Tax Guides for Online Sellers — VAT, GST & Sales Tax
The GoodVat Guides are a plain-English tax reference built for people who sell things online. No jargon, no legalese, no assumptions that you already know how VAT works.
Every guide answers one question: “I sell from country X to country Y — what do I need to do about tax?” We cover registration, rates, invoicing, returns, and what happens when you get it wrong — with flowcharts, worked examples with real numbers, and links to official sources so you can verify everything yourself.
UK VAT
Section titled “UK VAT”For businesses based in or selling to the United Kingdom. The UK uses Value Added Tax (VAT) at 20% standard rate, administered by HMRC. The registration threshold is £90,000 rolling 12-month turnover.
Start here:
- UK VAT — Full Overview — Rates, thresholds, schemes, and what applies to your business
- UK VAT Setup Checklist — Step-by-step: register with HMRC, choose a scheme, configure your store, and file your first return
Selling corridors:
- Selling to UK Customers (B2C) — Domestic VAT, registration triggers, rates by product category, invoicing, and quarterly returns
- Selling to UK Businesses (B2B) — Domestic B2B sales, VAT invoicing requirements, and reverse charge for services
- Selling to EU Customers from the UK — Post-Brexit IOSS requirements, destination-country VAT, the €150 threshold, and the B2B reverse charge
Selling to EU Customers
Section titled “Selling to EU Customers”For any seller — EU or non-EU based — shipping goods or delivering digital services to buyers in the European Union. If your business is outside the EU, there is no minimum turnover: EU VAT rules apply from your very first sale.
Start here:
- Selling to EU — Full Overview — IOSS, OSS, the €150 threshold, the July 2026 customs duty, and VAT rates for all 27 member states
- EU Selling Setup Checklist — Step-by-step: IOSS registration, store configuration, customs declarations, and monthly reporting
By customer type:
- Selling to EU Consumers (B2C) — IOSS registration, charging destination-country VAT at checkout, monthly returns, and the €150 threshold
- Selling to EU Businesses (B2B) — Reverse charge mechanism, VIES validation, zero-VAT invoicing
- Non-Union OSS for Digital Services — How non-EU SaaS and digital businesses handle EU VAT with a single registration
By destination country — current VAT rates and country-specific rules:
| Country | Standard Rate | Guide |
|---|---|---|
| Austria | 20% | Selling to Austria |
| Belgium | 21% | Selling to Belgium |
| Bulgaria | 20% | Selling to Bulgaria |
| Croatia | 25% | Selling to Croatia |
| Cyprus | 19% | Selling to Cyprus |
| Czech Republic | 21% | Selling to Czech Republic |
| Denmark | 25% | Selling to Denmark |
| Estonia | 24% | Selling to Estonia |
| Finland | 25.5% | Selling to Finland |
| France | 20% | Selling to France |
| Germany | 19% | Selling to Germany |
| Greece | 24% | Selling to Greece |
| Hungary | 27% | Selling to Hungary |
| Ireland | 23% | Selling to Ireland |
| Italy | 22% | Selling to Italy |
| Latvia | 21% | Selling to Latvia |
| Lithuania | 21% | Selling to Lithuania |
| Luxembourg | 17% | Selling to Luxembourg |
| Malta | 18% | Selling to Malta |
| Netherlands | 21% | Selling to Netherlands |
| Poland | 23% | Selling to Poland |
| Portugal | 23% | Selling to Portugal |
| Romania | 19% | Selling to Romania |
| Slovakia | 23% | Selling to Slovakia |
| Slovenia | 22% | Selling to Slovenia |
| Spain | 21% | Selling to Spain |
| Sweden | 25% | Selling to Sweden |
Also in this section:
- IOSS Intermediary Comparison — EAS Project, SimplyVAT, AVASK, Taxually, and others compared on price and service
US Sales Tax
Section titled “US Sales Tax”The US has no federal sales tax. Instead, 45 states, DC, and Puerto Rico each run independent systems with their own rates, thresholds, and filing deadlines. The 2018 South Dakota v. Wayfair ruling means remote and international sellers owe sales tax once they cross a state’s economic nexus threshold — no physical presence required.
Start here:
- US Sales Tax — Full Overview — Economic nexus, physical nexus, marketplace facilitator rules, digital goods, and the platform compliance gap
- State Sales Tax Index — All 50 States, DC & Puerto Rico — Nexus thresholds, rates, and digital goods rules for every jurisdiction
Compliance checklists:
- US Sales Tax Compliance Checklist — US-Based Sellers — Registration, collection, filing, and ongoing nexus monitoring
- US Tax Compliance Checklist — Foreign Sellers — EIN requirements, registered agents, state registration, and Form 5472
Special topics:
- Amazon FBA and the Physical Nexus Trap — How FBA inventory in Amazon warehouses creates nexus in states you never intended to operate in
- Shopify Sales Tax Limitations — What Shopify Tax calculates vs. what it doesn’t do (registration, filing, cross-channel nexus)
- Stripe Tax for Digital Goods and SaaS — State-by-state taxability of SaaS, ebooks, and digital downloads, and where Stripe Tax falls short
- Foreign Sellers Guide to US Sales Tax — EIN, state registration without a US address, and structuring for compliance
- IRS Form 5472 for Foreign-Owned US LLCs — The $25,000/year penalty most foreign-owned Delaware and Wyoming LLCs don’t know about
- US Customs and Section 321 De Minimis — The $800 duty-free threshold, how it works, and how political pressure is changing it
- Streamlined Sales Tax Programme — How to register in 24 SST states simultaneously with one application
Platform-specific guides:
- Shopify Sales Tax Setup — Shopify Tax configuration, limitations, and what you still need to do yourself
- Stripe Tax for SaaS & Digital Goods — Where Stripe Tax works and where it creates a false sense of security
State guides — registration walkthroughs, local rate quirks, and filing portals for every US state and territory:
Alabama · Alaska · Arizona · Arkansas · California · Colorado · Connecticut · Delaware · Florida · Georgia · Guam · Hawaii · Idaho · Illinois · Indiana · Iowa · Kansas · Kentucky · Louisiana · Maine · Maryland · Massachusetts · Michigan · Minnesota · Mississippi · Missouri · Montana · Nebraska · Nevada · New Hampshire · New Jersey · New Mexico · New York · North Carolina · North Dakota · Ohio · Oklahoma · Oregon · Pennsylvania · Puerto Rico · Rhode Island · South Carolina · South Dakota · Tennessee · Texas · Utah · Vermont · Virginia · Washington · Washington DC · West Virginia · Wisconsin · Wyoming · American Samoa · Northern Mariana Islands · US Virgin Islands
Cross-Border Tax Tools
Section titled “Cross-Border Tax Tools”An honest, criteria-based comparison of the tax calculation and compliance tools online sellers actually use. Every tool is scored on the same 12 criteria — local filing, EU IOSS, EU OSS, US sales tax, checkout integration, platform support, pricing, setup complexity, reporting, ecosystem, support, and a plain “best for” verdict.
Start here:
- Cross-Border Tax Tools — Overview & Comparison Grid — The full landscape: Stripe Tax, Avalara, Quaderno, Taxually, Anrok, TaxCloud, Vertex, TaxJar, and Shopify Tax
Head-to-head comparisons:
- Stripe Tax vs Avalara — SMB payment-integrated vs enterprise compliance
- Stripe Tax vs Quaderno — Payment-integrated vs SMB tax automation
- Stripe Tax vs Taxually — Checkout calculation vs EU VAT filing specialist
- Stripe Tax vs Anrok — E-commerce tax vs SaaS and digital product specialist
- Stripe Tax vs TaxCloud — Global cross-border vs US-only sales tax
- Avalara vs Quaderno — Enterprise platform vs SMB tax automation
- Avalara vs Anrok — Enterprise platform vs SaaS specialist
- Avalara vs TaxCloud — Global enterprise vs US-only sales tax
- Avalara vs Taxually — Enterprise platform vs EU VAT filing specialist
- Vertex vs Stripe Tax — Enterprise infrastructure vs SMB payment-native
- Vertex vs Avalara — Two enterprise platforms head-to-head
- Vertex vs Quaderno — Enterprise infrastructure vs SMB tax automation
- Vertex vs Taxually — Enterprise calculation vs EU/UK filing specialist
- Vertex vs Anrok — Enterprise ERP platform vs SaaS specialist
- Vertex vs TaxCloud — Global enterprise vs US-only sales tax
- TaxCloud vs Quaderno — US-only vs multi-channel EU+US automation
- TaxCloud vs Taxually — US sales tax vs EU VAT filing specialist
- TaxCloud vs Anrok — US e-commerce tax vs SaaS specialist
- Quaderno vs Taxually — SMB tax automation vs EU/UK VAT filing specialist
- Quaderno vs Anrok — SMB multi-channel vs SaaS specialist
- Taxually vs Anrok — EU VAT filing specialist vs SaaS tax engine
Free Tools
Section titled “Free Tools”- EU VAT Number Checker — Verify any EU VAT number in real time via the official VIES system
- US Nexus Calculator — Enter your trailing 12-month US sales by state and see which states you’ve crossed a nexus threshold in
A note on accuracy
Section titled “A note on accuracy”Tax rules change. We review every guide regularly and show the last-reviewed date at the top of each page. We link to official government sources wherever possible. These guides are educational — not tax advice. If you’re unsure about your specific situation, speak to a qualified accountant.
If you sell from a country not covered yet, let us know and we’ll prioritise it.