Shipping orders from Ireland to the UK: VAT and customs

Start with the delivery destination and the goods you intend to send together. For orders going to Northern Ireland, use the Northern Ireland seller guide.

HMRC applies the £135 limit to the whole imported consignment. Add together the values of the items travelling in that consignment before deciding which VAT treatment applies.

Record the consignment value alongside the order. If you change which goods will travel together before dispatch, reassess the consignment you are actually sending.

HMRC says goods outside the UK sold directly to customers in Great Britain in consignments of £135 or less have UK VAT charged at the point of sale. It tells sellers to register for VAT so they can charge and account for it.

1. Identify the goods in the imported consignment and assess their combined value.
2. For direct consumer consignments of £135 or less, arrange UK VAT registration as HMRC directs.
3. Build charging UK VAT into the sale, then account for the VAT charged.
4. Use the normal VAT and customs import rules for consignments worth more than £135.

HMRC specifies an exception for certain sales to VAT-registered businesses. If your Shopify store also takes business orders, identify those sales before applying the consumer treatment. Use HMRC’s business-sales guidance for the specified exception.

Revenue says the seller or an agent must complete a customs declaration for exports outside the EU, including Great Britain. The export declaration must be made electronically.

Decide who will submit it before preparing the order for dispatch. If you handle the declaration yourself, include the electronic submission in your dispatch process. If an agent handles it, make completing that export declaration an explicit part of the work you arrange.

Put the responsible seller or agent in your order instructions.

According to Shopify, DDP terms make the merchant or sender responsible for duties, import clearance and applicable taxes. Under DAP or DDU terms, the receiver or customer settles duties and import taxes.

Write the chosen responsibility into the delivery terms the customer sees before buying. Use the abbreviation alongside a plain description of who pays. For receiver-paid orders, say that the customer settles duties and import taxes.

For sender-paid orders, include import clearance and applicable charges in your dispatch arrangements. Give whoever handles the shipment the same payment terms shown to the customer.

Revenue says British importers may require a statement of origin to obtain preferential tariffs. If the importer requires that statement, include it in your export preparations.

Revenue says an EU exporter using a statement on origin must register unless the consignment is below €6,000. Check the value of the consignment covered by the statement when planning registration.

If you use an agent for the export declaration, tell them whether the shipment also requires an origin statement. Assign responsibility for preparing it when you arrange the declaration work.

For a 1 kg parcel from Ireland to the United Kingdom, the cheapest bookable price was €10.69 with UPS, with a delivery estimate of 1–3 days, in prices checked on 5 October 2026.

For a 2 kg parcel on that route, the cheapest bookable price was €13.79 with UPS, with a delivery estimate of 1–3 days, in prices checked on 5 October 2026. Compare the available services for your parcel weight on the United Kingdom route page.

If you offer DDP, budget for the duties, import clearance and applicable taxes you will cover as sender. With DAP or DDU, put the customer’s responsibility for duties and import taxes alongside the postage charge in your delivery information.