EU Import Charges for company equipment

Elaine0166

Hi All,
Apologies if this isn't the correct category, but I couldn't find one suitable and would appreciate a little advice.
My husband works for a German company and all of his IT equipment is supplied by them. He works from home in the UK and now needs a replacement mobile phone, which is used for company business only. The phone will be sent from Germany direct to him in the UK, so will this be liable for any import duty on delivery? 
I have looked on various forums and the government website, but they only seems to give advice on gifts or goods purchased.
Thanks in advance for any advice!
Elaine

davidmcn

Daft question, but doesn't the company have any other staff outside the EU and already know the answer to this?

68ComebackSpecial

Ask his employer whether any duty will be payable, if it will be directly billed to them or whether your husband will have to settle it and then reclaim via his expenses.

MattMattMattUK

Elaine0166 said:

Hi All,
Apologies if this isn't the correct category, but I couldn't find one suitable and would appreciate a little advice.
My husband works for a German company and all of his IT equipment is supplied by them. He works from home in the UK and now needs a replacement mobile phone, which is used for company business only. The phone will be sent from Germany direct to him in the UK, so will this be liable for any import duty on delivery? 
I have looked on various forums and the government website, but they only seems to give advice on gifts or goods purchased.
Thanks in advance for any advice!
Elaine

Mobile phones sent from Germany to the UK will not attract import duty, it will attract VAT on the value of the phone, freight and any freight insurance costs, this will be charged at the current rate of 20%. The company could pay this as part of the shipment, or your husband may have to pay the amount to the courier and recover this via expenses from his employer.

Elaine0166

davidmcn said:

Daft question, but doesn't the company have any other staff outside the EU and already know the answer to this?

Unfortunately not. The majority of staff are in Europe. Even when having product samples sent to the UK, there's a discrepancy in how it works - sometimes UK staff are charged, other times not - so just trying to find a definitive answer! Thanks for the suggestion though, most appreciated.

Elaine0166

MattMattMattUK said:

Elaine0166 said:

Hi All,
Apologies if this isn't the correct category, but I couldn't find one suitable and would appreciate a little advice.
My husband works for a German company and all of his IT equipment is supplied by them. He works from home in the UK and now needs a replacement mobile phone, which is used for company business only. The phone will be sent from Germany direct to him in the UK, so will this be liable for any import duty on delivery? 
I have looked on various forums and the government website, but they only seems to give advice on gifts or goods purchased.
Thanks in advance for any advice!
Elaine

Mobile phones sent from Germany to the UK will not attract import duty, it will attract VAT on the value of the phone, freight and any freight insurance costs, this will be charged at the current rate of 20%. The company could pay this as part of the shipment, or your husband may have to pay the amount to the courier and recover this via expenses from his employer.

Great - thanks for the information, I'll certainly pass it on!

Elaine0166

68ComebackSpecial said:

Ask his employer whether any duty will be payable, if it will be directly billed to them or whether your husband will have to settle it and then reclaim via his expenses.

Thanks for the advice!

greyteam1959

Your husband's company should know the answer to this.

IvanOpinion

I recently had something sent to me by the company I work for (outside the UK, non EU).  It was quickly followed by a request for customs fees, duties, form filling or whatever.  I paid the bill and then expensed it to the company.  I would have thought any reputable company would not expect an employee to pay for such things, so maybe your lesser half could do the same.