Selling internationally

OU812

I'm in the process of setting up a site (Volusion) & one thing that's confusing me is the question of VAT/GST.

Do I charge the applicable tax for the country I'm selling to or do I charge the Irish VAT rate (include VAT in the price) ?
Who do I return the VAT to - Country of sale (Ireland), or country of purchase?

I'm hoping to sell internationally & setting up a different VAT rate for every country (even the US every state has a different one), is going to be extremely time consuming.

Also, when I'm purchasing stock, I'm going to be charged sales tax, but I'm not sure if I can claim any of this back if it's a lower rate of tax, e.g. if I buy from Florida, it's between 6 & 7.5% tax Vs our 23%.

Anyone help ?

Peterdalkey

Where is the business to be based and VAT registered, in Ireland? If so you charge Irish VAT to all Irish customers and all non-VAT registered EU customers. If you sell to non Irish EU VAT registered entities provided you obtain a valid EU VAT number from them, you can sell to them without VAT. All sales to non EU countries are VAT free.

On purchases, in general, the same exemptions apply to you as a buyer. The local rates are thus irrelevant.

dbran

Hi

The question of whether or not you have to charge VAT or indeed whether or not you have to register for VAT in another EU country depends on the nature of your customers and also how much you are selling into each individual EU country.

I understand that the US GST will usually be deducted and paid over by the shipper if the value of the goods exceeds a certain threshold however I am open to correction on this.

You cant claim back foreign tax deducted on your Irish Vat return.

Hope this helps

dbran

OU812

Thanks folks.

Peter, Business will be based here, but I see the main markets being USA/Japan/Australia

Peterdalkey

Are you intending to ship from Ireland or dropship from foreign locations? The countries you mention also all have import duty and sales taxes to be paid at the point of entry etc which will have to be borne by your customers. If you are not shipping from Ireland, you will not need to account for VAT here.

OU812

Will be shipping from Ireland. Ironically the product is sourced in the US, will be imported here & then re-exported because there's nobody over there who will dropship. I also have to repackage it into my own packaging, so it has to come here anyway.

Peterdalkey

If most of your end business is outside the EU, you really need to find a way to import the goods in here VAT and Duty free. I would advise you to contact Rubloph289 on here. http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/member.php?u=222187 he is the go to man for this kind of thing on this forum.

dbran

OU812 wrote: »

Thanks folks.

Peter, Business will be based here, but I see the main markets being USA/Japan/Australia

If the sales are to be dispatched outside the EU then it is outside the scope of Irish VAT. On this basis there will be no Irish VAT applicable on the sales.

You are also entitled to register for Irish VAT and claim back the VAT at the point of entry on the imports.

I would also recommend Rubloph289 as he is quite knowledgeable in this area.

Regards

dbran