Ordering from EU: Will I be charged VAT and duty

pred02

Hi,

I would like to order a pair of shoes directly from a retailer in Portugal. The shoes are £125 plus free shipping. I understand that I will not be liable to pay for tax (custom duty, tax and admin chargers) under £135. 

Just wanted to see if my assumption is correct before ordering.

Thank you

powerful_Rogue

pred02 said:

Hi,

I would like to order a pair of shoes directly from a retailer in Portugal. The shoes are £125 plus free shipping. I understand that I will not be liable to pay for tax (custom duty, tax and admin chargers) under £135. 

Just wanted to see if my assumption is correct before ordering.

Thank you

As it's under £135, the company you purchase from should be paying the UK VAT. However in reality that doesn't happen with every company. Your parcel could be stopped by customs and the VAT bill sent direct to yourself, along with the courier handling fee.

Sandtree

As long as they declare it as that and there are no major movements in the currency that triggers it to be above £135 then the retailer should be collecting and paying the UK VAT and there will be no duty as its below the threshold. Courier admin fees only apply when they are doing customs admin for you.

jon81uk

You will need to pay VAT, it might be to the retailer, or it might be to the courier.

But outside of the marketplaces (Amazon, eBay, AliExpress) not many sellers collect it and its more likely it will be stopped at the border.

Sandtree

jon81uk said:

But outside of the marketplaces (Amazon, eBay, AliExpress) not many sellers collect it and its more likely it will be stopped at the border.

Any proof?

The customs declaration doesn't even ask if VAT has been collected or not so would be interested to know how the courier would even know one way or the other if UK VAT has been collected. Similarly it doesn't ask if the purchase was made via a Marketplace to discriminate between marketplace and non-marketplace orders

jon81uk

Sandtree said:

jon81uk said:

But outside of the marketplaces (Amazon, eBay, AliExpress) not many sellers collect it and its more likely it will be stopped at the border.

Any proof?

The customs declaration doesn't even ask if VAT has been collected or not so would be interested to know how the courier would even know one way or the other if UK VAT has been collected. Similarly it doesn't ask if the purchase was made via a Marketplace to discriminate between marketplace and non-marketplace orders

If something is sold on eBay then you need to include a particular number on the package to indicate that eBay collected the VAT.

Sandtree

jon81uk said:

Sandtree said:

jon81uk said:

But outside of the marketplaces (Amazon, eBay, AliExpress) not many sellers collect it and its more likely it will be stopped at the border.

Any proof?

The customs declaration doesn't even ask if VAT has been collected or not so would be interested to know how the courier would even know one way or the other if UK VAT has been collected. Similarly it doesn't ask if the purchase was made via a Marketplace to discriminate between marketplace and non-marketplace orders

If something is sold on eBay then you need to include a particular number on the package to indicate that eBay collected the VAT.

According to the French equivalent of Royal Mail you simply complete a CN23 customs form, the English language version of which can be found at:

https://www.royalmail.com/sites/default/files/CN23.pdf

As you will note... no instruction about putting a particular number on the package for eBay, no question of what taxes have already been collected, no question of how the sale was made etc.

Similarly look on eBay.fr help pages and again no instruction to put any particular number on the package if using your own courier/ La Poste 

bris

Shipping may push the price to over £135, no such thing as free shipping, it's an illusion.

jon81uk

Sandtree said:

jon81uk said:

Sandtree said:

jon81uk said:

But outside of the marketplaces (Amazon, eBay, AliExpress) not many sellers collect it and its more likely it will be stopped at the border.

Any proof?

The customs declaration doesn't even ask if VAT has been collected or not so would be interested to know how the courier would even know one way or the other if UK VAT has been collected. Similarly it doesn't ask if the purchase was made via a Marketplace to discriminate between marketplace and non-marketplace orders

If something is sold on eBay then you need to include a particular number on the package to indicate that eBay collected the VAT.

According to the French equivalent of Royal Mail you simply complete a CN23 customs form, the English language version of which can be found at:

https://www.royalmail.com/sites/default/files/CN23.pdf

As you will note... no instruction about putting a particular number on the package for eBay, no question of what taxes have already been collected, no question of how the sale was made etc.

Similarly look on eBay.fr help pages and again no instruction to put any particular number on the package if using your own courier/ La Poste 

eBay UK has a very comprehensive guide on what needs to be done to prove the VAT was already paid 
Your VAT obligations in the UK & EU | eBay

Its made very clear if that isn't done and the IOSS not provided the buyer may still be charged VAT in their country.

I therefore would have thought the reverse is also true, unless it is clear the VAT was already collected.

If you are not purchasing from a marketplace seller (such as eBay Amazon etc) then it is up to the retailer to decide if they want to collect the VAT or not.
New EU 2021 VAT Rules for Ecommerce — Updates (shopify.com)

Sandtree

That is UK into EU which is governed by different laws than from EU or RoW to UK, the fact it says an EU buyer may be charged VAT if the relevant code isn't quoted doesn't automatically mean a UK user will be. 

Indeed if you look at your send linked article it states..."Merchants shipping goods to EU buyers from outside of the EU can choose to collect VAT on orders below €150" given it is discretionary it makes total sense that imports into the EU you need to be clear if you have chosen to charge VAT or not. For items sent into the UK there is no option, the law says merchants must have charged the VAT.

You'd be much better off looking for an EU instance of a site and their advice for sending parcels to the UK because whilst there are some similarities in the opposite direction they are not the same. 

jon81uk

Sandtree said:

That is UK into EU which is governed by different laws than from EU or RoW to UK, the fact it says an EU buyer may be charged VAT if the relevant code isn't quoted doesn't automatically mean a UK user will be. 

Indeed if you look at your send linked article it states..."Merchants shipping goods to EU buyers from outside of the EU can choose to collect VAT on orders below €150" given it is discretionary it makes total sense that imports into the EU you need to be clear if you have chosen to charge VAT or not. For items sent into the UK there is no option, the law says merchants must have charged the VAT.

You'd be much better off looking for an EU instance of a site and their advice for sending parcels to the UK because whilst there are some similarities in the opposite direction they are not the same. 

My mistake then, I thought the UK and EU laws were broadly the same, hadn't realised UK is trying to force all retailers to do it.

There must be loads that aren't collecting the VAT so how do Customs at the border know if its been paid or not I wonder, or are they trusting at the border that if its under the £135 the VAT was done.
This has some info for what those businesses needed to do, but the whole thing isn't very clear is it UK VAT + Brexit: How It Works With Ecommerce (2022) (bigcommerce.com)