Accountants for TikTok Shop sellers.

It depends where your business is established. For UK-established sellers selling UK-located goods, TikTok does not normally act as deemed supplier — output VAT on your sales is your responsibility. For overseas sellers, the marketplace generally collects UK VAT on qualifying orders. Many sellers assume the wrong side of this rule, which is why it's the first thing we check.

Samples are stock leaving the business: they need removing from inventory at cost, booking as a marketing/promotion expense, and in some situations there are VAT consequences too. Left unhandled, your stock records drift upward and your margin looks better than it is — right up until a year-end count says otherwise.

Treat them as a cost of sale: they scale directly with revenue, unlike fixed marketing spend. Booked that way, you can see your true per-order economics — and whether that hero product is actually profitable after channel fees. We track them per-settlement, not as a monthly lump.

Two tests matter: the rolling 12-month £90,000 threshold, and the forward-looking test — if you expect the next 30 days alone to exceed £90k, you must register immediately, effective from the date that expectation arose. A genuine viral spike can trigger the second test on its own. If that might be you, run our VAT checker today rather than at year end.