buying online from another EU country & VAT?

tuk

looking to make a purchase from a spanish website, the site charges spanish VAT at 18%

HMRC says:

Tax and duty on goods bought from within the EU

If you're ordering or sending purchased goods (other than alcohol and tobacco) to the UK from another EU country then it's just like shopping in the UK:
there is no Customs Duty payable

there is no import VAT payable, unless you're ordering or sending purchased goods from one of the EU 'Special Territories' and if the value of the goods is £15 or more, however from 1 April 2012 all merchandise sent to the UK from the Channel Islands is subject to VAT - see below

there is no Excise Duty to pay

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/customs/post/buying.htm#2

and..

Import VAT

VAT is a tax normally charged on the supply of goods (and services) made by a VAT - registered business in the UK. For goods brought in or sent to the UK from the EU there's no extra VAT to pay unless you're ordering or sending purchased goods from one of the EU Special Territories, such as Jersey or Guernsey, in which case you'll have to pay import VAT.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/customs/tax-and-duty.htm

I take this to mean: if you order online you pay the local VAT rate(as long as the country is in the EU) ..and there are no other charges when it arrives in the UK

Just like if I go to Spain on holiday, I pay the local rate of VAT and bring my purchase home there is nothing additional to pay.

Anyone confirm or deny? ...the last thing I want is to pay spanish VAT only to be hit with a bill from HMRC in order to free my package

wealdroam

tuk wrote: »

I take this to mean: if you order online you pay the local VAT rate(as long as the country is in the EU) ..and there are no other charges when it arrives in the UK

This is correct.

As you have already given two HMRC quotes, I'm not sure there is anything else I can say to convince you.

tuk

Thanks,

The thing that has me worried, is that hmrc don't explicitly say 'you only pay the local VAT rate of the EU country where the purchase is made ' ..I mean paying spanish VAT rate isn't exactly like 'shopping in the uk' ..iow their guideline could mean the UK vat rate has to be paid ..they keep referring to VAT but they don't say who's

wealdroam

tuk wrote: »

Thanks,

The thing that has me worried, is that hmrc don't explicitly say 'you only pay the local VAT rate of the EU country where the purchase is made ' ..I mean paying spanish VAT rate isn't exactly like 'shopping in the uk' ..iow their guideline could mean the UK vat rate has to be paid ..they keep referring to VAT but they don't say who's

Well, let's try and simplify your first quote...

Tax and duty on goods bought from within the EU...

If you're ordering or sending purchased goods to the UK from another EU country then it's just like shopping in the UK:
there is no Customs Duty payable

there is no import VAT payable

Now let's cut out the non-essential stuff from your second quote...

For goods brought in or sent to the UK from the EU there's no extra VAT to pay

Seems pretty clear to me.

tuk

ok let go with that...

it's just like shopping in the UK

when shopping in the UK, VAT is charged at 20%. In Spain it's charged at 18% ..if it's 'just like shopping in the UK' then I might assume 20% VAT is due

For goods brought in or sent to the UK from the EU there's no extra VAT to pay

extra VAT? ..extra from what? ...UK VAT or Spanish VAT?



clear as mud I would say, forgive me for being anal but the purchase will be around £2000 so no small matter

---

ps
another reason it has me doubting, on another site( a large online supplier in Germany ) they are charging VAT based on which EU country the customer is from iow where the purchase will be sent ..not the German/local rate of VAT

wealdroam

Well my interpretation of 'just like shopping in the UK' goes like this...

In the UK when you buy something you generally have to pay a price which includes local VAT. (even businesses do that and then reclaim the vat paid).

Why do you think that if you buy something in Spain you should pay the UK rate of VAT?
Do you think Spanish sellers know, or even care, what the UK vat rates are?
Do you think that Spanish sellers have processes in place to handle all the various EU Vat rates?

The quotes you made say there is no import vat to pay.
They also say there is no import duty to pay.

Just who do you think is going to charge you the extra?

Why are you asking this on an anonymous internet forum?

You questions are best asked via this link...
http://search2.hmrc.gov.uk/kbroker/hmrc/contactus/search.ladv?sr=0&as=1&cs=ISO-8859-1&sc=hmrc&sf=&sm=0&nh=50&ha=34&tx0=67&fl0=contactid:&tx1=&raction=view

wealdroam

tuk wrote: »

extra VAT? ..extra from what? ...UK VAT or Spanish VAT?

Extra over what has already been paid, I would think.

vuvuzela

tuk wrote: »

ok let go with that...
when shopping in the UK, VAT is charged at 20%. In Spain it's charged at 18% ..if it's 'just like shopping in the UK' then I might assume 20% VAT is due
extra VAT? ..extra from what? ...UK VAT or Spanish VAT?

clear as mud I would say, forgive me for being anal but the purchase will be around £2000 so no small matter

You should look at it ignoring the specific level of VAT. You have paid VAT when you bought from Spain. Therefore no VAT is payable on entry to the UK.

shaun_from_Africa

wealdroam wrote: »

Why do you think that if you buy something in Spain you should pay the UK rate of VAT?
Do you think Spanish sellers know, or even care, what the UK vat rates are?

If often is the case that when buying from other EU countries for delivery of the goods to the UK (or any other EU country), the VAT charged is the rate applicable in the country of delivery.

This is because the 2 different rates are referred to as the origin rate (In this instance, Spain), and the destination rate (UK), and sellers who only send a small volume of goods to the UK can charge the origin rate.
Any sellers who go over a certain limit (It's about €100,000 per year) are then required to charge the VAT rate that is liable in the country where the goods are being delivered to.

I found out about this as I recently purchased some silver bullion coins, and in the UK the VAT charged on these is 20%, but in Germany it is only 7%.
If you fly over and collect the coins you only pay the 7%, but if you have them shipped to the UK it's 20% VAT.

The origin principle generally applies to all sales to final consumers: that is, once VAT has been paid on goods in one country, they can be moved within the EU without further control or liability to tax. In early 1993, therefore, duty-free allowances for travellers were abolished or suspended indefinitely. There are three ‘special regimes’ where this principle does not apply:―

distance sales – Internet, mail-order or similar companies having sales over a certain threshold to any Member State must levy VAT at the rate applied in that country (i.e. where the goods are delivered);

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/ftu/pdf/en/FTU_4.18.2.pdf

tuk

wealdroam wrote: »

Why do you think that if you buy something in Spain you should pay the UK rate of VAT?

read the ps in my last post

Just who do you think is going to charge you the extra?

It's clearly stated in my first post

Why are you asking this on an anonymous internet forum?

The clue is in the web address: moneysavingexpert.com