VAT & Duties.
Valerive is operated by S Commerce, established in Nieuwegein, the Netherlands, and we sell exclusively to customers in the United Kingdom. Because your order crosses a border between two different tax systems, this page explains — in plain English, not small print — exactly how VAT works on your purchase, when UK import charges can apply, and what happens to VAT if you return a dress.
What VAT is, and why it appears on your Valerive order
VAT (Value Added Tax) is a consumption tax charged on most goods sold in both the United Kingdom and the Netherlands/European Union. Because Valerive dresses are shipped from the Netherlands to customers in the UK, your order sits at the meeting point of two separate VAT systems — Dutch/EU VAT on the export side, and UK VAT on the import side. Only one of these applies to any single order, never both, and this page tells you exactly which one, and when.
The price shown on every product page and at checkout on valerive.com is the price you pay in pounds sterling. Our aim on this page is to explain, honestly and without legal jargon, what's already built into that price and what — rarely — might not be.
The price you see is the price you pay
Every price on Valerive is displayed in GBP (£) and is the final consumer price for a standard UK order that falls within the HMRC low-value consignment threshold explained in Section 3 — there is no separate "plus VAT" figure added at checkout, and shipping to the UK is free. We do not display artificially low prices and add tax later; that would be inconsistent with UK pricing law and with our own commitment to honest retail.
UK VAT at the applicable rate for the goods you're buying, and free standard UK shipping. Your order confirmation shows the total you're charged; nothing further is billed to your card by us after checkout.
Any card foreign-transaction fee your own bank may apply if your card is issued outside the UK, and — only in the rare large-basket scenario described in Section 4 — any import charge levied directly by HMRC/Border Force rather than by Valerive.
HMRC's £135 consignment rule, explained
Since 1 January 2021, HMRC has applied a single rule to goods sent from outside the UK directly to UK consumers: it looks at the total value of everything in one parcel — the "consignment" — not the value of each item on its own.
UK VAT is charged by the seller at the point of sale — that is, built into the checkout price you pay on valerive.com — instead of being collected as import VAT at the border. No customs charge, courier handling fee, or "release" payment is due when your parcel arrives. Because every individual Valerive dress is priced under £135, a typical one-item order falls squarely into this category.
If several items are combined into one parcel and their total value exceeds £135 — most likely if you take advantage of our multi-item discount and order three or four dresses in a single checkout — the consignment instead becomes subject to normal import VAT and customs rules at the UK border, charged separately from what you paid us. Section 4 explains this in detail and how to check which applies to your basket.
This threshold, and the way it's applied, comes directly from Section 7A of the Value Added Tax Act 1994 and HMRC's published guidance on VAT and overseas goods sold directly to customers in the UK, available at gov.uk.
Will your order attract extra charges?
Tell us roughly where your basket total sits, and we'll explain what to expect. This is general guidance, not a guarantee for every possible combination of discounts and items — if you're ever unsure before you check out, email us and we'll check your specific basket.
Prices on Valerive currently range from £54.95 to £89.95 per dress, so a single-item order is always comfortably under the £135 threshold.
Is my basket over £135?
Select your approximate basket total before discount.
Why you won't see Dutch VAT on a UK order
S Commerce is registered for VAT in the Netherlands under VAT number NL003351754B26 and holds Dutch Chamber of Commerce (KvK) registration 78609437. That registration covers our obligations as a business established in the Netherlands — but it does not mean Dutch VAT is charged on your UK order.
Goods physically leaving the Netherlands and the wider EU customs territory for delivery to a customer in the United Kingdom are treated as an export. Under Article 146 of the EU VAT Directive (2006/112/EC) and the corresponding provisions of the Dutch VAT Act (Wet op de omzetbelasting 1968), exports of goods outside the EU are zero-rated for Dutch/EU VAT purposes. In practice, this means Dutch VAT is not added to your order — instead, as explained in Sections 3 and 4, the destination country's VAT rules (the UK's) apply.
The Dutch Tax and Customs Administration (Belastingdienst) and, for consumer-facing pricing and fair-trading matters, the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM), oversee compliance with these rules for businesses established in the Netherlands.
The UK rules that govern this policy
Since Brexit, an overseas ("non-established taxable person") seller like S Commerce has no VAT registration threshold in the UK — registration is required from the very first sale, not once turnover reaches a certain level. This is why UK VAT is built into our checkout prices rather than treated as optional.
UK consumer law requires the total price you'll actually pay to be made clear before you commit to a purchase, and prohibits presenting a misleadingly low headline price with charges added later. Our VAT-inclusive checkout pricing, and this page, are designed to satisfy that requirement.
These regulations prohibit misleading actions and omissions in commercial practice, including hiding a mandatory charge that a consumer would need to know about before buying. This is why Section 4 exists — to flag the one genuine exception to "no extra charges," clearly, rather than staying silent about it.
As of the date at the top of this page, HM Treasury has announced its intention to remove the customs duty relief currently available on low-value imports, with a target implementation by March 2029. Until that change takes effect, the rules described in Sections 3 and 4 remain accurate. We will update this page as soon as any change is confirmed.
The Dutch and EU rules that govern this policy
Sets out S Commerce's obligation to register for and account for Dutch VAT on its domestic and intra-EU activity, and — together with EU law — the export zero-rating explained in Section 5 for goods leaving the EU for the UK.
The underlying EU-wide legal basis for treating exports of goods to a non-EU country, such as the United Kingdom, as VAT-exempt (zero-rated) supplies in the country of dispatch, avoiding double taxation of the same sale.
Alongside VAT-specific rules, general Dutch and EU consumer-protection law requires that a seller established in the Netherlands present accurate, non-misleading total pricing to consumers, which shapes how we describe pricing throughout this policy and our Terms of Service.
The Dutch regulator responsible for supervising fair-trading and consumer-information obligations, including pricing transparency, for e-commerce businesses established in the Netherlands such as S Commerce.
What happens to VAT if you return a dress
If you return an item under our 30-day Return & Refund Policy, the VAT-inclusive price you paid is refunded in full alongside the rest of the item's price, once your return has been received and inspected in line with that policy. You never need to reclaim VAT separately — it is simply part of the refund, exactly as it was part of the original price.
In the rare case described in Section 4 where a consignment exceeded £135 and UK import VAT or duty was charged separately at the border, please contact us using the details in Section 10 before returning the item, so we can advise on the correct process for that specific order.
How we check this policy stays correct
We monitor HMRC and Belastingdienst guidance for changes to VAT rates, the £135 consignment threshold, or the announced customs duty relief change referenced in Section 6, and update this page and our checkout settings accordingly.
We periodically check that the price shown on valerive.com at checkout matches what is actually charged to your card, with no unexplained difference, so this policy remains true in practice and not just on paper.
Any report of an unexpected charge on delivery — see Section 10 — is investigated individually and used to check whether our checkout or shipping settings need adjusting.
Report an unexpected VAT or duty charge
If a courier ever asks you for a payment before releasing a Valerive parcel and you believe this policy says that shouldn't happen for your order, please tell us straight away — before paying it if possible — so we can check what happened.
Email support@valerive.com with "VAT / Duties" in the subject line, or call +31 6 26269395 during our support hours (Monday–Friday, 09:00–18:00 CET/CEST). You can also use the form on our Contact page.
Our customer service team is monitored 24/7 by email, and we aim to acknowledge every VAT or duty query within 5 hours, in line with our standard support commitment.
Investigated as a priority and reimbursed once confirmed, typically within 5 business days.
Explained and, where our checkout should have flagged it in advance and didn't, reviewed for a goodwill contribution.
A VAT-itemised order confirmation can be issued within 15 business days of your request.
Answered directly by our team, usually within the same 5-hour reply window.
Reviewing and updating this VAT & Duties Policy
We review this policy at least every 12 months, and sooner whenever UK VAT rates or the HMRC consignment threshold change, when the announced UK customs duty relief change referenced in Section 6 takes effect, when Dutch or EU VAT law affecting exports is updated, or when we change how VAT is collected at our own checkout. The version in force is always the one published here, dated at the top of this page.