The United States does not have a Value Added Tax and does not issue a US VAT number. When a foreign supplier or client asks for one, the identifier to give them is your Employer Identification Number (EIN), the nine-digit number the IRS assigns to businesses for federal tax purposes.1Internal Revenue Service. Employer Identification Number It is not a VAT registration, because there is no VAT system to register for, but it is the correct US federal tax ID and the one foreign counterparties need from you.
Why There Is No US VAT Number
A Value Added Tax is collected at every stage of a product’s journey from raw materials to final sale. Each business in the chain charges VAT on what it sells, pays VAT on what it buys, and remits the difference. The VAT number is the identifier that ties a business to that chain of credits, and it appears on every invoice. More than 170 countries run some version of VAT or its close cousin, the Goods and Services Tax.2United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Overview of VAT/GST in Developing Countries
The US collects consumption tax a different way. State-level sales tax hits once, at the final retail sale, and the seller sends it to the state. No multi-stage chain exists, so no identifier is needed to link businesses into one. That is why no agency in the US, federal or state, issues anything called a VAT number.
What to Give a Foreign Company That Asks
Give them your EIN and explain, if needed, that the US has no VAT and the EIN is the federal tax identifier for US businesses. Most international firms that regularly deal with American companies already know this. Smaller ones encountering it for the first time may need the brief explanation.
You will often be asked to complete IRS Form W-9 at the same time. The W-9 collects your TIN (usually your EIN) and certifies that you are a US entity. Without it, the foreign payer may be required to presume you are a foreign payee and withhold tax from payments to you at the rates that apply to non-US persons.3Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for the Requester of Form W-9 Only US persons use the W-9. Foreign entities use the W-8 series instead.4Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form W-8BEN-E
How to Get an EIN
If your principal place of business is in the US and the responsible party has a Social Security Number or ITIN, apply online through the IRS website. You receive the EIN immediately at the end of the session.5Internal Revenue Service. Get an Employer Identification Number The application cannot be saved partway through and times out after 15 minutes of inactivity, so have your business details ready before you start.
Foreign owners whose businesses are based outside the US cannot use the online tool. They file Form SS-4 by fax or mail. On line 7b, where the IRS asks for the responsible party’s SSN or ITIN, a foreign applicant without either number enters “foreign” or “N/A.” Fax applications sent to the international line (304-707-9471) typically produce an EIN within four business days. Mail applications to the IRS’s Cincinnati office take roughly four weeks.6Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form SS-4
A foreign individual running a US sole proprietorship still needs an EIN for the business, even if they also hold an ITIN personally.7Internal Revenue Service. US Taxpayer Identification Number Requirement
What an EIN Does Not Cover
An EIN does not authorize you to collect US sales tax. That is a separate registration handled at the state level, and it catches many new business owners off guard. The EIN governs your relationship with the IRS for income, employment, and excise taxes. Collecting sales tax from customers requires a seller’s permit from each state where you have tax obligations, and 45 states impose a sales tax (Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon do not). Registration is usually free, but once you hold a permit you are responsible for collecting the correct rate, filing returns, and remitting the tax.
Sales tax permits are also not VAT numbers. They do not go on international invoices, and a foreign client has no use for them.
When a US Business Still Has to Deal With VAT
Not having a US VAT number does not get you off the hook for VAT when you sell into countries that have one. If you sell goods or services directly to consumers in a VAT country, you may need to register there, collect VAT at the buyer’s local rate, and remit it.
Selling Into the EU
The EU runs a One Stop Shop (OSS) that lets non-EU businesses manage VAT across all 27 member states through a single registration in one EU country. One detail trips up American sellers: the €10,000 annual threshold that exempts small EU-based sellers does not apply to you. Non-EU sellers charge the buyer’s country VAT rate from the first sale.8Your Europe – European Union. EU VAT One Stop Shop (OSS)
Which OSS scheme applies depends on what you sell:
- Services to EU consumers: register under the Non-Union scheme, pick one EU country, and submit quarterly VAT returns through its portal. That country distributes the tax to wherever your customers are.8Your Europe – European Union. EU VAT One Stop Shop (OSS)
- Goods already in the EU: register under the Union scheme.
- Goods shipped from outside the EU worth up to €150 per order: use the Import One Stop Shop (IOSS), which requires monthly returns instead of quarterly.8Your Europe – European Union. EU VAT One Stop Shop (OSS)
If you sell through a marketplace like Amazon or Etsy, the platform is often deemed the seller for VAT and handles collection on your behalf for non-EU sellers. Verify this with your specific platform rather than assuming it applies.
Selling Into the UK
The UK runs its own rules, separate from the EU since Brexit. Ship goods worth £135 or less directly to a UK consumer and you must register for UK VAT and charge it at the point of sale, rather than having the customer pay import VAT when the package arrives. For consignments above £135, normal import VAT and customs rules apply at the border. If you store inventory in the UK before selling it, you must register for VAT regardless of the consignment value.9GOV.UK. VAT and Overseas Goods Sold Directly to Customers in the UK
B2B Sales and the Reverse Charge
Selling services to a VAT-registered business in the EU or UK often spares you from registering for VAT there. Under the reverse charge, your invoice shows no VAT. The customer accounts for VAT on their own return, reporting it as both output tax and input tax, which usually cancel out. Your invoice should note “reverse charge” and include the customer’s VAT number. The mechanism applies to business-to-business transactions, so consumer-facing sales still require you to register and charge VAT directly.