Written by Hammad Rasool MAAT·AAT licensed accountant·Updated November 2026

Your sales for the last 12 complete months (£)
Use total sales to customers before marketplace fees, refunds deducted. Leave a month blank if you sold nothing.

Enter your monthly sales above and the result appears here.

Budget 2026 update: From October 2027 online marketplaces will collect the VAT on goods sold to UK consumers by UK VAT registered sellers, and by other UK sellers with sales above £90,000 a year on a platform. See everything that changed.

The rule in plain words

You must register for VAT if either of these is true:

  1. Looking back: your total taxable turnover for the last 12 months went over £90,000.
  2. Looking forward: you expect your taxable turnover to go over £90,000 in the next 30 days alone.

For the first test you must register within 30 days of the end of the month in which you went over. The 12 months are any 12 months in a row, not the tax year and not your accounting year. That means you need to run the check at the end of every single month.

Key point for marketplace sellers: the test uses your sales, not your payouts. If Amazon or eBay collects £8,000 from customers and pays you £6,400 after fees, £8,000 counts towards the threshold.

What happens when you cross

Once registered you normally add 20% VAT to your sales and can reclaim VAT on your costs. Marketplace customers will not pay more just because you registered, so in practice the VAT often comes out of your margin unless you raise prices. That is why it pays to know months in advance.

Example

Hira sells on Etsy and eBay. Her sales for December 2025 to October 2026 total £79,500, and November 2025 was £6,000, so her rolling 12 months stand at £85,500. In November 2026 the old November drops out, leaving £79,500. She can sell up to £10,500 this month and stay under. A strong Black Friday could take her over, so she needs a plan before it happens, not after.

If you find you went over months ago

Register straight away. HMRC will register you from the date you should have been registered, and you will owe VAT on your sales from that date even though you did not charge it. A late registration penalty can be added, and it grows the longer the delay. Coming forward early keeps the bill and the penalty as small as possible.

Legal ways to plan around the threshold

  • Register voluntarily early: often right if your customers are VAT registered businesses or your costs carry a lot of VAT.
  • Check which sales count: exempt sales and sales outside the scope of UK VAT are not taxable turnover.
  • Look at the Flat Rate Scheme: it can simplify VAT for small sellers.
  • Do not split the business artificially: HMRC can treat connected businesses as one and backdate the registration.

Related guides: the VAT threshold explained and Amazon seller tax and VAT.

Common questions

What is the VAT threshold in 2026/27?
£90,000 of taxable turnover in any rolling 12 month period, or expected in the next 30 days alone.
Is the VAT threshold based on profit?
No. It is based on taxable turnover, which means your sales. Costs and marketplace fees are not deducted.
How quickly do I have to register after going over?
Within 30 days of the end of the month in which your rolling 12 month turnover went over £90,000.
Do Amazon and eBay fees reduce my turnover for VAT?
No. The amount the customer pays counts, not the amount the marketplace pays out to you.
Does the threshold reset each tax year?
No. It is a rolling test. Each month the oldest month drops out and the newest is added.

Checked against GOV.UK on 10 November 2026: Register for VAT, VAT thresholds.

About the author

Hammad Rasool MAAT is an AAT licensed accountant based in Bolton. TaxTune Accountants looks after sole traders, landlords, contractors and limited companies in Bolton, Wigan, Bury, Salford, Oldham, Stockport and Manchester, and online across the UK.