Ordering from EU: Will I be charged VAT and duty

Sandtree

jon81uk said:
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.

Yes, but you have to remember that at the same time they removed the floor for VAT so all those small parcels from big companies that used to be exempt are now getting VAT charged plus they now have to process at most 1 monthly return (and many will be quarterly) rather than a per parcel exercise.

Someone somewhere will have done the maths and assumed big business will be generally compliant, much of small business is via market places and the loss in small business direct is offset by the removal of the floor and lower operational costs. If the assumptions prove true and overall impact is positive will be judged in time.

longjohnjohnson

UK laws apply to companies in the UK, they do not apply to those outside of it.

Whilst HMG would very much like every entity outside the UK to pay VAT on behalf of its customers for packages worth less than £135, it has absolutely no way of enforcing this for any company that doesn't have a presence in the UK (and may not even if they do and its UK presence is a separate legal entity to its one abroad.)

So what powerful_Rogue says is correct. They may pay it for you, but they also may not. If they explicitly charge you VAT or some form of sales tax at 20%, they probably are doing, but you can never be sure.

Sandtree

longjohnjohnson said:

UK laws apply to companies in the UK, they do not apply to those outside of it.

Whilst HMG would very much like every entity outside the UK to pay VAT on behalf of its customers for packages worth less than £135, it has absolutely no way of enforcing this for any company that doesn't have a presence in the UK (and may not even if they do and its UK presence is a separate legal entity to its one abroad.)

So what powerful_Rogue says is correct. They may pay it for you, but they also may not. If they explicitly charge you VAT or some form of sales tax at 20%, they probably are doing, but you can never be sure.

The UK isn't the only one attempting this approach these days, though most the others seen have a minimum threshold for imports before it becomes mandatory for the merchant (eg France) @longjohnjohnson

Whilst I fully agree the enforceability is highly questionable that doesn't really in any contribute to the conversation of if parcels under £135 are having additional customs charged on entry (excluding goods subject to excise) and what rules are being used to assess these?