Big Warning - UK Gov has removed the £15 low value VAT exemption threshold on importing...
MangyDog
Forumite 26 Posts
This will mostly directly impact people like me... Though may impact you as well, but I feel this needs to get some attention as the UK Gov slipped this one in without anyone noticing till the last minute.
The basic gist is this, For years... Decades even, the UK had a threshold on importing items (outside the EU) on what point you start paying VAT. I believe it used to be £20 about 10 years ago. But in recent years its been £15... Well now from the 1st of January its going to be £0, ALL packages coming into the UK will now be subject to paying VAT.
This impacts people like me the most, as Im a maker and electronics engineer. I regularly buy components and PCBs from China. As this is the only affordable area to buy from.
The vast majority of my purchases are bellow the old £15 threshold. With many of my orders usually around 2-5 pounds per order.
When I do a project I regularly have to order a large quantity of different electronic components from different vendors from AliExpress. This means I cant have all my orders in a collective single package.
Now Im not a TAX dodger, im not so fussed about the VAT charge itself as this usually only amounts to a few pennies to a couple of quid at most. What I REALLY find to be the major kick in the guts is that now for every single package I bring into the UK im going to get hit with a handling fee, if RM handle it its £8 per item, if other delivery services, could be as high as £15 per item.
Now for a project, I can be making easily 10-20 different item orders from 10-20 different vendors. Normally this would cost me roughly 1 or 2 pounds per item. its now going to cost me 12 or 15 pounds PER item because of that handling fee.
This is utterly disgusting and, when I found out about this just before bed last night. I was enraged. I hate this Government, and I HATE what they have done to this country this last 10 years.
Brexit has not only ruined my future, its ruining my life right now! And the simple fact they slipped this little earner in with no one noticing just goes to show how much comtempt this gov has for us.
And PS, No i cant just buy local. Because buying local is prohibitively expensive on a massive scale. I do a PCB order from China for 7 quid. Thats 5 boards of my design plus shipping. To do that same order locally would cost me over 100 quid. I cant afford that at all... The same for most of my electronic components. I can order a large reel of capacitors or resistors, that could be 500 surface mount components, per value for around 1-2 quid. Locally that same order could cost me 10-20x that much.
This really is a massively painful kick in the guts for me
The basic gist is this, For years... Decades even, the UK had a threshold on importing items (outside the EU) on what point you start paying VAT. I believe it used to be £20 about 10 years ago. But in recent years its been £15... Well now from the 1st of January its going to be £0, ALL packages coming into the UK will now be subject to paying VAT.
This impacts people like me the most, as Im a maker and electronics engineer. I regularly buy components and PCBs from China. As this is the only affordable area to buy from.
The vast majority of my purchases are bellow the old £15 threshold. With many of my orders usually around 2-5 pounds per order.
When I do a project I regularly have to order a large quantity of different electronic components from different vendors from AliExpress. This means I cant have all my orders in a collective single package.
Now Im not a TAX dodger, im not so fussed about the VAT charge itself as this usually only amounts to a few pennies to a couple of quid at most. What I REALLY find to be the major kick in the guts is that now for every single package I bring into the UK im going to get hit with a handling fee, if RM handle it its £8 per item, if other delivery services, could be as high as £15 per item.
Now for a project, I can be making easily 10-20 different item orders from 10-20 different vendors. Normally this would cost me roughly 1 or 2 pounds per item. its now going to cost me 12 or 15 pounds PER item because of that handling fee.
This is utterly disgusting and, when I found out about this just before bed last night. I was enraged. I hate this Government, and I HATE what they have done to this country this last 10 years.
Brexit has not only ruined my future, its ruining my life right now! And the simple fact they slipped this little earner in with no one noticing just goes to show how much comtempt this gov has for us.
And PS, No i cant just buy local. Because buying local is prohibitively expensive on a massive scale. I do a PCB order from China for 7 quid. Thats 5 boards of my design plus shipping. To do that same order locally would cost me over 100 quid. I cant afford that at all... The same for most of my electronic components. I can order a large reel of capacitors or resistors, that could be 500 surface mount components, per value for around 1-2 quid. Locally that same order could cost me 10-20x that much.
This really is a massively painful kick in the guts for me
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Replies
To handle import fees yourself you must first have an importers licence. You also must be able to travel to the port where the item comes in (be it port or airport) to sign and fill in paper work in person.
So no... its not really something you can do yourself.
Online marketplaces (OMPs), where they are involved in facilitating the sale, will be responsible for collecting and accounting for the VAT.
For goods sent from overseas and sold directly to UK consumers without OMP involvement, the overseas seller will be required to register and account for the VAT to HMRC."
Now for a project, I can be making easily 10-20 different item orders from 10-20 different vendors. Normally this would cost me roughly 1 or 2 pounds per item. its now going to cost me 12 or 15 pounds PER item because of that handling fee.
Though its looking like AliExpress will be handling vat, so its not so bad, at least now I dont have to worry about the handling fees. Like I say the VAT alone im not too fussed about (though would be nice if they lowered the % rate ) it was the fees i utterly couldnt abide by.
Lewis Carroll