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Selling online from Jersey: postage, UK VAT and GST

A Jersey online shop sells into two tax systems at once. What changes for island customers, what changes for UK customers, and what the parcels need before they leave.

By Josh, Web Designer, Developer & SEO Updated 10 October 2026 8 min read How we check our facts

A Jersey business can sell to islanders and to the UK from the same website, but the UK sits outside Jersey’s tax system and every parcel crosses a customs border. Most online shop advice is written for UK sellers and gets this wrong. We checked everything below against gov.je, Jersey Post and HMRC guidance in September 2026.

This is a plain-English guide, not tax advice. For your own figures, an accountant or Jersey Post’s Business Team will give you a definite answer.

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Selling to customers in Jersey

Jersey does not have VAT. It has its own Goods and Services Tax, and GST is 5% (opens in a new tab) on most goods and services. You only have to register (opens in a new tab) once your taxable sales reach £300,000 in twelve months, or you expect them to. Below that you can register voluntarily, which is a question for your accountant.

If you do charge GST, most businesses must show prices including it (opens in a new tab). The Distance Selling Law also says the price you show online has to include all taxes, with delivery costs made clear before the customer orders. A price that grows at checkout is the fastest way to lose an island customer.

There is a local opening here. Since July 2023 islanders pay GST on imported goods worth £60 or more (opens in a new tab) (it used to be £135), and large overseas retailers selling over £300,000 a year into Jersey now have to charge GST at checkout. Ordering from the UK is no longer the easy saving it was, so a Jersey shop with clear prices and local delivery or collection has a real case to make.

Selling to customers in the UK

Jersey is outside the UK VAT area. There is no customs duty between the UK and Jersey, because they share a customs union, but goods still pass through UK customs so that UK VAT (20%) can be charged. How that VAT gets paid is the part to get right, because the default is bad for your customer: if nothing is paid in advance, Royal Mail can hold the parcel and ask the recipient for the VAT plus a handling fee before they get it.

For parcels worth £135 or less, HMRC’s rule for overseas sellers (opens in a new tab) is that the seller registers for UK VAT and charges it at checkout. HMRC makes an exception for Jersey and Guernsey parcels where the VAT is paid through the Import VAT Accounting Scheme (IVAS).

  • IVAS is run by Jersey Post with Jersey Customs and HMRC. Members label parcels with an IVAS identifier, send Jersey Post a monthly declaration, and Jersey Post pays the UK VAT to HMRC. Parcels are not held in the UK for VAT. You need to be registered with the JFSC and approved by customs to join.
  • Amazon collects the VAT itself on UK orders of £135 or less, and Jersey Post’s IVAS guidance (opens in a new tab) says to let it. If you sell on eBay, check how it handles VAT for your account.
  • Business customers who give you a UK VAT number account for the VAT themselves under HMRC’s rules.

One honest warning: Jersey Post’s own documents are not fully consistent about the value from which UK VAT applies to commercial parcels. One says every commercial item carries VAT; another page (opens in a new tab) gives a £39 threshold. Ask the Business Team which applies to what you sell before you set your prices.

Every parcel needs customs data

Since 1 April 2022, parcels of goods going from Jersey to the UK need electronic customs data. Without it they can be delayed, charged extra, sent back or destroyed. Jersey Post labels, bought online or at a counter, include the data. For commercial items you need a proper description, the HS tariff code, the country of manufacture and a commercial invoice.

If you send regularly, Jersey Post’s Online Postage Account (opens in a new tab) prints labels with the customs data filled in and bills you monthly. We could not find published links between it and shop platforms such as Shopify, so ask the Business Team how orders get from your shop to your labels before you choose a platform.

What postage to the UK costs

The UK shares a postage zone with the Isle of Man and the other Channel Islands. It costs more than sending within Jersey and far less than Europe. From Jersey Post’s 2026 prices (opens in a new tab), effective 6 January 2026:

  • Parcel up to 250g: £4.30
  • Parcel up to 500g: £5.30
  • Parcel up to 1kg: £7.60 (the same parcel costs £4.60 within Jersey)
  • Parcel up to 2kg: £11.40
  • Signed For: +£3.20; Tracked & Signed with £30 cover: +£8.00

Jersey Post aims to deliver 2 to 5 days after a parcel arrives in the UK. Put that in your delivery information rather than letting UK customers assume next-day. Decide early whether postage is built into your prices, charged by weight, or free over a set order value, because it changes how every product page reads.

What your shop has to show

The Distance Selling (Jersey) Law 2007 (opens in a new tab) sets out what a consumer must be told before they buy: who you are and your address, the main features of what they are buying, the price including taxes, delivery costs, how payment works, their right to cancel, and how long the offer or price is valid. Afterwards you confirm in writing or another lasting form, with how to cancel, where to complain and any guarantee.

Under the Jersey law a customer can cancel within 7 working days of receiving goods, and that stretches to three months if you never send the confirmation. Refunds are due within 30 days of cancellation, and goods should arrive within 30 days unless you agree otherwise. Personalised and perishable goods are among the exceptions. gov.je says the law is due to be updated (opens in a new tab), so check before you rely on the detail.

UK shoppers are used to 14 days to cancel (opens in a new tab) under UK rules. If you sell to the UK, offering at least 14 days to everyone costs little and avoids an argument about which rules apply. Our guide to what a Jersey business website must show covers the privacy, cookie and JOIC side.

The short checklist

  • Prices shown including GST if you charge it, and delivery costs shown before checkout.
  • Postage set per zone: Jersey (and collection if you offer it), then the UK.
  • UK VAT route decided: IVAS, a marketplace that collects it, or UK VAT registration. Ask Jersey Post.
  • Customs data on every UK parcel, through Jersey Post labels or an Online Postage Account.
  • Distance selling information on the site, and an order confirmation that includes how to cancel.
  • Returns of at least 14 days if you sell to the UK.

New to some of these terms? Our Jargon Buster explains website and marketing language in plain English.

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