vat card gb
United Kingdom flag United Kingdom · Customs & VAT

UK Import VAT Shake-Up: Marketplace Liability and the End of Low-Value Relief

HMRC is consulting on shifting VAT liability to marketplaces for UK sales, while separately confirming that the £135 low-value import relief will end sooner than originally planned.

What's Changing?

HMRC and HM Treasury have two related workstreams moving at once, both aimed at UK import and marketplace VAT. Neither is finalised legislation yet, but both are concrete enough — with specific dates and numbers attached — to start planning around now.

1. Marketplace VAT Liability Consultation

A joint HMRC/HM Treasury consultation ran from 23 June to 18 August 2026, proposing to make online marketplaces the deemed VAT-accounting party for certain UK-based sellers' sales — specifically where the goods are already located in the UK at the point of sale (a gap in the existing overseas-seller marketplace rules, which already apply to non-UK sellers).

  • The lead proposal sets a £90,000 per-platform sales threshold before liability would shift from seller to marketplace
  • No final decision has been published yet — this is a consultation outcome, not confirmed law
  • If adopted, it would extend the "deemed supplier" model (already familiar to overseas sellers) to domestic UK sellers trading through marketplaces

2. Low-Value Import Relief Ending — Earlier Than Planned

Separately, HMRC confirmed (23 June 2026 announcement, policy paper published 13 July 2026) that the £135 customs-duty relief on low-value imports will be removed, with duty becoming payable on shipments that previously qualified. Crucially, the timeline has been brought forward from March 2029 to October 2028 — a reminder that these dates can and do move.

Liability for the new duty is expected to fall on sellers or marketplaces, likely via a registration and quarterly payment mechanism, though full mechanics haven't been published yet.

Quick facts

  • Consultation window: 23 June – 18 August 2026
  • Proposed marketplace liability threshold: £90,000 in sales per platform
  • Low-value import relief: currently £135, still in effect
  • Relief removal date: brought forward to October 2028 (was March 2029)
  • Status: both changes are proposals/announced policy — not yet final legislation

What Should You Do Now?

  1. Check your platform-level sales. If you're approaching £90,000 in UK sales on any single marketplace, watch for the consultation's outcome closely.
  2. Start modelling duty on sub-£135 shipments. Even though October 2028 feels distant, HMRC has already moved this date forward once.
  3. Don't treat announced dates as fixed. Build a margin of flexibility into any long-term planning tied to either change.
  4. Talk to your customs broker now about what registration or payment mechanism they expect once the low-value relief mechanics are published in full.

Selling into the UK and want to understand how either change could affect your VAT and customs setup? Our team at VAT Support can help you plan ahead. Contact us today.

Free Self-Assessment · VAT Snapshot

Check Your Cross-Border VAT Compliance Risk in 60s

Take our automated compliance health check to identify missing OSS/IOSS registrations, country thresholds, and import liability across 30+ jurisdictions.

LATESTBC’s PST Expansion Reaches Fabric and Pattern Sellers October 1 — Days … → OSS returns are filed quarterly — one return for all 27 EU states. Overseas sellers: VAT is due from your first EU sale — no threshold. IOSS covers imported goods up to €150 in value. 27 EU member states, one OSS registration.