Big Warning - UK Gov has removed the £15 low value VAT exemption threshold on importing... 29 December 2020 at 1:07PM in Praise, vent & warnings 30 replies 2.3K views

Mickey666

MangyDog said:

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. 

To be fair, Brexit might have ruined your future but it was a referendum decision, not a government one.  What would suggest they did with the result?  Ignore it because it was 'wrong'?   Mind you, that seems to be the SNP's approach to the Scottish IndyRef - keep letting the people decide until they give the 'right' answer

forgotmyname

Noticed quite a few Chinese sellers now using UK VAT numbers.  Is this why a lot of Chinese Ebay sellers

now show a UK VAT number?

Adding the VAT on is no issue, but as mentioned the issue would start if there was an admin or

handling fee on top. I buy lots of items that are 99p, either per item or small bundle.  20% on top

is fine but add even a few £ handling charge and these items are no longer worth it.

MidlandsGlory

Thanks for flagging this, not heard about it. I am a big Aliexpress user (over 600 orders, mostly electronics). Its very rare to get any duty interest on modest items (unless your impatient and use an express courier option). It is painful when the handling charge comes into play, I even had to pay it once on an item really below the old limit, the seller accidentally put an incorrect high value on it.
I can't imagine Aliexpress handing over VAT to the HMRC with any reliability. Perhaps this is actually in the governments mind? to make it easier to bypass the EU, which of course sells us stuff made in China anyway.
By the way in case anyone didn't know, Aliexpress are my most reliable Topcashback payer, usually at 5 to 6%, tracks almost instantly even if your just going in to purchase stuff already in a basket from earlier.

MidlandsGlory

MidlandsGlory said:

Thanks for flagging this, not heard about it. I am a big Aliexpress user (over 600 orders, mostly electronics). Its very rare to get any duty interest on modest items (unless your impatient and use an express courier option). It is painful when the handling charge comes into play, I even had to pay it once on an item really below the old limit, the seller accidentally put an incorrect high value on it.
I can't imagine Aliexpress handing over VAT to the HMRC with any reliability. Perhaps this is actually in the governments mind? to make it easier to bypass the EU, which of course sells us stuff made in China anyway.
By the way in case anyone didn't know, Aliexpress are my most reliable Topcashback payer, usually at 5 to 6%, tracks almost instantly even if your just going in to purchase stuff already in a basket from earlier.

Well well, just went back to my basket, 20% VAT has been added on to everything by Ali. I wish I had checked out a few days back. Will definitely moderate my buying habits a bit.

dinglebert

Mickey666 said:

 What would suggest they did with the result?  Ignore it because it was 'wrong'?  

Boaty McBoatface.  They ignored that.

Emmia

dinglebert said:

Mickey666 said:

 What would suggest they did with the result?  Ignore it because it was 'wrong'?  

Boaty McBoatface.  They ignored that.

That wasn't a referendum though.

The people voted, and the majority who cast their vote wanted to cut ties - ties have therefore (eventually) been cut, with inevitable consequences / impacts which I'm sure will be both positive and negative.

Mickey666

dinglebert said:

Mickey666 said:

 What would suggest they did with the result?  Ignore it because it was 'wrong'?  

Boaty McBoatface.  They ignored that.

Not entirely: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boaty_McBoatface

booneruk

When I see such a number of small orders coming all the way from China I can't help but think of air miles and carbon footprint

bap98189

MangyDog said: 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. 

This has nothing to do with Brexit. The EU are introduing a similar regulation in July. And it was hardly slipped under the radar, it has been known about for at least 6 months.

It is similar to the situation we had in the 1990's when retailers started to sell CDs from the Channel Islands without the need to charge VAT. What started off as a few small companies making some money ended up with the likes of Asda, Tesco and Amazon building warehouses there to compete. That loophole was closed by the EU as it maade retailers within the EU uncompetitive.

bap98189

theoretica said:Ouch - that sounds the sort of thing that a big company with lots of UK custom might do, but will make small businesses who are not on online marketplaces unwilling to deal with UK customers.

In which case there may be an opportunity for someone in the UK tom import these things and distribute them within the UK.