[Closed] Another buying from eu question

They won't charge VAT, but you'll get charged it when it enters the country. Plus import fees plus a little extra.

They won’t charge VAT, but you’ll probably get charged it when it enters the country. Plus import fees if it’s made mostly outside the EU plus a little extra.

So they’ll take their vat off then when it gets here UK will apply vat.

Sounds about right. The retailer will remove the VAT and it will be charged when it lands in the UK (it can be a bit confusing what you're being charged, depending on retailer, in my experience). You'll then have customs duty on top of that + courier fees.

Ask if they'll charge VAT before sending it out?

My understanding - and please, correct me if I'm wrong - is that imports are subject to any sales tax relevant in the destination country. So in countries where sales tax is, say, 10% it would be messy to charge VAT then have to refund VAT and charge local taxation rates.

So, within the EU they charge VAT at source, then it's done with. Outwith the EU they won't charge VAT as above because tax will vary by country. We are now, obviously, in the latter category so a shipping system with a tick box going "EU? [yes|no]" is going to expect tax to be the import country's problem. BUT I can't immediately see any legal reason why they can't charge you and put "VAT paid" on the import declaration.

It can't hurt to ask, anyway. If you get hit with VAT and import duty and handling fees I rather fear that you're in for a shock. Over in the board game community we're seeing Kickstarter pledges costing more to get them delivered than the actual game itself cost, it's effectively killed the viability of KS games stone dead for the UK.

BUT I can’t immediately see any legal reason why they can’t charge you and put “VAT paid” on the import declaration.

In the EU, there is a reciprocal agreement between countries so VAT collected is distributed (via a pretty complicated system) to the other relevant member countries. Since there is no such agreement anymore, the seller would be collecting the VAT and it would be going onto the coffers of the source country rather than going onto the destination country. The money wouldn't make its way to the correct place. I think if the goods landed here in the UK with documentation saying VAT had been paid, that would make no difference as there had been no UK tax collected and you'd likely be charged VAT calculated on the now higher (inc VAT) price.

Just do what they ask.

I've just made a largish order from Bikester in Germany. I have had loads from them since Brexit but always under £135 so never had any problems. This order was bigger. I note that you pay in pounds and they have a GB Vat number so I guess the vat you pay goes to the UK treasury. But of interest is that my goods are coming in about 6 different parcels, none of which has a value exceeding £135!

Bikester ship to the uk internally first, so is a bit different, everything you buy from them has VAT included

And what seventy said.

Yeah, cheers for the explanation @seventy, that all makes sense.

You will not get charged VAT or duty in the UK if the goods are worth less than £130 or so (but check the correct figure) and carriers are not allowed to charge a processing fee on these orders, so you may be quids in, saving 20%! Over £130 VAT and import duty are due and there may be a processing fee of around a tenner
I buy quite a lot of specialist tools from the US, Japan and Europe and have only been charged VAT once in the last year, on a £200 order. Even a £500 order from Sweden has squeezed through unnoticed...

Isn’t that because under the £135 that the forrin retailers supposed to have set up a U.K. scheme thing and they collect the vat and pay it to the U.K.,whereas over it the U.K. collects the tax.

Of course they have to pay to have this luxury of selling to the U.K. and I expect a few can’t be arsed and it’s not like the U.K. can really do much to them.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/vat-and-overseas-goods-sold-directly-to-customers-in-the-uk

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/vat-and-overseas-goods-sold-to-customers-in-the-uk-using-online-marketplaces

Consignments valued at £135 or less
The seller must charge and account for VAT at the point of sale, unless the consignment is a business to business sale and the customer has given them their UK VAT registration number.

To charge and account for VAT the seller will need to:

know the precise nature of the goods to find out the correct rate of VAT to charge
register for VAT — sellers that are already registered for VAT do not need to re-register
keep records of the goods sold, and make sure they get accurate information to apply the correct VAT treatment to them

That sentence reads to me that the price is the same. If your in the EU it includes vat which they pay to the correct place. If your out of the EU it is extra profit 😜.

The vendor is saying they will not charge vat BUT it turns out the vat is 4.5% in the country of origin so subtract their vat then adding UK vat starts to make it above budget.

Ah but the furriners are supposed to register for vat and pay it to the U.K.

Dunno what European law is on fraudulently collecting vat, doubt if the E.U.s policing the UKs vat collection for them thou.

The eu countries will be probably be more interested in sticking within the eu export rules

Just as a small point of order, it'll be cost of goods + import duty, then UK vat on that figure.

Pish 15% import duty as well.
Cheaper using my Irish citizenship and moving abroad.

For those interested I did the reverse procedure about a month ago and bought a bike in the UK to be shipped to Belgium.   I paid the supplier the cost without UK VAT.  They shipped it to me by DHL and before they delivered DHL sent me an invoice for the Belgian VAT.  Once paid they delivered it.   There was no import duty in my case as the bike was largely made in the UK (a Shand) but it does depend on where it originated.  Shand were completely aware of all of this and we're able to do the correct documentation and explain it to me