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VAT on non-UK Purchases
#31

There was a special a week or two back on BBC where they followed up with UK companies regarding Brexit etc.

It was bit.... ambiguous... on the one hand they spent a lot of time with a shellfish company in Scotland and a vegan snacks company in Somerset, pointing out how it had become more and more difficult dealing with the EU (the Scottish company spent 3 hours a day on paperwork) and mentioned almost in passing that the UK government hadn't made good on any support they had promised for lost revenue to finish the show basically stating that the two companies had found big customers in China, USA and Arab countries....

To my knowledge (and I could be wrong) the UK does not have any new agreements with those countries than they had while part of the EU (I may be wrong, I know Trump and Johnson were sleeping together for a while...) so I am not sure what it all means (again, unless there are fewer restrictions I am not aware of...)

In any case, at one point in the middle of the show they mentioned the EU and UK were "waiving" some of the rules until October so maybe that is why some things have started to move more smoothly.
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#32

Looking on the government website for VAT clarification, as far as I can make out, anything under a value of £135 should have vat paid by the seller.

Consignments valued at £135 or less
The seller must charge and account for VAT at the point of sale, unless the consignment is a business to business sale and the customer has given them their UK VAT registration number.
To charge and account for VAT the seller will need to: For goods supplied into Northern Ireland from outside the UK and EU, low value consignment relief will no longer apply and the seller will be liable to account for the VAT on the VAT return instead of at the border.

Taken from:
VAT and overseas goods sold directly to customers in the UK - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

So as far as I can see from that, there should be no risk of import duties if the total value does not exceed £135 ?
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#33

Correct, in theory:
Under £135 pay VAT at point of sale to the seller or the marketplace (eBay/Amazon)

Over £135 pay VAT, import duty and handling charge when it gets to the UK to/via the courier/post office.
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#34

Amazon purchases seem to bypass customs, I've had lots of 3D resin from the US via amazon US without a hitch.
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#35

I am visiting UK next month and as a result was ordering stock from a UK dealer for delivery to my daughters address to obviate all the tax/duty/PO mularky. He mentioned that his EU business had dropped by 98% - sad state of affairs .....
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#36

Some of that may also be due to the strengthening value of the pound.

I know I used to order a reasonable amount from abroad, but earlier in the year it just wasn't worth it due to exchange rates. 
It seems to be picking up again now, so I may be dipping my toes back in the water for European purchases if I can't find what I want in the UK.
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#37

Hmmm, someone has cocked up I feel !

Today, a couple of days after ordering something from Spain I get an email from Royal Mail.

"Just to let you know, it’s likely there will be a Customs charge to pay for this item, due to the declared value of it."

The order total was 66.03 euro and according to the government website:

Customs Duty Non-excise goods worth £135 or less
No charge


I have emailed RM to dispute the charges, I am not expecting to hear back  Tappingfoot


The only thing I can think is if someone has misread/mistyped the amount losing or moving the decimal point, in which case there is no way I am paying for that !
I paid with paypal so will be disputing it with them if RM don't clear it up , but TBH recently paypal hasn't been good for me with disputes either.  Banghead
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#38

it is very confusing
and the government web site is , as usual , as clear as mud 
the way i understand it , is as follows :- 
the web site clearly states £135 is the 'no tax ' limit , but that ( i think ) is only if the company/seller you have bought from have included the VAT in the price you paid
often this is not the case , and that is the sneaky part , although i think it can also depend on who processes your package at customs 
but anything less than £39 is tax free , the web site does say for gifts , but as a rule it has and still seems to work for everything 
recently some proxy cars incurred a charge because the sender valued them at £100 

the loop hole ( if that's what it is ) is the £39 limit , then i have found there tends to be no problem 
so to summarize , £135 is a bit of a lottery ,  IMO £39 is the real 100% no tax limit 

i understand this doesn't help in retrospect but worth baring in mind for the future 

Kev
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#39

The charge is VAT. If the vendor has not paid VAT to the UK government, then you have to. Technically, there is no lower limit where VAT is due. It is perfectly possible to pay VAT twice - once in the country of origin and once on entry to the UK (plus a hefty 'handling fee'). What vendors should do is remove the local tax and then pay UK VAT before shipping - there are now fairly simple systems to do this.

Customs duty is something entirely different.

These charges are certainly not new, but the way of collecting them is - paying at source rather than on entry to the UK. These changes are for worldwide shipping, but were implemented following Brexit to ease shipping chaos from the EU. Most larger European slot car vendors have good systems set up, so things run pretty smoothly without any involvement from HMRC. My temptation would be to inform the vendor they cocked up and ask them to refund you any import charges.
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#40

Yes, does seem, a bit open to interpretation.
The way I read it, anything under £135 vat should be charged at source.


If the duty is charged at 20% vat and the RM £8 + vat my £58 becomes £79 and change. If thats the case, I will pay it but fill in the government form: Report incorrect Customs Duty or VAT on items imported by post (BOR286) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

If someone misread/did not see the decimal point it will go unpaid and I will raise a paypal claim.
I am loathed to contact the seller until I can find out what the post office have informed me what they think the declared value reads.
I have only used this company once before, but that order was only £30.
I have frequently used a different Spanish seller, and had orders in the £90-120 come through without issue.

Maybe in future I'll stick to OXO Cube's method and keep it under £39, ordering multiple deliveries if needs be  Rofl
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