You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
Customers outside of the EU: We won't charge you VAT so you'll save 20%, but please check import duties, sales tax and customs duties for your country
This is on the mason website.
Hypothetically, if someone had a mate in the states who bought and paid for a bike he's after duty free, his mate picked it up for him (a uk resident) so that his mate could pick it up on his next trip over, as he only has 20 days holiday a year and his mate is often on the road nearby. Can that work? he'll have to declare it on the way into the states I guess? He might have had a few rides on it in the meantime... has trump put any tariffs on British bikes yet?
Your post is a bit confusing, but if your friend is buying the bike from the UK for local pick up by you, they're definitely going to charge the vat. You're friend can claim the vat back if mason are part of the tax free shopping scheme (doubt).
They wouldn't charge the vat if they shipped it to the USA, but there would then be no way of dodging the import fees etc.
If it ships to a uk/eu address, vat gets charged.
I think it’s a variation of the old ‘bikes are much cheaper in the US’ theory.
OP is basically hoping that by having a bike shipped to the US that the dist won’t charge UK taxes and the US won’t impose theirs when it arrives and I suppose when their mate ships it back to the UK they won’t have more taxes imposed here.
Sadly bikes aren’t that much cheaper in the US, if they are at all, they just advertise everything before tax.
The uk company will need proof that the goods have been exported to satisfy the revenue. If they don’t they will be opening themselves up to some large bills sometime in the future.
Yep. Get it. Clearer now. Not a goer.