Items from abroad rant

[The Smythe Meister]

... it's cold here today....
... obviously that's Brexit's fault too !!

 

[adt70hk]

And yet i bought over 300 quids worth of goods from japan and didnt have to pay any duty or vat, just a £12 handling fee to parcelforce.

VERY lucky....I had to pay £20 tax and handling on an £80 airbrush that came highly recommended!

 

[Mark1]

I was expecting to pay about 60quid in tax plus the 12 ,customs guy must of been having an i cant be arsed monday!

 

[Mr Bowcat]

I've experienced the same thing today. Trying to buy an optic mount from the US but UK is not on the postal list. Emailed the company, they said I can only buy from their eBay store??

 

[Airborne01]

They never have been though. Has the EU tightened up on them? I seem to get stuff from China without any problems.
Pete

I think - not tightened - just childish ... But then that's just my opinion
Steve

 

[David Lovell]

I think a while back stuff i purchased from Hong Kong was sent via Germany then on to here so coming from inside the eu it wasn't bothered by customs, I still get the odd bit now and again from Hong Kong but they say its a toy/present worth about six quid ive never had a problem perhaps just lucky. Dave

 

[Jakko]

I have the opposite problem. I can't buy from the UK without paying an arm and a leg in customs charges.

Same, I used to order from the UK fairly often, but not anymore in recent years. But things can be very unpredictable in that area, apparently. On another forum, someone else from the Netherlands mentioned a few days ago that he had received some kits from Japan and had not had to pay import duties on them somehow. To which another person replied that this balanced out his experience, namely that he had bought a kit in the UK that was missing a piece, which the manufacturer then sent to him in an envelope. For which he (the recipient) then got a bill for €8.65 from the carrier due to import duties etc. …

 

[Gary MacKenzie]

I have a friend in NL who sells rocks ( crystal/geodes etc )
The paperwork required to send anything to us ( we had thought of setting up a UK postal address for stuff to be sent to and passed on to UK customers ) is ridiculous.
They sent Christmas presents, some small polished stones and some nice socks, and it cost approx 2x the cost of the items for the postage/pre-paid duty.

some exact figures on a transport vendors site @ https://www.eurosender.com/en/dd/netherlands-united-kingdom

 

[outrunner]

I bought stuff from Japan about 2 months ago, granted it was only £25 in total including postage and it came no hassle, no import nonsense and it came in 4 days. Before ordering I looked on the UK Gov. site and as far as I can recall it said anything under £120 from Japan has no import duty.

Andy.

 

[Peter Gillson]

Alan. One option is to ask them to not charge you the VAT and just post it to you and you would have to pay the VAT. The downside is that it is likely to delay the delivery and there may be a handling charge by the Revenue Services.

it is as a result of Brexit, as an aside - Ebay now automatically add 20% to anything I sell from Guernsey into the UK!


Peter

 

[AlanG]

I may have a work around for the item. I'm waiting for someone to get back to me. Still miffed about it but it's here to stay so i'll have to learn to live with it. Thanks for the input guys

 

[JR]

Why are US and China affected?
Pete

We have always unfortunately had to pay import taxes from the US Pete . I nearly had to pay customs for a set of US made PE cutters , but luckily I contacted Amazon and said there was no mention of it being from the US a good 5 years ago . The seller agreed to pay the duties upon sight of the invoice from out lovely Post Office.
I've bought stuff since but paid the duty at the point of sale, a lot better and cheaper .
Now buying from the EU is just not worth it. Allan Dewire would get stuff for me and sent it over , I've dealt with several German shops , but no more sadly.

 

[stillp]

We have always unfortunately had to pay import taxes from the US Pete .

Of course John, but my comment was about the apparent increase in the cost of imports into Denmark.
Pete

 

[Peter Gillson]

Of course John, but my comment was about the apparent increase in the cost of imports into Denmark.
Pete

Due to Brexit. So the legal changes really only affect trade with the EU, goods from the EU are now subject to UK VAT. the legal relationship with non-EU countried have not changed, there always has been the leegal requirment to pay import duties from these countries and that has not changed. What may have changes is the 'enthusiasm' of HM Revenue Services to collect the taxes.

the other change was on market place websites such as Ebay, they now have a legal requirement to collect the VAt on goods sold into the UK from outside the UK. This means that if any ody outside the UK sells something to a person inthe UK, Ebay will add 20% to the price of the item and the postage costs.

Peter

 

[rickoshea52]

This is a result of an EU directive on VAT collection for imports to the EU. I believe to close a loop hole that was being exploited to evade VAT.
The directive was adopted by all EU states, including the UK as a member at the time of adoption. It allows for the collection of VAT on imports to the EU.
The directive was due to begin on 1st January 2021 however this was deferred until 1st July 2021 by the EU. The UK opted to retain the January implementation date.
Since then any company selling into the UK (or EU I believe) is obliged to collect the VAT due and send it to HMRC or whichever tax agency of the EU. Naturally, small businesses just don’t have the resources to deal with this red tape burden so it’s easier for them not to bother, and who can blame them.
On line market places however, and larger businesses have been able to absorb this into their business structure.
The bottom line to all this is ensuring a potential VAT loophole is closed and taxes, where due, are paid to the correct agency.

 

[BarryW]

This is a result of an EU directive on VAT collection for imports to the EU. I believe to close a loop hole that was being exploited to evade VAT.
The directive was adopted by all EU states, including the UK as a member at the time of adoption. It allows for the collection of VAT on imports to the EU.
The directive was due to begin on 1st January 2021 however this was deferred until 1st July 2021 by the EU. The UK opted to retain the January implementation date.
Since then any company selling into the UK (or EU I believe) is obliged to collect the VAT due and send it to HMRC or whichever tax agency of the EU. Naturally, small businesses just don’t have the resources to deal with this red tape burden so it’s easier for them not to bother, and who can blame them.
On line market places however, and larger businesses have been able to absorb this into their business structure.
The bottom line to all this is ensuring a potential VAT loophole is closed and taxes, where due, are paid to the correct agency.

An excellent explanation.

 

[AlanG]

Bought and paid for now. The owner of the company gave me a way to purchase it. Just got to see if it'll arrive without 'issue'

 

[Ian M]

I got my pack from Sweden today. If any are tempted to shop in Sweden be warned the postage is high! Still think The Nederlands is still the highest post I have seen. (maybe the person setting the price was high as well. lol. )

 

[Dave Ward]

Even AliExpress, the Chinese marketplace, include VAT on their invoices - how the HMRC is paid, I've no idea, but I've paid it - the invoice says so!
Dave

 

[adt70hk]

Bought and paid for now. The owner of the company gave me a way to purchase it. Just got to see if it'll arrive without 'issue'

Great news!!