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 what is on a Vinted Pro invoice, who supplies each charge, and what you actually put on your UK VAT return. We will keep the figures dated to the 2026/27 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?
Yes, if you are UK VAT-registered, not on the Flat Rate Scheme, and the charges relate to your taxable business. Vinted supplies its UK sellers from a UK company and its prices include VAT, so the VAT on a Bump or a Showcase is ordinary input tax: you reclaim it in Box 4. There is no reverse charge. If you are not VAT-registered, there is nothing to reclaim.
You may have read that Vinted bills from Lithuania and that you should reverse charge its fees. For a UK seller that is not right. Vinted's UK terms say the company you deal with is Vinted Platform Limited, registered in England with an office in London. 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 Vinted fee, a platform fee the buyer pays at checkout, not you (Vinted price list).
So what is on your invoice? Vinted's guide for Pro sellers says it covers services such as shipping labels, the buyer protection fee and extra visibility (Vinted Pro guide). The ones that cost your business money are the optional visibility services you choose to buy, such as Bumps and Showcase (Vinted price list), and any shipping labels you buy yourself (Vinted Pro guide, VAT guide for Pro sellers, question 2.4).
The key point for your bookkeeping is that these are business costs, and the VAT treatment depends on who supplies each one.
Who supplies Vinted's services to UK sellers?
Vinted Platform Limited. Vinted's UK Terms and Conditions and its Pro Terms and Conditions both open the same way: "We're Vinted Platform Limited", at 5 New Street Square, London, company number 15015234 (Vinted Terms and Conditions; Vinted Pro Terms and Conditions). Its price list says all its prices include VAT (Vinted price list).
That settles the VAT. The reverse charge is for services bought from a supplier that belongs outside the UK, and HMRC says it "does not apply to supplies of services where both the supplier and the customer belong in the UK" (VAT Notice 741A, paragraph 5.3). A Bump or a Showcase bought by a UK business is that kind of supply, so Vinted charges the VAT and, if you are registered, you reclaim it.
In plain terms: the VAT is already in the price. At the standard rate of 20 per cent for 2026/27 (gov.uk: VAT rates), that is one sixth of a VAT-inclusive price. You need Vinted's invoice to support the claim, and a full VAT invoice shows the supplier's VAT registration number (VAT Notice 700/21).
If you are not VAT-registered, there is nothing to reclaim. You pay the VAT-inclusive price, and the whole amount is a business expense for your income tax accounts.
What about shipping labels?
Shipping is the part to check carefully. Vinted's Pro terms say prepaid labels are provided by a separate company, Vinted Go UAB, and that as a Pro seller you invoice the buyer for any shipping you resell to them (Vinted Pro Terms and Conditions). How a label is treated for VAT depends on who that invoice is from and what it shows, so read it on its own terms rather than assuming it matches the Bump and Showcase charges.
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.
Treat Vinted's charges like any other UK purchase with VAT on it. The VAT goes in Box 4 of your VAT return, as input tax you are reclaiming. The net cost, the price less the VAT, goes in Box 7 (VAT Notice 700/12, paragraphs 3.5 and 3.8). Nothing goes in Box 1 or Box 6 for these charges, because you are not accounting for a supply to yourself.
If your bookkeeping was set up to reverse charge Vinted's fees, change it. A reverse charge code treats the VAT-inclusive price as the net fee, adds 20 per cent of it to both Box 1 and Box 4 so the two cancel, and puts the price in Box 6 and Box 7. You get no credit for the VAT Vinted actually charged, and your sales in Box 6 are overstated. Check who issued your older invoices before you correct anything. Where they came from Vinted Platform Limited with VAT included, returns that reverse charged them are an error to correct under the rules in VAT Notice 700/45. If an older invoice names a Vinted company outside the UK, the reverse charge may have been right for it.
Illustrative example: a quarter of Vinted charges
Illustrative example. Maya runs a UK VAT-registered clothing resale business and uses a Vinted Pro account. In one quarter she buys £240 of Bumps and Showcase from Vinted, VAT included.
The VAT in that price is one sixth: £240 ÷ 6 = £40. The net cost is £200.
Her VAT return entries for those fees look like this.
| VAT return box | What goes in it | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Box 1 (VAT due, output tax) | Nothing for these charges | £0.00 |
| Box 4 (VAT reclaimed, input tax) | VAT on Vinted's invoices | £40.00 |
| Box 6 (total sales, ex VAT) | Nothing for these charges | £0.00 |
| Box 7 (total purchases, ex VAT) | Net value of the charges | £200.00 |
Her VAT bill for the quarter falls by £40. Her real cost is the £200 net, and that is the figure in her profit and loss account. Had she coded the £240 as a reverse charge, she would have put £48 in both Box 1 and Box 4, reclaimed nothing, and added £240 to her sales in Box 6.
The exception is if some of her sales were VAT-exempt, because input tax that relates to exempt sales cannot normally be reclaimed in full. 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 reclaim above simply does not apply to you. The whole question of "reclaiming VAT on Vinted fees" only exists once you are registered. If you are still working out whether your selling counts as a business at all, start with our guide to Vinted Pro seller tax and when to register.
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 one sixth of 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 Vinted's charges, which you still reclaim 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 per cent of turnover, or below £1,000 a year, you are locked into a 16.5 per cent flat rate, which strips out most of the benefit (gov.uk: work out your flat rate). Under the flat rate scheme you also do not recover input tax on purchases, including the VAT in Vinted's charges, so that reclaim disappears (VAT Notice 733, paragraph 2.4). 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, if the charges relate to your taxable business and you are not on the Flat Rate Scheme. Vinted supplies UK sellers from Vinted Platform Limited, a UK company, and its prices include VAT. You reclaim that VAT in Box 4 and put the net cost in Box 7.
Does Vinted charge UK VAT on its fees?
Yes. Vinted's price list says all its prices include VAT, and its UK terms name Vinted Platform Limited in London as the company you deal with. Because you and Vinted both belong in the UK, there is no reverse charge.
What if I am not VAT-registered?
Then there is no VAT to reclaim. You pay the VAT-inclusive price and record the full amount as a business expense for income tax.
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 2026/27. Many Pro sellers stay well below this. Income tax and the £1,000 trading allowance are a separate question from VAT.
What VAT rate is in Vinted's prices?
The standard UK rate of 20 per cent for 2026/27. In a VAT-inclusive price, that is one sixth of the total.
Does the margin scheme change how I treat Vinted fees?
No. The margin scheme applies to the second-hand goods you sell. Vinted's charges are a separate purchase, and you reclaim the VAT on them in the normal way.
Getting your Vinted VAT right
Reading a Vinted Pro invoice is not complicated once you know who it is from. The risk is not the maths; it is coding a UK supplier's VAT as a reverse charge and losing the reclaim, 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.
