[Closed] Import Fees On EU purchase (Germany)

Does it specify that it’s VAT you are paying, or is it a coincidence that the handling/other fees work out to be 20% of purchase price?

It specifies that the charge is for Import VAT and there is 11.50 Handling fee also on top of the £30 Import VAT

UK Vat for goods, vat for postage/carriage, handling fees....... Etc etc....

Seems pretty normal now....

Are you sure you paid VAT on the purchase? e.g. Bike Discount have moved across to tax-free sales with tax due on import: https://www.bike-discount.de/en/info/information-for-our-uk-customers-327

Yes, I paid 20% to the retailer at point of sale

Are you sure you paid VAT on the purchase?

+1 motorcycle jacket I bought on January 1st was vat free, so had to pay vat + charges on delivery.

Yes, I paid 20% to the retailer at point of sale

Isn’t German VAT 16%? Or 19, but not 20 anyway.

I’m sure they are grateful for your contribution, but you shouldn’t have paid it up front AIUI.

I guess email UPS a copy of your receipt showing VAT paid?

Good luck.

Yes, I have checked the invoice and I have paid (Sales Tax : United Kingdom @ 20% at point of purchase. From seeing this my understanding is this should have been sorted at their end when sending it via UPS and declared? It seems now I am being charged VAT twice and a £11 handling fee on top.

It's all down to the paperwork, and everyone in the chain understanding it. You'll have to reclaim the VAT... would be far easier to get a refund for it from the seller than chasing HMRC right now... they're "a bit" busy.

It’s all down to the paperwork

This. I had to pay VAT on a helmet because the (US based) retailer clicked the wrong box/put the wrong code in, meaning UPS thought they were shipping a handlebar. Wasn’t worth the effort to claim it back, as it was still cheaper than buying it here.

I fear i'm in the same situation but.....

WHy am i paying the handling fee? Surely the seller has the contract with the courier. If the package doesn't turn up at my address i inform sender they chase courier as the contract from door to door is between the sender and courier. Thi ssurely includes all the hoops it has to jump through.

When the dust settles, many sellers will end up paying for a service where the courier ensures there’s nothing for the buyer to do on receipt. But normal business to customer sales have just become imports/exports based on a FTA explained to logistics firm 6 hours before they came into place on New Year’s Eve… it’ll be a mess for a while yet… and eventually just be more expensive (or some firms won’t bother).

My bikeinn invoice has

Gastos Importación GBP 17.99

so guess they've already paid for it.

If it's under 135e the EU retailer has to charge you UK VAT which is then paid to the UK customs. If it's over 135e, your case, then you have to pay the VAT yourself, usually to the transport company.

Thanks for the help so far on this thread, I have not paid the tax and the courier has taken the item away. I have just emailed the retailer to try and resolve this but its put a £160 over £200 which i`m not willing to do so it may have to be returned now. As mentioned in the future this will be ironed out no doubt but at the moment its not a good experience on something that is usually straight forward.

WHy am i paying the handling fee? Surely the seller has the contract with the courier.

When I imported some wheels from china, the manufacturer paid for shipping (as part of the purchase price, so I paid for it), but once in the UK, you may find that ParcelForce have that sticthed up as they have a customs clearence contract, so ParcelForce will recive the package, do the customs admin & work out how much import tax is due and charge you a handling fee for that.

Surely the seller has the contract with the courier

The liability for taxes, duties and associated (reasonable) charges are, by law, the responsibility of the importer (you). You can argue the point, they may even waive their fee because its more expensive to contest than not, but the contract to pay duty and fees is yours, not the consignor - they can do it on your behalf but they have no responsibility to do so.

Thanks for the help so far on this thread, I have not paid the tax and the courier has taken the item away. I have just emailed the retailer to try and resolve this but its put a £160 over £200 which i`m not willing to do so it may have to be returned now.

Arguably you're still going to have to pay that £40 to hmrc somehow then claim it back. You owe the VAT regardless of your decision to return the goods, once paid you can reclaim it from hmrc though as you've returned the goods.

In the future you could just order from the UK and solve all of this mind.

something that is usually straight forward

Buying inside the Single Market and Customs Union was straight forward. Everything you buy from outside the UK is now an import. Straight forward is over. It will be more understood and transparent once the dust has settled… but will never be as straight forward, or affordable, again.

So my bikeinn has import fees paid and a picture of the package has a royal mail 48hr delivery ticket on it with a UK return address. Even though it has come via NLpost from spain.

Do Bikeinn bundle packages into a larger consignement send to UK then forward from there?

There's already a thread discussing this.

https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/can-anyone-explain-how-to-work-out-final-cost-of-buying-items-from-eu/

I'm going to close this one, not to be an arse but rather I think it's an important discussion which needs all the information and advice we can collate in one place (and I rather suspect this won't be the last).