Vietnam to UK customs charges: import duty, VAT, the £135 rule and 0% FTA duty (2026)
Selling clothing, áo dài, silk scarves, shoes, handbags, rattan baskets, ceramics or silver jewellery from Vietnam to UK buyers, or ordering them from the UK? For parcels of £135 or less there is no UK customs duty today, and the 20% VAT is charged at checkout by the marketplace or the seller. Above £135 the buyer pays 20% import VAT, but goods made in Vietnam now come in at 0% duty under the UK–Vietnam free trade agreement on every line we checked, if the preference is claimed; for clothing the phase-in ended on 1 January 2025. Without it, duty is the normal UK rate: 16% on fabric shoes, 12% on T-shirts, dresses and jumpers, 8% on silk scarves and plastic handbags, 4% on stoneware and leather shoes, 2% on rattan baskets, leather bags and silver jewellery. Every rule below has an official source and date.
Calculate your own order for Vietnam → UK
Quick answer
- £135 or less, not a gift: no customs duty; VAT is in the price you paid. No bill from Royal Mail or the courier is expected.
- Over £135, made in Vietnam: 0% duty if the trade-deal preference is claimed on the UK import declaration, plus 20% VAT and the carrier's fee. Up to €6,000 the exporter can put an origin declaration on the invoice; otherwise a certificate of origin is needed.
- Over £135, preference not claimed or not made in Vietnam: the normal UK duty for the product plus 20% VAT. Wooden furniture and wooden ornaments are 0% anyway, so you pay VAT only.
- Gifts from family or friends in Vietnam: no VAT up to £39.
Orders of £135 or less
For consignments worth £135 or less (goods value, excluding transport if shown separately), the overseas seller must charge UK VAT at the point of sale and register for UK VAT. If the sale goes through an online marketplace, the marketplace does this instead. No import VAT is charged at the border. UK £135 VAT rule for overseas sellers
When goods outside the UK in a consignment of £135 or less are sold through an online marketplace to a customer in Great Britain, the marketplace is liable for the UK VAT and charges it at the point of sale. Marketplaces are also liable for VAT on goods of any value that are already in the UK when an overseas business sells them through the marketplace.
The £135 limit applies to the value of the whole consignment, not to each item. The value is the price of the goods, without transport or insurance (unless included in the price and not shown separately on the invoice) and without other identifiable taxes and charges. Unless items are sent individually, add their values together. If you change the value so that the consignment goes above £135, you may owe import VAT and customs duty instead and have to adjust the VAT you already accounted for.
Non-excise goods worth £135 or less pay no UK customs duty. Above £135, duty depends on the type of goods and where they come from, and is charged on the price plus postage, packaging and insurance. VAT paid to the delivery company is charged on the goods, postage, packaging, insurance and any duty.
Example: a £40.00 cotton T-shirt made in Vietnam, sent by post to a buyer in Great Britain.
| Where you bought it | UK VAT 20% | Customs duty | Pay at the door | Try it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bought on eBay, Amazon, Etsy or another marketplace | £8.00 (in the price) | £0.00 | £0.00 | Open in calculator |
| Bought from a shop's own website (seller registered for UK VAT) | £8.00 (in the price) | £0.00 | £0.00 | Open in calculator |
The £135 limit is for the whole order in one parcel, not each item. If a seller has not charged UK VAT, check the bill from the delivery company before you pay it.
Orders above £135 and the UK–Vietnam trade deal
Above £135, normal import VAT and customs duty apply at the border, paid by the buyer (DDU) or prepaid by the seller (DDP).
UK standard VAT rate is 20%, with a 5% reduced rate and 0% for e.g. most children's clothes and books.
The UK–Vietnam free trade agreement is in effect, with tariff cuts copied from the EU–Vietnam FTA. After the phase-in, the UK Trade Tariff now lists a 0% tariff preference for goods originating in Vietnam on every product line we checked, including T-shirts, dresses, silk áo dài, jumpers, silk scarves, shoes, handbags, rattan baskets, stoneware and silver jewellery; for the clothing lines the 0% rate started on 1 January 2025. The preference is only for goods made in Vietnam under the agreement's rules of origin, and it must be claimed on the UK import declaration.
Normal UK duty (if the preference is not claimed, or the goods are not of Vietnamese origin) on the lines we checked: 16% on shoes with textile uppers, 12% on cotton T-shirts, cotton and silk dresses and knitted cotton jumpers, 8% on handmade silk scarves and handbags with a plastic-sheeting outer, 4% on stoneware tableware and women's leather shoes, 2% on handmade leather handbags, handmade rattan baskets and silver jewellery, and 0% on wooden living-room and dining furniture and wooden statuettes. Roasted coffee is 6% without preference and 0% with it, but food has separate UK import rules beyond duty.
Example: one item worth £200.00 made in Vietnam, sent by courier to Great Britain, with the buyer paying on delivery (DDU). VAT is 20% on the price plus duty. The courier's own fee is extra.
Codes and rates from the UK Trade Tariff (HM Revenue & Customs / Department for Business and Trade (UK Trade Tariff), checked 7 Nov 2026, origin Vietnam). Duty and VAT are worked out on the item price only, as if shipping were free; in practice they are charged on the price plus postage, packaging and insurance. In the calculator, tick "preferential origin" for the FTA rate. Roasted coffee is 6% without preference and 0% with it, but food has separate UK import rules beyond duty, so it is not in the table. Your product may have a different code: check it in our HS code lookup links.
Getting the 0% rate on a parcel
Goods from Vietnam get the 0% rate in the UK with a certificate of origin issued in Vietnam, or with an origin declaration on the invoice, delivery note or another commercial document made out by any exporter for consignments up to the value set in Vietnamese law, which may not exceed €6,000 (Protocol 1, Art. 15(2) and 19; text in Annex VI). The declaration must be signed by hand unless made by an approved exporter. Goods only sold or shipped from Vietnam but made elsewhere pay the normal rate.
A preferential rate is only given if it is claimed on the UK import declaration; if it is not claimed, the normal rate of duty is charged. The importer must keep the declaration, the proof of origin and supporting records for at least 4 years, and duty already paid can be claimed back if a valid proof of origin is obtained later.
- Check the item is made in Vietnam under the agreement's rules of origin. "Ships from Vietnam" is not enough: clothing must meet the product-specific rule for its code, and goods made in China and only sent from Vietnam pay the normal UK rate (see China to UK customs charges).
- Sellers: put "Country of origin: Vietnam", a precise description ("women's silk dress", "handmade rattan basket") and the UK commodity code on the customs form. For orders up to the €6,000 limit, type the origin declaration from Annex VI on the invoice and sign it; above that, get a certificate of origin in Vietnam.
- Buyers: the preference is claimed by whoever makes the UK import declaration, usually the courier. If a courier's bill shows duty on a Vietnamese-made item over £135, ask before paying whether preference was claimed; duty paid without a claim can be reclaimed later with a valid proof of origin.
Coming change: duty on parcels under £135
The UK will remove the customs duty relief for consignments of £135 or less, so these parcels will pay normal customs duty. The change starts on a day set by HM Treasury, by October 2028 at the latest (brought forward from March 2029 on 23 June 2026). Until then, the relief still applies.
How preference will be claimed on low-value parcels once this happens is not yet set out. We will update this page and the change log when it changes.
Paying the bill, gifts and refunds
If you have to pay VAT, duty or charges on a parcel from abroad, Royal Mail, Parcelforce or the courier sends you a bill stating exactly which fees to pay. They normally hold the parcel for about 3 weeks; if the bill is not paid by then, the parcel goes back to the sender.
When the buyer pays on delivery, Royal Mail charges an £8 handling fee and Parcelforce £12 (£25 for goods over £900). Couriers charge their own fees.
No VAT is charged on gifts worth £39 or less. A gift must be described as a gift on the customs form, be for a birthday, anniversary or other occasion, be sent between individuals (not companies) and be for personal use. Gifts over £39 sent by someone else pay VAT to the delivery company. Several gifts in one parcel each get the allowance if they are for different people, listed with their own values and wrapped individually. China to UK customs charges
Under the UK–Vietnam agreement, small packages sent from one private person to another, not by way of trade, are treated as originating without a proof of origin if declared as meeting the rules (by post, on the CN22/CN23), up to €500 in total entering the UK (€1,200 in a traveller's luggage).
To reclaim VAT or customs duty after returning goods or being charged too much, use form BOR 286 if Royal Mail or Parcelforce delivered the parcel, or form C285 for any other courier or freight company.
For sellers in Vietnam shipping to UK buyers
There is no turnover threshold for overseas sellers: you must register for UK VAT, whatever your turnover, if you and your business are based outside the UK and you supply any goods or services to the UK (or expect to in the next 30 days). The £90,000 threshold applies to UK-based businesses. An overseas business that still supplies the UK cannot ask to cancel its registration just because its turnover falls below £88,000.
B2B sales to a UK VAT-registered customer who gives their VAT number use the reverse charge, so the seller does not charge VAT.
- Selling on Etsy, eBay or Amazon? The marketplace charges UK VAT on orders of £135 or less. Selling on your own website? You need a UK VAT registration to charge it: see the UK £135 VAT rule for overseas sellers.
- For orders above £135, decide who pays VAT (and any duty): the buyer on delivery (DDU), or you, built into your price (DDP). See DDP vs DAP.
- Fill in every customs form fully: see how to fill in CN22 and CN23. Selling silver jewellery? See jewellery import duty.
Tóm tắt tiếng Việt
- Đơn hàng gửi sang Vương quốc Anh từ 135 bảng trở xuống hiện không chịu thuế nhập khẩu; thuế VAT 20% được sàn thương mại (Etsy, eBay, Amazon) hoặc người bán đã đăng ký VAT tại Anh thu khi thanh toán.
- Trên 135 bảng, người mua trả VAT nhập khẩu 20%. Hàng có xuất xứ Việt Nam được hưởng thuế suất 0% theo Hiệp định Thương mại Tự do Việt Nam – Vương quốc Anh (UKVFTA) đối với tất cả các mã hàng chúng tôi đã kiểm tra, nếu yêu cầu ưu đãi. Nếu không, áp dụng thuế suất thông thường: giày mũ vải 16%, áo thun, váy, áo len 12%, khăn lụa và túi nhựa 8%, gốm sứ và giày da nữ 4%, túi da, giỏ mây và trang sức bạc 2%.
- Để hưởng ưu đãi cần giấy chứng nhận xuất xứ, hoặc lô hàng không quá 6.000 euro thì nhà xuất khẩu có thể ghi tờ khai xuất xứ trên hóa đơn (theo mẫu Phụ lục VI) và ký tay.
- Trang này chỉ mang tính thông tin chung, không phải tư vấn pháp lý, thuế hay hải quan.
Also selling from Vietnam to the US? See Vietnam → US: normal duty + 12.5% Section 301. To the EU? See Vietnam → EU: the €3 duty and EVFTA duty. Goods made in Thailand (no UK trade deal)? See Thailand → UK. Made in Türkiye (0% under the UK–Türkiye FTA)? See Türkiye → UK. Made in South Korea or Japan? See Korea → UK and Japan → UK. Returning an order? See international returns and duty refunds. We record every rule change in the change log.
This page is general information, not legal, tax or customs advice. Rules in Northern Ireland are different for goods from outside the UK and the EU. Whether goods qualify for preference depends on the product-specific rules of origin in the agreement. See the disclaimer.
Sources for this page
- VAT and overseas goods sold directly to customers in the UK, HMRC / GOV.UK. Accessed 26 Oct 2026. Verified
- VAT and overseas goods sold to customers in the UK using online marketplaces, HMRC / GOV.UK. Accessed 26 Oct 2026. Verified
- Tax and customs for goods sent from abroad (parts: Tax and duty; Gifts), GOV.UK. Accessed 3 Nov 2026. Verified
- Reforming the customs treatment of low value imports into the UK (policy paper, 13 Jul 2026), HM Treasury / HMRC. Accessed 29 Oct 2026. Verified
- Government backs high street with acceleration of cheap import reforms (23 Jun 2026), GOV.UK. Accessed 11 Nov 2026. Verified
- VAT rates, GOV.UK. Accessed 20 Oct 2026. Verified
- UK Trade Tariff: commodity measures for imports from Vietnam, codes 6109100010, 6110209100, 6204420090, 6204491000, 6214100010, 4202210010, 4202221000, 4602120010, 6912002310, 0901210000, 0901110000, 7113110000, 9403601000, 6404199000, 4420119000, 6403993800, HM Revenue & Customs / Department for Business and Trade (UK Trade Tariff). Accessed 7 Nov 2026. Verified
- Trade with Vietnam (UK–Vietnam trade agreement guidance), Department for Business and Trade / GOV.UK. Accessed 7 Nov 2026. Verified
- CP 1311: Free Trade Agreement between the UK and Viet Nam (Protocol 1, rules of origin), Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office / GOV.UK. Accessed 7 Nov 2026. Verified
- Pay less Customs Duty on goods from a country with a UK trade agreement, HM Revenue & Customs / GOV.UK. Accessed 29 Oct 2026. Verified
- Pay a fee (customs charges), Royal Mail. Accessed 5 Nov 2026. Verified
- Pay a customs charge for parcel deliveries, Parcelforce Worldwide. Accessed 20 Oct 2026. Partly verified
- Register for VAT (when to register, including businesses based outside the UK), HMRC / GOV.UK. Accessed 26 Oct 2026. Verified
Rules change often: the latest change we tracked was on 10 Nov 2026 (US: the 178 China Section 301 product exclusions are extended to 9 January 2027). Alerts send one short email, with the source, only when a rule changes on a route you pick.