Paying tax on item ordered from EU before Brexit and paying import duty on item delivered after...

m0nar0

Good morning,

I am just looking for a little clarification as I have spent several hours (without success) looking for an answer.
I ordered an item from Italy in November 2020, paying around €62 in EU tax. The item was delivered in February 2021 which I then had to pay an additional £93 import duties on. Is this correct, or am I able to claim a refund from either the seller, or HMRC, as a result of paying twice? I suspect the answer will be "unlucky, it's just how it is", but I wanted to confirm in case I was able to claim.

To add a little further context, when I ordered the item I knew delivery would be in 2021, but the ignorant me decided not to consider this situation...
Many thanks,
Adam

Aylesbury_Duck

As I understand it, it's the date on which it arrives in the UK that determines whether duties are charged or not, so I think the £93 was correctly charged.

Si_65

I would also like to know the answer as I have goods I ordered (c. £150 in value) on Dec 31st (specifically to be before the Brexit deadline), but am still awaiting delivery. The store say they are awaiting a VAT number from the UK which their courier (DPD) requires before they will ship. 
I found this article on the Government website, which appears to support the argument that there should be no additional charges (I cannot post links but just add www to the below)

gov.uk/government/publications/changes-to-vat-treatment-of-overseas-goods-sold-to-customers-from-1-january-2021/changes-to-vat-treatment-of-overseas-goods-sold-to-customers-from-1-january-2021

Transactions before 1 January 2021
The new rules will apply to all sales that have a time of supply for VAT purposes of 1 January 2021 or later.

For example, if an order is placed and payment received from the customer on 31 December 2020 then the new rules will not apply, even if dispatch and delivery take place after 1 January 2021. Therefore, for imports the consignment will remain subject to import VAT (unless it is below the Low Value Consignment Relief threshold of £15) and supply VAT should not be charged. For goods already in the UK at the time of supply the VAT liability will remain with the seller rather than the OMP.

bris

As far as I'm aware anything ordered and paid for before the 1st of January was still on the old rules, so no UK tax should have been charged.

You should call the HMRC helpline and take it from there. 

Curious_Yellow_2

You could try reclaiming the VAT using this form if your item was delivered by Royal Mail or Parcel Force https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/vat-customs-dutyimport-vat-relating-to-imports-by-post-bor286

If it is by a different courier then there is another form: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/apply-for-repayment-or-remission-of-import-duties-c285-chief

There is a bundle of paperwork to submit which looks like a bit of a pain, but it’s worth it for nearly a £100 I reckon.