How do I get my money back?

Penn_Wooding

Oh well, that was pretty much a waste of time. It's gonna cost me more money to put in a claim than I would get back if they did refund the VAT.

Not sure why you're confused. FedEx didn't know the package contained a disabled product that was VAT exempt. The company in the US knew nothing about disabled products being VAT exempt. I've never blamed either company for the confusion.

If you do order a disability product that you know is VAT exempt in the UK from outside of Europe then make sure the person you're buying from makes it quite clear on the front of the package.

BoGoF

So why are "going to contact FedEx and have it out with them" ?

sheramber

What to do if you think you’ve paid too much VAT

If you think that you meet all the conditions for VAT-free goods but have been incorrectly charged VAT you should ask your supplier for a refund. There’s no facility for HMRC to refund VAT to you.

If your supplier is not sure how to do this they can contact HMRC for advice. HMRC cannot intervene in disputes between customers and suppliers.

KatrinaWaves

Sheramber I don’t think this applies here. The supplier didn’t charge VAT.

The VAT was levied by HMRC on the import. They charged it. Otherwise you are saying that the US supplier needs to reduce their price by 20% to refund the OP.

This would happen if you bought a VAT exempt good in a shop and paid VAT and wanted it back. You had been overcharged by the supplier. The supplier in this instance didn’t charge the VAT, so cannot refund it

Paul_DNAP

KatrinaWaves wrote: »

How is it negligence? The OP states they didnt tell them it was for disabled use, therefore I assume it is an item which isnt ALWAYS a disabled device.

It seems that HMRC implied that it was the supplier's "error" (okay, not negligence, I'll reverse that) that led to the charge being applied.


But if the OP didn't provide the correct information in the first place, then it's their own problem it wasn't processed correctly and they have absolutely no hope of chasing anybody for a refund on that basis.

KatrinaWaves

Paul_DNAP wrote: »

It seems that HMRC implied that it was the supplier's "error" (okay, not negligence, I'll reverse that) that led to the charge being applied.


But if the OP didn't provide the correct information in the first place, then it's their own problem it wasn't processed correctly and they have absolutely no hope of chasing anybody for a refund on that basis.

There is another thread which implied that the OP would normally submit docs beforehand to allow the supplier to do some paperwork, I guess the necessary paperwork is different for all countries and obviously its not expected that the supplier knows the regs for each country they ship to.

Hopefully it wasnt too costly a mistake this time.