At ALLi, the Alliance of Independent Authors, we recommend that all authors seriously consider direct sales, author to reader, but the international market for digital and physical goods is complex.
Selling books overseas from your author website is complex. To sell successfully across borders, indie authors must navigate a maze of taxes, shipping logistics, currency exchange, and legal requirements.
And your responsibilities vary, depending on which country you are in, and which countries you sell into.
This post offers compliance guidelines for selling books overseas from your author website, together with recommendations of practical tools that help you to navigate this tricky arena.
This advice is tailored to authors selling English-language books but is relevant to direct selling of translated books also.
Selling Books Overseas from Your Author Website: Compliance Guidelines
International tax compliance is the biggest challenge for authors selling direct globally. Many countries require you to collect some form of sales tax or VAT (Value Added Tax) on digital products (like e-books and audiobooks) and often based on the buyer’s location, not the seller’s.
This means when you sell to overseas readers, you may need to charge their country’s tax and later remit it to that country’s tax authority.
Many countries impose sales tax on digital products at the rate of the buyer’s country or state. For example, an UK reader’s e-book purchase is subject to UK VAT at 20%; an Australian reader’s purchase would include Australia’s 10% GST. You need to account for these taxes in your pricing or checkout process.
If you exceed a country’s threshold (or there's no threshold in places like the UK), you are expected to register for tax in that country, collect the tax from customers at checkout, file returns and remit payment (usually quarterly). This can be complex, so many authors try to stay under certain thresholds or use tools to automate this (more on tools below).
Don't panic, however. Requirements vary from state to state and country to country but often exclude the vast bulk of indie authors… which means you don't have to worry about it until you exceed the thresholds (e.g. $100,000 in sales or 200 transactions in a year).
Compliance Guidelines Vary Country to Country
The US uses state-level sales taxes. Historically you only collected where you had a physical presence, but today many states require remote (out-of-state or overseas) sellers to collect once they create “economic nexus.” In plain English: you only have to register in states where you cross that state’s threshold—not everywhere.
Most states set the bar at $100,000 in annual sales into the state (e.g., Colorado, Maine, North Dakota, Kansas, Utah). A few set a higher bar of $500,000 (e.g., California and Texas at $500,000 in sales; New York at $500,000 plus more than 100 transactions in the prior four sales-tax quarters). If you cross a state’s threshold, you must register, collect, and remit there; if you don’t, you don’t.
Almost no indie author will hit these thresholds in multiple states right away, and you can start selling while you monitor where your readers are. As you grow, tax apps (TaxJar, Avalara, etc.) can track thresholds and file for you—see below.
The EU uses one-stop VAT schemes. The EU allows small cross-border sellers a €10,000 per year threshold before VAT must be charged to the customer’s country. If you stay below that in total cross-border EU sales, an EU-based author can simply charge their home VAT rate. Above it, you must register for the One-Stop Shop (OSS) system or register in each country to remit VAT. You can register in one EU country for OSS to cover all EU member states’ VAT.
Local Tax Thresholds
At what sales or income levels will you need to register or file taxes in an overseas country? Many authors wonder if they’re “too small” to worry about international taxes. Different countries have different thresholds for when a foreign seller must register for tax there.
Here’s a quick rundown of some major regions (assuming you are selling from outside that region into it):
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- Australia: AUD $75,000 per year in sales to Australia triggers GST registration
- Canada: If you’re under CAD $30,000, you qualify as a “small supplier” and do not need to register or charge GST. (This same CAD $30,000 threshold also applies to Canadian domestic small businesses.) Foreign sellers must register for GST/HST once they exceed CAD $30,000 in sales to Canadian customers within a 12-month period. At that point, you must collect 5% GST federally, plus any applicable provincial portion of HST depending on the buyer’s province.
- European Union (EU): The EU sets a €10,000 annual threshold for VAT on cross-border digital sales. If you’re an EU-based author and remain under that amount, you can treat all sales as domestic and follow your home country’s VAT rules. Once you exceed €10,000 in sales to other EU countries, you must charge VAT based on each buyer’s location and report it through OSS.
- New Zealand: NZD $60,000 per year in sales triggers GST registration
- South Africa: ZAR 1 million per year (~USD $60k) in sales triggers VAT registration (for electronic services).
- The UK has no minimum threshold for overseas digital sales – VAT at 20% is required from the first sale to a UK consumer. UK-based businesses benefit from a high domestic VAT registration threshold of £90,000, but this does not apply to overseas B2C digital sales. In practice, some small overseas authors delay registering until they have meaningful sales volume, but the law requires VAT on any amount over £0.
- USA (States): Typically $100,000 per state per year (or 200+ transactions) triggers sales tax in many states but exact thresholds vary by state.
- Other Countries: Several Asian countries also require VAT on e-services. Norway and Switzerland each have their own digital VAT rules as well.
Print Books
Taxes on physical goods are handled differently. If you ship physical books internationally, sales tax/VAT is usually not charged at point of sale (unless you have local stock). Instead, import duties or VAT may be charged to the customer upon import if the order value exceeds the duty-free threshold in their country.
For example, an EU customer importing a book from abroad might pay import VAT if the value is over €150 (and the UK charges import VAT over £135). Be transparent about this in your shipping policy. If you use local print-on-demand services, you can often avoid cross-border taxes on goods (more on this in delivery section below).
- New Zealand: You must register for GST once sales of digital services to New Zealand consumers exceed NZD $60,000 in a 12-month period. The GST rate is 15%.
If you’re under this threshold, registration isn’t required. (This NZD $60,000 threshold also applies to New Zealand domestic businesses.)
- South Africa: Foreign electronic service suppliers must register for VAT once sales exceed ZAR 1,000,000 in a 12-month period (about USD $55,000). The VAT rate is 15%.
If you’re under this threshold, registration is not required. (The threshold was previously much lower but was raised to match South Africa’s domestic VAT registration level.)
In practice, you should “monitor your exposure” in each market and be prepared to register when you approach a threshold. Many authors start by staying under certain thresholds or using intermediary platforms as a stopgap. Once your direct sales grow, you can then register in the necessary jurisdictions. It’s wise to keep good records of sales by country and your website tools or analytics will allow you to do so, so set up the right way from the start.
In summary, managing overseas taxes is about balancing effort with payoff. Plenty of authors are successfully doing it by automating what they can and using third-party help where needed.
What other compliance issues (consumer rights, data privacy, etc.) should I be aware of?
Beyond taxes and delivery, consider a few additional compliance and legal items when selling direct globally:
- Data Privacy (GDPR etc.): If you collect personal data (names, emails, addresses) from customers – which you will in the sales process – you need to comply with data protection laws. The EU’s GDPR is the big one. Key points:
- Have a clear Privacy Policy on your website explaining what data you collect and how you use it (e.g. “we collect your email to send the download link, and it may be added to our mailing list if you opt-in”). Many e-commerce platforms have templates for this.
- If you have a newsletter signup as part of checkout, make it opt-in (don’t automatically add people, unless clearly stated). GDPR requires explicit consent to add someone to a marketing list.
- Allow customers to request deletion of their data. In practice, this is rare for authors, but you should know the principle.
- Use secure payment processors (which you likely will, like Stripe/PayPal) so you’re not personally handling sensitive data like credit card numbers. They handle the security and PCI compliance.
- Consumer Rights and Refunds: Different countries have different laws protecting consumers, especially for digital purchases:
- The EU, for example, has a law that consumers have a 14-day “cooling-off” period for digital goods, butthey waive it when the download is provided immediately. Most checkout systems for EU will include a checkbox like “I agree to waive my right of withdrawal because I want the e-book now.” Make sure your platform or plugin accounts for this, or at least state “all sales are final” for digital purchases (since once they have the file, it’s not returnable). It’s wise to mention a refund policy on your site. Many authors offer refunds if the customer truly had an issue (file didn’t work, etc.), but generally not if they simply change their mind after downloading.
- For physical goods, you might choose to accept returns or not. Some countries require you to accept returns within a timeframe (EU has strong regulations on physical product returns if sold to consumers). If you’re a single author business, you can decide how to handle this – you might state “contact us within 14 days for any issues with your order” and handle on a case-by-case basis. In practice, return requests for books are extremely low. Just be responsive and fair to maintain a good reputation.
- Terms and Conditions: It’s wise to include clear Terms of Sale on your transactional website. These should cover points such as copyright ownership, personal-use restrictions (e.g., “you may not redistribute the e-book”), governing law (usually your home country), and limitation of liability. Templates for e-commerce terms are widely available online. While rarely needed, having them in place helps protect you in the event of a dispute.
- Intellectual Property and Export Laws: Selling your own book rarely raises export issues, unless the content is prohibited in certain countries. For example, some Middle Eastern nations censor specific material. As an author, you’re not expected to police this—the responsibility lies with local laws and the buyer. Payment processors often block transactions from sanctioned regions (e.g., Stripe or PayPal won’t work in some countries), so in practice such orders usually won’t go through. It’s not something most authors need to worry about, but remember that “global” sales can mean navigating different legal landscapes.
- Accessibility: Ensure your website is accessible and easy to use for international audiences. Small details help—for example, use clear date formats in emails (“2025-08-01” or “1 Aug 2025” rather than 08/01/25, which can confuse). Ensure your store is mobile-friendly too, since many readers worldwide access the internet primarily through their phones. These aren’t strict legal requirements, but they’re best practices that make the buying experience smoother.
- Local Business Registration: If you’re earning significant revenue worldwide, consult with an accountant about whether you need any foreign business registrations. Generally, just selling online does not require incorporating or establishing a branch in other countries – registering for tax is separate from business incorporation. So you typically do not need a local company to sell to a country; you just might need a tax ID. There are edge cases if you had employees overseas or warehouses, but most indie authors won’t go there.
By covering the basics ie.privacy, consumer rights, and clear policies, you build trust with international readers and present yourself professionally. A little upfront effort on terms and policies makes your store feel legitimate and safe, which is especially important when you’re not a household-name retailer.
Now that we’ve addressed the general considerations, let’s look at how these principles apply to authors in different home countries. The challenges are similar, but the emphasis shifts depending on where you’re based and where you’re selling.
Regional Examples: Selling Direct Internationally as an Indie Author
Every author’s situation is unique, but here are case study perspectives for authors in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and Ireland (EU). These studies are composites, illustrating how an indie author in each region might approach global direct sales compliance and what tools or strategies would help them.
United States (US-Based Author)
Scenario: Jane is an author based in the USA. Most of her readers are in the US, but she also has a growing audience in Europe and Canada. Here’s how she handles her direct sales.
- US Sales: In the US, there’s no federal sales tax on books, but state sales taxes do apply. Since Jane ships signed paperbacks from home, she automatically has nexus in her home state. She registers for a state sales tax permit and collects tax from customers there.
For other states, Jane uses TaxJar with her WooCommerce store to track sales. As a small operation, she doesn’t immediately hit any state thresholds (often $100,000 in sales or 200 transactions per year), so at first she only charges sales tax in her own state. Over time, her sales in California grow past $100,000. At that point, she registers there and begins collecting California sales tax too.
- International Sales: Jane knows that even a single sale to an EU customer technically requires charging VAT. To keep things simple, she uses Shopify, which automatically applies EU VAT at checkout. Because her EU sales are still small, she hires a third-party service to file her quarterlyOSS (One-Stop Shop) reports on her behalf.
She could have avoided registration altogether by using Gumroad (which collects and remits VAT for her), but she preferred to keep everything within her own branded store.
For the UK, where foreign sellers must register from the very first sale, Jane signed up for VAT early. Shopify now adds the 20% VAT on UK sales, and her Shopify Tax reports provide the data she needs to file both UK and EU VAT returns remotely each quarter. The setup took some paperwork, but once in place, the ongoing process is straightforward.
- Canada, Australia, and Other Countries: Jane doesn’t yet sell enough in Canada or Australia to exceed their registration thresholds (CAD $30,000 and AUD $75,000 per year). She reviews her Shopify sales reports annually, and if she approaches either threshold, she’ll register at that point.
For now, her Shopify checkout doesn’t add GST for Australian customers since she’s below the threshold—effectively giving them a small discount until she registers. She knows she could register voluntarily to start collecting earlier, but it isn’t required .
- Tools & Delivery: Jane uses BookFunnel to deliver all her e-books and the occasional audiobook, ensuring readers in the US, France, India—or anywhere else—get their files instantly with built-in support. For print and merchandise, she integrates Printful, which produces items locally. For example, when a Canadian orders a paperback, it’s printed in Canada, cutting down shipping time and cost.
Payments run through Stripe and PayPal, which handle currency conversion automatically. Canadian readers pay in CAD, Europeans in EUR, and the funds arrive in Jane’s US bank account in USD.
Summary: As a US author, Jane’s biggest challenges were state sales tax and EU/UK VAT. She solved them by usingTaxJar to track state thresholds and registering early for VAT where required. Because the US has no federal sales tax, her main focus was on state-level compliance. With Shopify’s automated tax tools and BookFunnel’s global delivery, Jane was able to sell to international readers almost as easily as to those at home.
United Kingdom (UK-Based Author)
Scenario: Oliver is an author based in the UK. He mainly sells e-books, with some print-on-demand paperbacks, to readers in the UK, the US, and across Europe.
- UK Domestic Sales: Printed books in the UK are zero-rated for VAT, and since 2020 e-books are too. This means Oliver doesn’t have to charge VAT on his books for UK customers— a nice benefit. Other products (like merchandise or courses) could be taxable, but books are exempt.
Because his turnover is below the UK’s £85,000 VAT registration threshold, Oliver hasn’t registered for VAT. That’s fine for now, though he keeps an eye on his sales because once he crosses that threshold, he would need to register (and file returns, even though VAT on books remains 0%).
- EU Sales: Post-Brexit, the rules changed. When Oliver sells e-books into EU countries, he’s treated as a foreign supplier. There’s no €10,000 cushion—VAT is owed from the very first euro. To avoid dealing with EU VAT bureaucracy himself, Oliver uses Payhip for all direct sales.
Payhip automatically applies the correct VAT at checkout for EU buyers, collects it, and remits it through their VAT MOSS registration. That means when someone in France or Germany buys an e-book, the right VAT is added, and Oliver doesn’t need to register for OSS himself. This keeps compliance simple and stress-free.
- US & Rest of World: For US sales, Oliver knows he won’t need to worry about sales tax unless he sells very large volumes in a particular state. Payhip also helps here: some US states require platforms like Payhip or Gumroad to collect sales tax on behalf of sellers once thresholds are hit, and Payhip handles this automatically. So far, Oliver hasn’t needed to register in any US state directly.
- Tools & Delivery: Payhip acts as Oliver’s storefront and payment processor, sending his earnings (minus their fee) to PayPal. It also delivers his e-books automatically via download links. For readers who prefer it, Oliver adds a BookFunnel link on the thank-you page.
For print, Oliver uses Lulu through Payhip’s integration. When a reader orders a paperback, Lulu prints it in the buyer’s region (UK, EU, US, etc.), so even customers in places like New Zealand get their books quickly without Oliver handling shipping.
Summary: As a UK author, Oliver’s biggest challenge was navigating EU vs UK VAT after Brexit. By using Payhip—a platform that manages VAT MOSS compliance for him —he outsourced the most complicated part. He stays under the UK’s domestic VAT threshold, benefits from zero-rated books, and avoids the burden of juggling two tax systems (OSS for the EU and HMRC for the UK). For him, letting a platform handle the heavy lifting made perfect sense.
Canada (Canadian Author)
Scenario: Priya is an author based in Canada. She sells e-books and audiobooks directly, with most of her readers in Canada and the US, and growing interest in Australia and the UK.
- Canadian Sales: Canada applies GST (Goods and Services Tax) and, in some provinces, HST (a combined federal/provincial sales tax). Physical books are GST-exempt federally, but e-books are taxable.
Priya’s sales are still under the CAD $30,000 annual threshold, so she hasn’t registered for GST/HST yet. That means she isn’t currently charging Canadian customers tax on her site. If she passes $30,000 in Canadian sales in a 12-month period, she’ll need to register. Some provinces also levy PST (Provincial Sales Tax), but as Priya doesn’t store inventory locally, she doesn’t need to worry about those for now.
- US Sales: Through her Shopify store, Priya can calculate and charge US state sales taxes if needed. Currently, none of her sales to any single state cross nexus thresholds, so effectively her US customers pay no sales tax. This gives her a small pricing edge compared to platforms like Amazon, which must charge in many states.
If her US sales rise and she crosses a state threshold (for example, $100,000 in California), she’ll register there and begin collecting. To stay on top of things, she monitors TaxJar’s nexus dashboard periodically.
- International (UK/EU/Australia): Rather than registering directly for UK VAT or EU OSS, Priya routes international buyers through Gumroad. On her website, North American customers check out via Shopify, while European and other international buyers are redirected to Gumroad.
Gumroad automatically applies the correct VAT for EU and UK customers, collects it in local currency, and remits it. Gumroad also handles GST in Australia and New Zealand, since as a larger company it already crosses those thresholds. This means Aussie and Kiwi readers see GST at checkout, but Priya herself doesn’t need to register locally. Gumroad takes about a 10% cut before paying out the remainder.
- Tools & Delivery: Priya splits platforms: Shopify (with Stripe/PayPal) for Canadian and US buyers, and Gumroad for international sales. While it took some setup to keep her products mirrored across both, it now runs smoothly.
- For delivery, she integrates BookFunnel with both platforms—Shopify buyers receive a BookFunnel link via email, while Gumroad delivers files through BookFunnel automatically. Audiobooks are sold primarily via BookFunnel’s direct sales option, and Priya is exploring BookFunnel’s new built-in Stripe integration to streamline audio sales further.
Summary: For Priya, the key domestic threshold is CAD $30,000 in Canadian sales before GST registration kicks in. By using Gumroad for international customers, she avoids juggling multiple tax registrations in the UK, EU, and beyond. Canada’s system is a hybrid of US and EU concerns: local thresholds to monitor at home, and complex VAT rules abroad. By dividing her sales channels, Priya keeps things simple now, with the flexibility to scale her compliance as her income grows.
Australia (Australian Author)
Scenario: Liam is an author based in Australia with a strong local fan base and increasing overseas buyers. He sells both e-books and print books from his WordPress site using WooCommerce.
- Australian Sales: Australia’s GST rate is 10%. Print books are GST-free, but e-books sold by Australian businesses are taxable. The GST registration threshold is AUD $75,000 per year, the same for both domestic and foreign sellers.
Liam’s revenue is still below this level, so he hasn’t registered yet. That means Australian customers don’t currently pay GST on his e-books. Once his sales exceed AUD $75,000, he will register and begin adding 10% GST to e-book sales within Australia.
- Overseas Sales: For international customers, Liam uses FastSpring, a merchant-of-record service that manages global VAT/GST.
- EU/UK: FastSpring automatically applies VAT at checkout for buyers in Europe and the UK, then remits it on Liam’s behalf. It also handles GST in New Zealand and other jurisdictions where required. Liam simply embeds FastSpring “Buy” buttons on his site, so the checkout process still feels branded.
- US: FastSpring monitors state nexus thresholds and collects US sales tax where needed. Liam’s US sales are currently small, so nothing has triggered yet, but if it does, FastSpring will handle the tax.
- Print Book Sales: Liam enjoys selling signed paperbacks but wanted to avoid the high cost of international postage from Australia. Here’s his solution:
- UK/EU: He uses BookVault for print-on-demand. To preserve the “signed” experience, Liam sends batches of signed bookplates to BookVault, which they insert into the books before shipping.
- North America: He relies on IngramSpark’s direct-to-consumer feature for US and Canadian buyers.
- Australia/New Zealand: For local fans, Liam sometimes prints small batches himself and posts them directly.
This approach means even readers in Ireland or South Africa can receive a “signed” book without the heavy shipping costs.
- Tools & Delivery: WooCommerce powers Liam’s main storefront, but digital checkouts are routed through FastSpring, which then delivers files via BookFunnel. Print orders are partly manual: when a customer buys a book, Liam gets a notification and places the order with BookVault. As his sales grow, he plans to automate this further.
Summary: Liam’s key threshold is Australia’s AUD $75,000 GST limit—so far, he has stayed under it, avoiding domestic registration. For international sales, he offloads the complexity of VAT/GST compliance to FastSpring, a merchant-of-record service that handles everything behind the scenes. Combined with smart use of POD providers in target regions, Liam shows how an indie author in Australia can reach readers worldwide while keeping tax and logistics manageable.
New Zealand (New Zealand-Based Author)
Scenario: Aroha is an author based in New Zealand. She mainly sells e-books and some audiobooks. Because New Zealand’s market is relatively small, she relies on reaching readers in the US and Europe as well.
- New Zealand Sales: New Zealand applies 15% GST, with a NZD $60,000 annual threshold. Aroha’s sales are currently well below that, so she hasn’t registered and doesn’t charge GST to domestic customers. If she passes the $60,000 mark, she’ll register and begin adding 15% GST for NZ buyers (books are not exempt in NZ like they are in some countries).
- International Sales:
- Australia: Aroha has a modest number of Australian readers. Australia’s GST threshold is AUD $75,000, and she’s nowhere near that with Aussie sales. If she ever reaches it, she will register. Thanks to trade agreements, NZ and Australia make cross-border GST registration relatively straightforward.
- EU/UK: To simplify compliance, Aroha uses Gumroad for all direct sales. Gumroad acts as the seller-of-record globally, applying VAT for EU and UK buyers, remitting it to the tax authorities, and passing on net earnings to her (minus Gumroad’s 8–10% fee). This way, she avoids registering for OSS or UK VAT herself.
- US: Gumroad also manages US sales tax. Because Gumroad has nexus in many states, it collects and remits sales tax where required. Some US customers may see tax added at checkout, but Aroha doesn’t need to take any action herself.
- Tools & Delivery: Gumroad handles payments and file delivery for both e-books and audiobooks, so Aroha hasn’t needed separate tools like BookFunnel. (If she wanted stronger mailing list integration, she could still export customer data from Gumroad and import it into her email system.) One drawback is that Gumroad payouts can be slower, with funds sometimes held briefly for new sellers—but it’s still faster than Amazon’s 60-day cycle.
For print, Aroha hasn’t done much yet. She may eventually use an Australian POD service for local orders and rely on IngramSpark for global distribution. For now, she keeps her focus on digital.
Summary: Aroha’s strategy is all about keeping things simple via a single platform. By using Gumroad, she outsources VAT, GST, and US sales tax compliance. Domestically, her main concern is the NZD $60,000 GST threshold, which she monitors as her business grows. New Zealand’s small home market pushes her to think globally, and Gumroad provides the bridge that makes this possible without extra admin.
South Africa (South African Author)
Scenario: Thandi is an author based in South Africa, writing in English for a global audience. She sells e-books directly and also runs a Patreon for supporters.
- South Africa Sales: South Africa applies 15% VAT, with a registration threshold of R1 million (about USD $60,000) in annual turnover. Thandi’s direct sales are far below that, so she isn’t VAT-registered and doesn’t charge VAT to local customers. If she ever crosses the R1 million mark, she’ll need to register and add 15% VAT to South African sales. For now, she can operate VAT-free domestically.
- International Sales:
- EU/UK and other VAT/GST countries: Thandi uses Payhip, which automatically applies and remits VAT for EU and UK buyers. Payhip also handles GST in Australia and New Zealand when applicable, so she doesn’t have to register individually in those countries. Payhip takes a 5% fee (plus PayPal’s fee) and sends her the balance.
- One of Thandi’s practical challenges is receiving money. PayPal works in South Africa, but withdrawing funds to a local bank involves some fees and occasional friction due to regulations. She uses PayPal’s withdrawal option but is also considering a Wise (TransferWise) account to make international transfers easier. This is more of a payment logistics issue than a tax one, but it’s important for authors in similar markets.
- US Sales: Payhip manages US sales tax where required, so Thandi doesn’t need to register in any state. If her US sales grow significantly, she may consider additional options for shipping or distribution, but for digital products she’s fully covered.
- Tools & Delivery: Thandi relies on Payhip as her storefront but integrates BookFunnel to handle file delivery. BookFunnel’s resumeable downloads ensure smooth access for readers with slower internet connections, such as those in parts of Africa or Asia.
Print is trickier: South Africa’s distance from major book markets makes international shipping costly. For now, she avoids selling print directly and lets Amazon KDP Print handle global print orders. She may eventually partner with a UK or US printer to hold stock for regional fulfillment.
Summary: Thandi’s biggest hurdles aren’t taxes but payments and logistics. With South Africa’s high VAT threshold (R1 million), she won’t need to register locally for a long time . For international compliance, she outsources everything to Payhip, which takes care of VAT, GST, and US sales tax. Her experience shows how authors in countries with more limited payment infrastructure can still sell globally by combining PayPal (or Wise) with international platforms.
Ireland (Ireland-Based Author, representing the EU)
Siobhán is an author in Ireland (an EU member state). She sells e-books, audiobooks, and print books from her own site. Being in the EU brings both challenges (strict VAT rules) and advantages (the One-Stop Shop system).
- Ireland/Home Sales: Ireland’s VAT threshold for domestic services is €37,500. Print books are zero-rated, and since 2020 e-books are also zero-rated. This means Siobhán doesn’t charge VAT on e-books sold to Irish customers.
She registered for VAT voluntarily—even below the threshold—because doing so allowed her to use the OSS (One-Stop Shop) scheme for EU-wide sales. This allows her to handle all EU sales easily.
- EU Cross-Border Sales: Once Siobhán’s cross-border EU e-book sales exceeded €10,000, she was required to charge VAT based on each buyer’s country. Through WooCommerce and TaxJar, her site now calculates the correct rate automatically—for example, 5% VAT for French customers, 7% for German buyers, and 0% for Irish ones.
She reports all this VAT through a single quarterly OSS return filed with the Irish tax authority, which then distributes it to the other EU countries. Compared to pre-OSS days, when authors had to register in each country separately, this is far easier.
Because she’s in the OSS system, Siobhán must charge VAT on all EU sales (no threshold exemption once registered). She factors this into her prices, and since EU customers expect VAT, it doesn’t affect sales.
- UK Sales: Since Brexit, the UK sits outside OSS. That meant Siobhán had to register separately with HMRC for VAT, which applies from the first sale. She waited until her UK readership was significant before registering, but now her checkout adds 20% VAT for UK buyers, and she files a quarterly UK VAT return online.
To save time, she hired a part-time accountant to handle her OSS and UK filings. The cost is modest compared to her sales, and it relieves her of the admin burden.
- US/Canada/Australia: Siobhán monitors her sales to other regions:
- US: She hasn’t exceeded any state thresholds yet. If she does, she may use a service like Avalara or limit sales to avoid complex registrations.
- Canada & Australia: Their thresholds are CAD $30,000 and AUD $75,000 respectively. She hasn’t reached these levels, so she hasn’t registered. That means, for now, Canadian and Australian readers effectively get tax-free purchases. If she crosses the limits, she’ll register or possibly reroute those sales through another platform to simplify compliance.
- Tools & Delivery: Siobhán runs her store on WooCommerce with TaxJar for tax calculations and BookFunnel for digital delivery. To connect with her growing continental audience, she added a multilingual plugin—offering her store in French and German—which builds trust and meets EU consumer law requirements about local-language information.
For print, she uses BookVault for EU orders, ensuring books are printed close to the customer and delivered quickly without import fees. UK print orders are routed through a UK POD service to avoid post-Brexit complications.
Summary: As an EU-based author, Siobhán must handle VAT compliance from early on. The OSS scheme makes this manageable with a single quarterly filing for all EU sales. The main extra step was registering separately in the UK due to Brexit, but with an accountant’s help, it’s straightforward. EU readers are accustomed to VAT-inclusive pricing, so it doesn’t hurt her sales. By localizing her store and using regional POD, Siobhán has turned compliance into part of a seamless buying experience for her readers across Europe.
Final Tips
Selling direct worldwide involves a learning curve, but it unlocks huge opportunities for indie authors, as long as you manage the regulatory pieces.
- Educate Yourself & Ask the Right Questions: As we did above, always start by identifying the important questions – taxes, tools, thresholds, delivery, etc. This ensures you don’t get blindsided by unknown requirements in a country.
- Use Tools and Platforms to Simplify Compliance: You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Services like Payhip, Gumroad, FastSpring, Shopify, TaxJar, and BookFunnel exist to shoulder much of the technical and legal burden.
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Keep Digital Records: Store all invoices/receipts for international sales neatly. Many tax authorities require you keep records (often for 5-10 years). If using a platform like Shopify or WooCommerce, ensure you enable invoice generation with VAT numbers displayed when applicable. This way, should you need to file or in case of audit, you have proof of what you collected. (Tools like Quaderno can generate VAT-compliant invoices for each sale. automatically, which is handy if selling B2B where someone might ask for a VAT invoice.)
- Be Strategic by Region: Know where your major markets are and prioritize compliance there. It’s okay if some tiny market isn’t fully optimized at first. For instance, handle the EU and US if those are 90% of your sales, and have a plan for the rest as you grow.
- Monitor Your Sales Data: Keep an eye on your international sales figures. When you approach a threshold (whether it’s 200 units to Kentucky or $30k to Canada or €10k to Germany), that’s your cue to take the next step (registering or adjusting your approach) Good data will guide you.
- Don’t Fear Starting Small: Even if at first it’s just a handful of direct sales globally, that’s fine. You’re learning the ropes. Many ALLi members report that direct sales start as a small slice of income but can grow over time as you refine your store and readers get used to buying direct. By starting now, you position yourself ahead of the curve as more readers shift to buying direct from authors.
- Stay Informed and Seek Advice: Tax laws change. (For example, the EU changed thresholds in 2021, and countries like South Africa updated definitions in 2025, etc.) Follow updates via resources like the official tax sites or ALLi’s Self-Publishing news. If unsure, investing in a consultation with a cross-border tax accountant can save you headaches down the road.
‘For example, an UK reader’s e-book purchase is subject to UK VAT at 20%’
This is several years out of date. Ebooks are zero-rated in the UK.
An interesting development from Stripe Payments: they’ve just launched an MOR service called Managed Payments that manages global tax, fraud prevention/disputes and customer service issues RE payments. So far, it’s available only to select customers, but it will eventually roll out to the rest of us.
Documentation: https://docs.stripe.com/payments/managed-payments