How VAT, VAT IDs and customs work on your order depends on two things: WHERE your delivery address is (inside the EU or outside it) and WHO you are (a business or a private customer). Jump to the section that matches you.

Quick guide – which section is for me?

• Delivery inside the EU → read Part A below (consumer, OSS invoice, or VAT-free business).
• Delivery to the UK or any country outside the EU → read Part B below.

🇪🇺 PART A — DELIVERY INSIDE THE EUROPEAN UNION

This whole part applies only if your shipping address is inside the EU. Pick the one of the three cases that describes you.

A1. You are a PRIVATE CUSTOMER (consumer, no VAT number)

Simply proceed to checkout. You pay VAT at the rate applicable in your country, and it appears on the sales document. The VAT is remitted to your national tax authority. There is nothing extra to do.

A2. You are a BUSINESS and want a VAT invoice (OSS) — VAT paid

If you want to pay VAT and receive a VAT OSS invoice recognised in your country, make a normal purchase (VAT included) and add your company details and Tax ID in the order comments. You pay the VAT and receive a proper invoice for it under the EU OSS scheme.

A3. You are a BUSINESS and want a VAT-free (intra-Community) purchase

If you are a VAT-registered business and want an intra-Community, VAT-free purchase, enter your EU VAT ID directly at checkout. This is now handled natively by Shopify — we no longer use a separate cart exemption app, so there is nothing to fill in on the cart page.

• The VAT ID field only appears after you enter your shipping address at checkout. Enter your address first, and the field for your VAT number is then shown.
• 
  The VAT ID field only works if you enter the number in the correct format: country prefix + digits, e.g. PL1234567890, DE123456789, ES12345678X. Type it as one continuous string with no dashes, no dots and no spaces. A number entered with separators or in the wrong format will not be accepted and VAT will not be removed.
• 
  VAT is deducted at the next step.
  
• A VAT number cannot be added or applied retroactively once the order has been placed and paid.
• Only do this if you are registered with your tax office for cross-border (intra-Community) transactions.

You can also check out quickly with Shop Pay and other express methods. If you are a business buyer, make sure you reach the address step so the VAT ID field is available before you pay.

If VIES is temporarily down. Your VAT number is validated against the EU's VIES system. VIES is occasionally unavailable for certain member states (we have seen this for buyers in, for example, Belgium and Germany). If your valid VAT ID is not accepted at that moment, it is usually a temporary VIES outage rather than a problem with your number. In that case we recommend coming back and completing the purchase a little later, once VIES is working again. If an order goes through with VAT charged because VIES could not validate your number at the time, contact us and we will refund the VAT.

🌍 PART B — DELIVERY TO THE UK AND OTHER NON-EU COUNTRIES

This whole part applies only if your shipping address is outside the EU (for example the UK, Ukraine, Switzerland, Norway, USA). It applies to both private customers and businesses. Post-Brexit import rules still surprise many UK customers, so this explains the extra charges and when they are collected. Note: we differ from Amazon, which collects all import fees upfront, whereas we do not.

B1. Why VAT disappears at checkout

In countries outside the EU, you see the information that prices include VAT, and it is true, but the VAT is 0%, meaning they actually do not include VAT. Each export shipment outside the EU is subject to VAT, which will be collected from you by the transport company (subject to exemptions in the regulations of some countries for low-value shipments, such as the UK or Ukraine). The moment you enter a non-EU shipping address, the VAT line drops to zero. This may also happen based on your location detected by the store. We never collect or settle VAT for shipments outside the EU. If VAT ever sneaks onto your order, we refund it the same business day.

B2. What you pay us

• 
  Net product price – no EU VAT
• 
  FedEx shipping – discounted, often below regular courier rates

B3. What you pay when the parcel reaches your country

1. 
   Local VAT – e.g. 20 % in the UK
2. 
   Customs duty – typically 2–3 %, varies by HS code, country and item mix; we try to declare one HS code to keep this low
3. 
   FedEx Disbursement Fee (UK example) –
   
   GBP 6.60 – 12.75, or
   2.5 % of total VAT + duty (whichever is higher)
   
   

B4. When FedEx asks you to pay

• 
  Before delivery – secure payment link while the parcel clears customs
• 
  At delivery – pay the courier (card or cash)
• 
  After delivery – FedEx invoice if they release the goods first

B5. If VAT accidentally appears on your order

Send us a quick message and we'll delete that VAT line the same day. (We can see it ourselves, but you might spot it before we do.)

More details

Full FedEx ancillary clearance fees: FedEx Ancillary Clearance Service.