courier custom charge (EU delivery)

sanova76

Hi, 
Since we're out the EU, will we get custom charge for any item bought from EU?  My understanding is if the value above £135 based on the gov website?  Will the courier (DHL, Royal Mail etc) charge the import duty/handling charge like for other overseas mail?  What if you receive a gift?
Anybody has experienced this?
Please advise.

Many thanks.
San

JJ_Egan

Basic answer yes .

See a number of very recent posts on this very subject .

neilmcl

sanova76 said:

Hi, 
Since we're out the EU, will we get custom charge for any item bought from EU?  My understanding is if the value above £135 based on the gov website?  Will the courier (DHL, Royal Mail etc) charge the import duty/handling charge like for other overseas mail?  What if you receive a gift?
Anybody has experienced this?
Please advise.

Many thanks.
San

Yes, it will attract import duty with VAT added on top. Also, there's probably going to be an admin fee levied by the courier.

maisie_cat

If the retailer/seller does the right thing they will remove the domestic VAT included in their selling price as the sale is an export and therefore exempt. So UK VAT is not "on top", it simply replaces domestic VAT. If I were a cynic I would suggest that many sellers are simply pocketing the domestic VAT as additional profit.
If the retailer uses a delivered duty paid service, you pay upfront just like the Ebay GSP, or the millions of retailers that give you the option. then there is no admin charge for somebody doing the paperwork. Eventually retailers will either sort their systems or accept that customers who really want to buy from them will pay more.

George_Michael

maisie_cat said:

If the retailer/seller does the right thing they will remove the domestic VAT included in their selling price as the sale is an export and therefore exempt. So UK VAT is not "on top", it simply replaces domestic VAT. If I were a cynic I would suggest that many sellers are simply pocketing the domestic VAT as additional profit.

I don't know how it works with EU based companies but if it's anything like the UK then if they charge domestic  VAT on exports, this VAT still gets paid to the relevant taxman in their country of operation as it will show up in their accounts.

visidigi

https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/business/vat/modernising-vat-cross-border-ecommerce_en

Its coming to everyone (not just because of the brexit 'deal').

IOSS allows the shipper to capture the tax at the point of purchase, then ship the goods DDP, delivered duty paid for the tax element. IOSS due around June/July having been delayed to give sellers enough notice etc, unlike Brexit which absolutely messed shippers up - which is why the recipient is taking the hit at the moment.

Sandtree

George_Michael said:.

I don't know how it works with EU based companies but if it's anything like the UK then if they charge domestic  VAT on exports, this VAT still gets paid to the relevant taxman in their country of operation as it will show up in their accounts.

Yes and no, the UK VAT rate for goods for export is 0% and so yes VAT is charged (therefore making VAT recoverable on the raw materials etc) but its £0.

VAT on goods exported from the UK (VAT Notice 703) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

So if you look at a UK website selling something for £100 net then if you put yourself as a UK customer it will state its £120 whereas put yourself as being in Spain and it'll say £100. Ordinarily the person overseas when receiving the goods will then have to pay local sales tax for importing the goods (and potentially duty and excise depending on the item, counties etc).

Some companies make the same mistake as you did and therefore charge 20% to everyone which obviously both bumps up the initial price but also the additional import costs for overseas customers.

Now a days there are complexities too though like the UK and France requiring those selling goods into their markets to charge their taxes for certain values of consignments etc plus couriers have given large companies the option of paying the cost of import so that the customer has certainty over the price they are paying.