Customs & VAT post Brexit

Kazwa

I've just read MSE's new guide on online orders from the EU.  Does anyone know if the £135 (or euro equivalent) threshold applies in reverse i.e. if I want to send something from the UK to an EU country, specifically Spain?  Or order it online in the UK and get it sent to a relative living in the EU?  I have friends living in Spain who are waiting for parcels that have been stuck in Spanish customs since early January.

jon81uk

Kazwa said:

I've just read MSE's new guide on online orders from the EU.  Does anyone know if the £135 (or euro equivalent) threshold applies in reverse i.e. if I want to send something from the UK to an EU country, specifically Spain?  Or order it online in the UK and get it sent to a relative living in the EU?  I have friends living in Spain who are waiting for parcels that have been stuck in Spanish customs since early January.

Pretty sure everything over €150 is subject to import duty checks. Anything under that it is VAT only.

JJ_Egan

That i presume would be down to EU laws not the £135 UK laws if its arriving in Spain .

MattMattMattUK

Kazwa said:

I've just read MSE's new guide on online orders from the EU.  Does anyone know if the £135 (or euro equivalent) threshold applies in reverse i.e. if I want to send something from the UK to an EU country, specifically Spain?  Or order it online in the UK and get it sent to a relative living in the EU?  I have friends living in Spain who are waiting for parcels that have been stuck in Spanish customs since early January.

There are still backlogs in many EU countries customs clearance, especially those that were in lockdown over the end of the Brexit transition period and many items were not sent with the correct or complete paperwork, further causing delays. Spain is currently under a State of Emergency, with many restrictions in place including those on working and social distancing at work. I think the timings on clearance for Spain are currently up to seven working days for shipments with the correct documentation, they are slowly working through the backlog and anything lacking the correct documentation will likely be put to one side and dealt with when all the correct shipments have been processed. 

Sandtree

If you are sending a parcel to someone in Spain you need to fill in the CN22 or CN23 declaration form, depending on value/weight. If the recipient has to pay any taxes or duty will depend on Spanish import laws.

If a commercial entity is sending a parcel abroad then they shouldn't charge UK VAT (or technically they do but at 0%). For some countries they must charge the destination country's taxes but for the majority its an optional thing if they want to offer their customers fixed landed costs. If they dont have to and choose not to then the recipient will have to pay any taxes, duties or excise when they receive the items. 

campervanchick

My daughter bought 4 pairs of trainers from ASICS pre Brexit for a total of around £280. She had checked that returns were free so thought she would be ok trying them on & returning a few pairs. Unfortunately they were all too small. 

She printed off the returns form from the website and took them to the shop that accepts returns for the courier. The shop owner said she had to provide customs forms as in the meantime we had left the EU. 

My daughter emailed ASICS who said that no she didn’t need the forms. Shop guy maintained that she did. Since then ASICS have become uncontactable. They have removed their phoneline and have not answered emails. And of course, now we are well past the original timescale to refund because of the problems. She’s tried to print another returns form which would hopefully have been updated to include the customs forms but the system said no as she’s already printed one! 

I think that we could print the forms off from another source but without being able to get in touch with ASICS she has no guarantee of getting her money back.
What do you think?
We could print the forms from the Post Office website (the returns can’t be done through Royal Mail, it’s another courier firm) and send them back and take our chances...?
We could send a couple of pairs back under the £135 threshold...?
The remaining option seems to be to flog them herself and cut her losses.