Unfortunately, due to new import laws in both the EU and the UK, I have disabled shipping to all EU nations and the UK. At this time, the only real option I have is to ask anyone from these countries who would like to order from me to message me via my Contact form, we can put together your order via email and once all is agreed upon I will make a custom listing for you to purchase on my Etsy store. I dislike using Etsy this way, but they are setup to handle the VAT fees and correctly pay those taxes to the appropriate nation’s tax services.
Wondering what this is about? Here’s a TL;DR as far as I understand it. In January 2021 the UK added new importation laws that require the seller of an item to collect VAT fees at time of sale and then file taxes/pay VAT to the HMRC. Technically you can still send items with VAT due on delivery, but it greatly increases the chance of delivery problems or customers changing their minds once they see the VAT amount and just refusing delivery. This is a big risk for a tiny business, as I am a 1-person operation.
Later in June 2021 the EU implemented very similar importation laws, with the added hiccup of in order to file the VAT fees with the EU you must have a tax representative that is PHYSICALLY located in an EU nation. A number of services have popped up to serve as tax representatives, but most of them run at minimum $80/month for their services. Since I am a 1 person business who rarely sells to the EU, I cannot afford to maintain an $80/month service for the 1 or 2 times per year I might sell to someone in the EU.
Why use Etsy? As far as the UK and the EU are concerned, Etsy is responsible for filing the VAT for every item sold on it’s platform, not the individual sellers. So, if we arrange an order and then I make an Etsy listing, all of the VAT collecting and tac filing is handled in bulk with the rest of Etsy’s taxes for that month without me having to touch any of that.
