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United Kingdom VAT Rates 2026

United Kingdom (United Kingdom) levies Value Added Tax under the name VAT Registration Number. The standard rate is 20%, applied to most goods and services. Reduced rates of 5% apply to essential categories including food, medicines, and cultural services.

Access rates via API

The TaxID API returns current VAT rates for all 27 EU countries. Use the /api/v1/rates/GB endpoint to get United Kingdom rates programmatically. Responses are cached for 24 hours.

curl http://localhost:3000/api/v1/rates/GB
# No authentication required for rate lookups

# Response:
# { "country_code": "GB", "standard_rate": 20,
#   "reduced_rates": [5], "currency": "GBP" }

Applying the correct rate in code

For B2B intra-EU sales, validate the customer's VAT number first. A valid registration means reverse charge applies — you charge 0% and the customer self-accounts. For B2C, charge the United Kingdom standard rate.

// 1. Validate the customer's United Kingdom VAT number
const vatCheck = await fetch(
  'http://localhost:3000/api/v1/validate/GB/CUSTOMER_VAT',
  { headers: { Authorization: 'Bearer YOUR_API_KEY' } }
).then(r => r.json());

// 2. Fetch current United Kingdom VAT rates (no auth required)
const rates = await fetch('http://localhost:3000/api/v1/rates/GB').then(r => r.json());
// → { standard_rate: 20, reduced_rates: [5] }

// 3. Apply the correct VAT treatment
if (vatCheck.valid) {
  // B2B intra-EU: reverse charge — you invoice 0%, customer self-accounts
  applyRate(0, 'reverse_charge');
} else {
  // B2C: charge the United Kingdom standard rate
  applyRate(rates.standard_rate, 'standard');
}

About United Kingdom VAT

Since Brexit (January 2021), the UK is no longer part of the EU VAT system and cannot be validated via VIES. UK VAT numbers are validated directly through the HMRC API. UK businesses selling digitally to EU customers must register for VAT in an EU member state or use the OSS scheme.

The United Kingdom VAT Registration Number is administered by the national tax authority and validated through the EU VIES system. Before applying any VAT rate or zero-rate exemption to a United Kingdom business customer, validate their VAT registration number first.

VAT rates in other EU countries