Guides / EU stock in UK warehouses · Updated 30 September 2026

EU sellers sending stock to UK fulfilment warehouses

Sending stock into a UK fulfilment centre, such as a marketplace warehouse, makes you an importer into Great Britain. Here is what GOV.UK says about EORI, VAT registration, representation and who pays what.

This guide is also available in Polish.

Why stock shipments are different from parcel sales

An EU seller who posts individual orders to UK customers and one who sends a pallet of stock into a UK fulfilment warehouse face two different sets of rules. With a stock shipment, the goods are imported into Great Britain first and only later sold to consumers from inside the country. That split creates two separate tax events: the import itself, and each sale from the warehouse.

GOV.UK draws this line clearly. For goods sold through an online marketplace while they are already located in the UK, the marketplace accounts for the VAT on the sale, but the overseas seller "will remain liable for any import VAT and Customs Duty when the goods are first imported into the UK". In other words, the marketplace handles the sale; you handle the border.

Who acts as importer of record

A fulfilment warehouse, including a marketplace fulfilment centre, receives and stores your goods, but it does not become the importer because it holds them. The business that owns the stock and brings it into the UK is the one that carries the import duty and import VAT. For most EU sellers that means their own company appears as importer (consignee) on the UK import declaration, made in the Customs Declaration Service. If you are unsure what that declaration contains, see our guide to the CDS import declaration.

Planning around this early avoids the most common problem: stock arriving at a UK port with nobody ready, and nobody entitled, to declare it.

GB EORI number

According to GOV.UK, you need an EORI number starting with GB if you move goods between Great Britain and any other country, including the EU. An EU EORI is not a substitute for the GB number when goods are declared into Great Britain. See the EORI entry in our glossary for the basics.

GOV.UK also notes that if you are not eligible to apply for an EORI number yourself, you will need to appoint someone to deal with customs on your behalf. For a business without UK establishment, the question of eligibility and the choice of representative are therefore linked, and it is worth settling both before the first shipment is booked.

UK VAT registration for non-established sellers

This is where many EU sellers get caught out. The usual UK VAT registration threshold does not help a business based outside the UK. GOV.UK states that you must register, regardless of taxable turnover, if you are based outside the UK, your business is based outside the UK, and you supply any goods or services to the UK or expect to in the next 30 days.

There is a narrow exemption: a non-established taxable person can only be exempted from registration if all of their taxable supplies are zero-rated. GOV.UK's marketplace guidance adds that a seller whose only supplies are zero-rated deemed supplies through a marketplace may either register or apply for exemption from registration. Whether that route fits your business depends on your whole pattern of UK supplies, so check it against the guidance rather than assuming it applies.

Owning stock in a UK warehouse and selling it to UK customers generally means you are making supplies in the UK. For goods located in the UK at the point of sale, GOV.UK says an overseas seller selling directly (not through a marketplace) "must register and account for VAT", whatever the value.

Postponed VAT accounting

Import VAT does not have to be paid at the border if you use postponed VAT accounting. GOV.UK sets out the conditions:

Your business must be registered for VAT in the UK.
Your VAT registration number must be included on the import declaration.
If you are a non-established taxable person, you must appoint someone to deal with customs for you and instruct them in writing to use postponed VAT accounting and to enter your details as the consignee.
Where an agent, forwarder or express operator makes the declaration, they must have your written confirmation before they proceed.

Without UK VAT registration, postponed VAT accounting is simply not available, and import VAT falls due at import. That is one practical reason why registration is usually sorted before stock moves, not after.

Direct or indirect representation

Almost every EU seller uses a customs agent for UK imports. The written instruction to that agent must say whether they act for you directly or indirectly. GOV.UK explains the difference in liability: an agent acting directly, making declarations in your name in set circumstances, is not held jointly liable, so you as importer carry the liability. With indirect representation the agent acts in its own name on your behalf and is jointly liable with you. Our glossary entry on direct representation covers the terms.

GOV.UK also says that someone dealing with customs for you needs to be established in Great Britain or Northern Ireland. Combined with the rule that non-established importers must appoint a representative to use postponed VAT accounting, this is why non-established sellers typically end up with a UK-established agent, often under indirect representation. Whichever you choose, GOV.UK is clear that you remain responsible for due diligence on your declarations.

Marketplace VAT on sales from the warehouse

Once the stock is in the UK and sold through an online marketplace to consumers, GOV.UK says UK VAT is charged at the point of sale and the marketplace is liable to account for it. There is an important exception: if a business customer gives its VAT registration number, the seller, not the marketplace, remains liable for the VAT on that sale.

The GBP 135 consignment rule you may have read about applies to goods outside the UK at the point of sale. GOV.UK states it does not cover goods already located in the UK, which is exactly the situation for warehoused stock.

Customs duty on the stock

Duty is calculated at the import stage, per shipment, not per retail sale. The amount depends on the commodity code of each product, its customs value and its origin. Goods of EU origin may qualify for preferential treatment only where the origin rules are met and properly claimed; goods simply shipped from an EU warehouse but made elsewhere do not become EU-origin by passing through. Classify each product line carefully before the first consignment, because an error repeats on every shipment. Our cost guide explains what drives total landed cost.

A practical sequence

Obtain a GB EORI number, or confirm how your representative will handle it.
Register for UK VAT as a non-established taxable person, unless you have confirmed an exemption applies.
Appoint a UK-established customs agent and give written instructions covering representation type and postponed VAT accounting.
Prepare commercial invoices with accurate commodity codes, values and origin information.
Book warehouse delivery only once the import declaration route is confirmed.

If you are starting out, our step-by-step overview of customs duty and VAT for Amazon FBA stock walks through the import side from a seller's point of view.

Related guides

Need help importing stock into the UK?

Easy Clearance is a UK–EU customs clearance agency handling import and export declarations, T1/T2 transit and UK–Poland removals.

Read the FBA import guide

Sources

General information, not legal, tax or customs advice. Rules change; confirm current requirements on gov.uk or with a registered agent before you ship.