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If you bought something (not bike related but I guess the point remains) from a country in the eu and they suggested that by paying directly to a UK account to avoid complications of currency exchange, you wouldn't have to pay VAT, would that be right?
If you did do that and the tax man there decided that wasn't right, would you be liable or just the company?
As I understand it VAT is a tax collected by the retailer. If they dont charge you "VAT" then they are giving you a 20% (or whatever the rate of VAT is in that country, and it's not actually 20% it's 1/6 here) discount, it's up to the tax authority in their jurisdiction to ensure that a tax a mount based on the sale price is submitted to them.
Just because you're paying to. UK account doesn't mean that you avoid sales tax. You pay local sales tax for stuff purchased in the EU so all you'd really be doing is agreeing an exchange rate and paying in sterling. Tax would still be paid, assuming that the vendor is actually going to pay it.
If you are being offered this then it sounds like the vendor expects the euro to be very unstable and so they want to hedge their exposure to currency fluctuations that they expect to work in your favour.
OK, the main thing I really want to be sure is that I'm not stuck with any liability if they've done it wrong. Thanks for the advice!!!