You have switched to a Vinted Pro account, the sales are coming in, and now there is a monthly invoice from Vinted sitting in your account. It lists buyer protection, postage, and promotion charges, and somewhere on it there is a VAT line. The obvious question follows: can you reclaim that VAT, and how do you treat it on your return?
This guide walks through exactly what is on a Vinted Pro fee invoice, how the VAT works given that Vinted is a Lithuanian company, and what you actually put on your UK VAT return. We will keep the figures dated to the 2025/26 tax year and link every rule to the relevant gov.uk page.
It is written for UK sellers who have gone Pro and are either VAT-registered already or wondering whether they need to be. If you sell on Vinted as a business, our page for Vinted sellers sets out the wider tax picture.
Can you reclaim VAT on Vinted Pro fees?
If you are UK VAT-registered and the fees relate to your taxable business, you account for the VAT yourself under the reverse charge, then reclaim it in the same return. Done correctly the two entries cancel out, so there is usually no net VAT cost. If you are not VAT-registered, there is nothing to reclaim.
That short answer hides a wrinkle worth understanding. Vinted is established outside the UK, so it does not charge you UK VAT in the normal way. Instead, the responsibility to account for the VAT shifts to you. Let's unpack what that means once you have the invoice in front of you.
What fees does Vinted Pro actually charge?
First, separate two very different things. There are the fees buyers pay, and there are the fees you pay as a Pro seller. They are not the same, and only one of them lands on your invoice as a cost to your business.
Vinted does not charge private or Pro sellers a selling commission on the item price itself. The headline cost a buyer sees is the Buyer Protection fee, which Vinted charges to the buyer at checkout, not to you (Vinted: Buyer Protection fee).
So what is on your Pro invoice? It is the charge for services Vinted provides to you as a professional seller. In practice that means things like postage and shipping labels you buy through the platform, and any optional paid visibility or promotion services you choose to use. Vinted gives Pro accounts access to downloadable invoices and analytics for exactly this purpose (Vinted Pro guide).
The key point for your bookkeeping is that these are business costs, and the VAT treatment on them depends on where Vinted is established, not on where you are.
Why does the VAT on the invoice work differently to a UK supplier?
Vinted operates through Vinted UAB, a company established in Lithuania. When a UK VAT-registered business buys services from a supplier based outside the UK, the normal rule is that you, the customer, account for the VAT rather than the supplier. This is the reverse charge.
HMRC's own guidance is direct on this. Where the place of supply is the UK, the supplier is outside the UK and you are a UK business, the customer accounts for the output tax as if they had made the supply themselves, and may recover it as input tax under the normal rules (HMRC VATPOSS14300).
In plain terms: for these general business-to-business services, the supplier in another country does not add VAT. You work out the UK VAT yourself at the standard rate of 20% for 2025/26 (gov.uk: VAT rates), declare it, and then reclaim it. The amount of VAT is the same as if a UK supplier had charged you for the same net amount (VAT Notice 741A).
This is why a non-VAT-registered Vinted seller has nothing to reclaim. The reverse charge is a mechanism for VAT-registered businesses. If you are not registered, you simply pay the fee, and the cost (including any VAT element shown) is just a business expense for your income tax accounts.
What if the invoice already shows VAT?
Vinted's pricing is shown VAT-inclusive, and the treatment can differ depending on whether you are flagged as a consumer or a professional user (Vinted price list). This is exactly why declaring yourself as a Pro Seller matters: it lets the platform treat you as a business and issue the invoices you need.
If you are uncertain whether a given line on your invoice is UK VAT, EU VAT, or a reverse-charge supply, do not guess. The wording and VAT numbers on the document tell you. A full VAT invoice from a UK-registered supplier must show that supplier's UK VAT registration number (VAT Notice 700/21). If there is no UK VAT number and the supply is a general B2B service from abroad, you are almost certainly in reverse-charge territory.
How do you put Vinted fees on your VAT return?
This is where most sellers get nervous, but the mechanics are straightforward once you have seen them once.
Under the reverse charge for services received from abroad, you calculate the VAT (output tax) on the full net value of the service, then enter that figure in Box 1 of your VAT return. If you can reclaim it (because the fees relate to your taxable sales), you put the same figure in Box 4. The two cancel out, leaving no net VAT to pay (VAT Notice 741A).
You also include the net value of the purchase in Box 7 (your total purchases excluding VAT). Box 6, your total sales, should also include the value of the reverse-charge supply, because for VAT purposes you are treated as having supplied it to yourself (How to fill in your VAT return, Notice 700/12).
Illustrative example: reverse charge on a Vinted Pro invoice
Illustrative example. Maya runs a UK VAT-registered clothing resale business and uses a Vinted Pro account. In one quarter her Vinted invoice shows £400 of postage and promotion services, with no UK VAT charged because Vinted is established outside the UK.
She works out the reverse-charge VAT at the standard 20% rate: £400 x 20% = £80.
Her VAT return entries for those fees look like this.
| VAT return box | What goes in it | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Box 1 (VAT due, output tax) | Reverse-charge VAT on the fees | £80.00 |
| Box 4 (VAT reclaimed, input tax) | Same VAT, reclaimed as input tax | £80.00 |
| Box 6 (total sales, ex VAT) | Net value of the supply, included here | £400.00 |
| Box 7 (total purchases, ex VAT) | Net value of the fees | £400.00 |
The Box 1 and Box 4 figures match, so the reverse charge costs Maya nothing in net VAT. The arithmetic is the load-bearing part: £80 in, £80 out, £0 net.
The exception is if some of her sales were VAT-exempt. Where you cannot attribute the input tax to taxable supplies (for example because you make exempt supplies), you cannot reclaim all of it, and the reverse charge becomes a real cost at the UK rate (VAT Notice 741A). For most clothing resellers that does not arise, but it is worth knowing.
One more practical point: VAT-registered businesses must keep digital records and file through compatible software under Making Tax Digital for VAT (gov.uk: Making Tax Digital for VAT). Your Vinted invoices need to flow into that record-keeping, not sit in a folder.
Do you even need to be VAT-registered as a Vinted seller?
Plenty of Vinted Pro sellers will never need to register for VAT, and registering when you do not have to can cost you money rather than save it.
You must register for VAT once your VAT-taxable turnover goes over the registration threshold of £90,000 in any rolling 12-month period, a figure in force since 1 April 2024 (gov.uk: VAT registration thresholds). You can also register voluntarily below that, which only makes sense if reclaiming input VAT genuinely beats charging your buyers VAT.
Below the threshold, the reverse-charge reclaim above simply does not apply to you. The whole question of "reclaiming VAT on Vinted fees" only exists once you are registered.
Separately, there is the income tax question, which is not the same as VAT. If your gross trading income is over the £1,000 trading allowance, you generally need to register for Self Assessment and declare it (gov.uk: trading allowance). Selling your own old wardrobe is not usually trading; buying to resell at a profit usually is. Our guide for Vinted sellers walks through where that line sits, and our self-assessment service can take the filing off your hands.
What about the margin scheme and the flat rate scheme?
Two VAT schemes come up constantly with second-hand sellers. Both can help, and both have catches.
The VAT margin scheme
The margin scheme lets you pay VAT only on the difference between what you paid for an item and what you sold it for, rather than on the full selling price. You pay VAT at 16.67% (one-sixth) on that margin, and if you sell at a loss there is no VAT to account for (gov.uk: VAT margin schemes).
Used clothing fits the definition of eligible second-hand goods. The trade-off is that you cannot use the scheme for any item where you were charged VAT when you bought it, and you cannot reclaim VAT on margin-scheme stock. You also have to keep specific records to prove the buying and selling prices (gov.uk: VAT margin schemes).
Crucially, the margin scheme applies to the goods you sell. It does not change how you treat the Vinted fees, which still go through the reverse charge as described above.
The flat rate scheme
The flat rate scheme lets smaller businesses pay a fixed percentage of their VAT-inclusive turnover instead of tracking VAT on every transaction. You can join if your VAT taxable turnover is £150,000 or less excluding VAT, and you must leave once turnover exceeds £230,000 (gov.uk: flat rate scheme eligibility).
The catch for resellers is the limited cost business rule. If your spending on relevant goods is less than 2% of turnover, or below £1,000 a year, you are locked into a 16.5% flat rate, which strips out most of the benefit (gov.uk: work out your flat rate). Under the flat rate scheme you also generally cannot reclaim VAT on purchases, including the reverse-charge VAT on your Vinted fees, so the reclaim you would otherwise get disappears. Whether it pays off depends entirely on your numbers, and it is worth modelling before you opt in.
Will Vinted report your sales to HMRC?
Yes, if you cross the reporting threshold, and this is separate from anything to do with VAT.
Under the UK digital platform reporting rules (the OECD model rules HMRC has adopted), platforms like Vinted report seller details and income to HMRC each year (gov.uk: selling on a digital platform). Vinted reports sellers who make at least 30 sales or earn over EUR 2,000 (roughly £1,700) in a calendar year (Vinted: UK reporting).
Being reported is not the same as owing tax. The report is just data HMRC receives. Whether you owe anything depends on whether you are trading and on your VAT position (gov.uk: selling on a digital platform). But it does mean HMRC can see your activity, so your declared figures need to line up with what Vinted sends.
One related rule to be aware of if you ever sell goods located outside the UK into the UK: for low-value consignments of £135 or less, and for certain overseas-seller stock held in the UK, the online marketplace can become the deemed supplier responsible for the VAT instead of you (gov.uk: overseas goods sold to UK customers). For a typical UK-based seller posting from home this will not apply, but it matters if you fulfil from abroad.
Frequently asked questions
Can I reclaim VAT on Vinted Pro fees if I am VAT-registered?
Yes. Because Vinted is established outside the UK, you account for the VAT yourself under the reverse charge. You put the VAT in Box 1 and reclaim the same amount in Box 4, so it usually nets to zero, provided the fees relate to your taxable business.
Does Vinted charge UK VAT on its fees?
Generally no. As a supplier established outside the UK, Vinted does not add UK VAT to general business-to-business services for a UK VAT-registered seller. The reverse charge shifts the VAT accounting to you. Always check the invoice for a UK VAT number to confirm the treatment.
What if I am not VAT-registered?
Then there is no VAT to reclaim. You pay the Vinted fees and record them as a business expense for income tax. The reverse charge only applies to VAT-registered businesses.
Do I have to register for VAT just because I sell on Vinted Pro?
No. You must register only once your VAT-taxable turnover exceeds £90,000 in any rolling 12-month period for 2025/26. Many Pro sellers stay well below this. Income tax and the £1,000 trading allowance are a separate question from VAT.
What VAT rate do I use for the reverse charge on Vinted fees?
The standard UK rate of 20% for 2025/26. You apply it to the net value of the fees, the same as if a UK supplier had invoiced you.
Does the margin scheme change how I treat Vinted fees?
No. The margin scheme applies to the second-hand goods you sell. The Vinted fees are a service bought from abroad and still go through the reverse charge.
Getting your Vinted VAT right
Reading a Vinted Pro invoice is not complicated once you know the reverse charge is doing the work behind the scenes. The risk is not the maths; it is missing the reverse charge entirely, or registering for the wrong scheme and losing money.
If you sell on Vinted as a business and want this handled properly, including your VAT returns under Making Tax Digital, talk to us. Book a free 20-minute call with a Zmartly accountant and we will get your Vinted bookkeeping and VAT set up correctly. See our page for Vinted sellers to get started.
