Sole trader selling to U.S.

[PAClerk]

Dear all,

I have a small business whereby I'm purchasing goods from the E.U. (mainly Italy), importing them to me here in the UK, and then putting them up for re-sale on eBay to American customers. I've paid VAT on the items from the country I purchased from. I then ship the goods (clothing) to the customer based in the States, making the required declarations for customs, etc. My understanding is that I would not have to register for VAT until I reached the £82k threshold. I pay income tax and NI only on my profit (sale amount minus cost of goods, ebay and paypal fees, postage, etc.). Is this correct? Do I not have to register with the American tax system in any way? Is there such a thing as a 'distance threshold' selling from the EU to the US?

Also, if anyone could help me with a more specific question here it'd be greatly appreciated - I have also found an online clothing shop in Portugal and have drop-shipped items from their shop to customers in the U.S. - about £3000 worth. The American customer places an order with me on eBay, I order the item from the store in Portugal, and they ship the item via courier to the customer in the U.S. Does this also fall out of scope for UK VAT registration?

Thank You!

[les35]

Lots of questions, so you will need to fuller paid advice. But some brief comments for you to include in your thinking:
1. there is no distance sales threshold in respect of UK to US sales;
2. sales of goods which never enter the UK cannot be liable to UK VAT;
3. zero rated sales (ie: exports to US) are taxable sales, which count towards the registration threshold (£83k). If you do register, you will then recover input tax on costs. This will slightly improve your profits.

[PAClerk]

Thanks, Les35. My turnover within the past year has only been around £35k, so I'm not VAT registered - I just wanted to make sure that I was being caught out by any odd law present in the U.S.