different number from the EU's €150, so do not let them blur.

Worked example: a UK candle seller going cross-border

Imagine Priya runs a candle brand on TikTok Shop as a sole trader. Over the last rolling 12 months she has done £78,000 of UK sales and £9,000 of EU exports.

UK VAT threshold check: taxable turnover includes zero-rated exports, so her total is £78,000 + £9,000 = £87,000. She is under £90,000, but only by £3,000. One strong month could cross it, so she should monitor weekly and prepare to register.
An EU order of €90 of candles to a customer in France: this is a low-value consignment (under €150). If TikTok is the deemed supplier, TikTok charges French VAT at checkout and remits it via its IOSS. Priya zero-rates the export for UK VAT and keeps proof of export. She owes no French VAT directly.
An EU order of €210 (a gift bundle) to a customer in Germany: this is over €150. IOSS does not apply. German import VAT, and possibly duty, is due at the border, usually paid by the customer or via a duty-paid courier service Priya arranges. She should set buyer expectations on delivery charges.

On the income tax side, all of this is one trading business. Priya's profit (not turnover) feeds her Self Assessment. With the personal allowance at £12,570 and the basic rate band running to £50,270, profits in that band are taxed at 20%, plus Class 4 NIC at 6% on profits between £12,570 and £50,270. If her profit is, say, £28,000, her cross-border activity does not change those rates; it only changes the VAT compliance around the edges. For the deductible costs side of this, our guide to allowable expenses for TikTok creators is a good companion.

Registration, reporting and the wider net

Two background facts matter even before you cross any VAT line:

Self Assessment: once your gross trading income exceeds the £1,000 trading allowance in a tax year, you must register for Self Assessment. Cross-border sales count toward that gross figure.
Platform reporting: since 1 January 2024, platforms such as TikTok Shop must collect and report your income and identity to HMRC each year under the OECD model rules (often called DAC7). The 2025 figures are reported to HMRC by 31 January 2026, and HMRC cross-checks them against your return. Whatever you sell abroad is visible, so your records need to reconcile.

If your qualifying income (gross turnover before expenses, assessed on your 2024/25 return) is over £50,000, you also fall into Making Tax Digital for Income Tax from 6 April 2026, with digital records and quarterly updates through compatible software. The threshold drops to over £30,000 from 6 April 2027 and over £20,000 from 6 April 2028. Cross-border sellers tend to hit these turnover figures sooner than they expect, so plan your software early.

A clean checklist before you scale abroad

Track total taxable turnover including zero-rated exports against the £90,000 UK threshold.
For each EU order, identify whether the consignment is at/under €150 or over.
For low-value EU B2C orders, confirm whether TikTok is the deemed supplier and using its IOSS, or whether you need your own IOSS via an EU intermediary.
Keep proof of export for every zero-rated UK sale.
Separate UK VAT, EU import VAT and your income tax records so nothing double-counts.
Get professional advice before registering for IOSS or appointing an intermediary; the cost is rarely worth it for low volumes.

Cross-border selling is very doable as a small UK operation. The structure to hold in your head is simple: UK VAT on one side, EU import VAT on the other, the €150 line deciding the EU mechanism, and the marketplace's deemed-supplier role doing a lot of the heavy lifting for low-value goods. Get those four things straight and you can grow internationally without nasty surprises.

Sources

FAQs

Do my EU export sales count toward the £90,000 UK VAT threshold?

Yes. Exports of goods are normally zero-rated for UK VAT, but zero-rated sales still count as taxable turnover. Add your EU and other export sales to your UK sales when checking whether you have crossed the £90,000 rolling 12-month threshold.

What is the €150 line and why does it matter for TikTok Shop sellers?

For goods sent from Great Britain into the EU, consignments valued at €150 or under are "low-value" and can use the Import One-Stop Shop (IOSS) so EU VAT is collected at checkout. Above €150, IOSS cannot be used and import VAT, plus possibly customs duty, is dealt with at the border, usually by the customer or via a duty-paid courier arrangement.

Does TikTok handle EU VAT for me, or do I need my own IOSS?

Where TikTok Shop is the deemed supplier for a low-value (€150 or under) B2C sale to an EU consumer, it typically charges and remits the destination EU VAT using its own IOSS number, so you do not need your own. For sales over €150, B2B sales, or where the marketplace is not the deemed supplier, you handle the import VAT yourself, and running your own IOSS generally needs an EU-established intermediary.

How do I keep UK VAT and EU import VAT from getting muddled?

Treat them as two separate systems. UK VAT is about your £90,000 registration threshold and the VAT you charge or zero-rate on UK and export sales. EU import VAT is about the destination country and the €150 line. Keep distinct records for each stream, keep proof of export for zero-rated sales, and reconcile everything against the figures TikTok reports to HMRC. Get advice before registering for anything cross-border.