If you're selling goods to consumers in the EU from UK stock, the VAT One Stop Shop (OSS) scheme isn't actually available to you post-Brexit in the way it is for EU-based sellers — as a UK business you're generally dealing with import VAT and potentially registering for VAT in the specific EU country your customer is in, or using the Import One Stop Shop (IOSS) for lower-value consignments, which is a different scheme aimed at making VAT collection simpler at the point of sale rather than at the border.
Which route applies depends on the value of what you're shipping, whether you're shipping from UK stock or from a warehouse already inside the EU, and how many EU countries you're actually selling into. This is one of the more genuinely complex areas for a growing online seller, because getting it wrong doesn't just risk a UK problem — it can mean parcels held at EU customs, unexpected charges landing on your customer, and refund requests that eat your margin. If you're selling into the EU, or planning to, this is worth getting properly set up before volume grows, not retrofitted once it's already causing customer complaints.
We set up the right EU VAT route for online sellers before volume grows, not after customs holds a parcel.
Talk to an AccountantIf you're selling goods to consumers in the EU from UK stock, the VAT One Stop Shop (OSS) scheme isn't actually available to you post-Brexit in the way it is for EU-based sellers — as a UK business you're generally dealing with import VAT and potentially registering for VAT in the specific EU country your customer is in, or using the Import One Stop Shop (IOSS) for lower-value consignments, which is a different scheme aimed at making VAT collection simpler at the point of sale rather than at the border.