How is it supposed to work buying from the EU?

[trillian]

Has anyone recently bought a kit or spares from a shop in the EU? How is it supposed to work with VAT - my understanding is that we will get stung with VAT now on anything coming from the EU, just as it has always been when buying from outside the EU. But.... most shops have their prices shown including VAT - so if we pay that price do we get a VAT 'credit' or would we end up paying double VAT? Or should the shop subtract VAT from the price?

[stargazer]

I think its all in disarray at the moment,a lot of people in the Uk used to buy from a guitar shop in Europe that sold good cheap guitars.The shop is now showing prices for our market without Vat.When what ever you have bought goes through Customs & Excise they send you a bill for Vat that has to be payed,people are also finding who ever is doing the shipping of the item now seems to be charging a extortionary amount of money as a handling charge.Things that took a week to be delivered now seem to be taking up to a month,this could just be from the initial disruption.Overall people seem to think is quite a bit more expensive than before,probably little difference than buying something from the Usa now.

[bigpops]

There is now no difference between buying from the EU vs the rest of the world.

Over £135, the seller should deduct their local VAT, send the goods, and you pay the VAT + duty + admin fee to the courier when the item arrives. This is as it was before 2021 when buying outside the EU.

Under £135, the selling company (or online market place) have to register with HMRC, deduct their local VAT, add UK VAT then collect that at point of sale, then send the goods along with their VAT number, via a specific (more expensive) courier service that's specifically for VAT pre-paid goods. They also need to pay HMRC to do that, keep records, and pass on the money to HMRC, all of which cost that business money - over $1000 just to file the forms in the case of WIlliam Shatner's business, and as a result he no longer ships to the UK.

Imagine if every country did this. Your little business has to register with almost 200 countries, keep 200 sets of records, send 200 payments at regular intervals and so on. It's ridiculous, and just an attempt to dodge building more infrastructure here in the UK to cope with the massive increase in goods that need checking. Courier fees have also gone up considerably as a combination of covid and leaving the customs union and single market.

[Raptormad2]

I have heard of people being asked for a cash payment on the door step before the courier would hand the parcel over .
sounds like a nightmare at the moment it used to be luck of the draw if you got away with paying customer charges i know people that got stung for £25
Customs charges for a single lipo.

[Mike656]

My understanding when buying from outside the EU is if the value is over £15, you owe VAT and import handling fees. RM charges like £8 handling, others more. Just factor these in when comparing to U.K. prices.

Buying from the EU looks more complicated now with the under £135 rule for VAT registration. What happens if the value is under £135 and the EU shop just fills in an export form? Do the goods get returned? Not sold in the EU so no local taxes due. Should just be treated like any other import. Another question for U.K. goods sold to the EU - does the U.K. shop need to pre-register with 27 member states? What a nightmare.

Wasn’t much price difference in buying from Italy, Spain, Japan or Vietnam, just slightly longer shipping times. U.K. next day, EU by Friday and elsewhere a week or two. Haven’t bought a lot from the US as they want to add excessive export handling fees. Looks like I might be sourcing from outside the EU until things settle down.

And yes, I prefer to support my local shops if the goods are in stock and the prices are reasonable.

[trillian]

There is now no difference between buying from the EU vs the rest of the world.

Over £135, the seller should deduct their local VAT, send the goods, and you pay the VAT + duty + admin fee to the courier when the item arrives. This is as it was before 2021 when buying outside the EU.

Under £135, the selling company (or online market place) have to register with HMRC, deduct their local VAT, add UK VAT then collect that at point of sale, then send the goods along with their VAT number, via a specific (more expensive) courier service that's specifically for VAT pre-paid goods. They also need to pay HMRC to do that, keep records, and pass on the money to HMRC, all of which cost that business money - over $1000 just to file the forms in the case of WIlliam Shatner's business, and as a result he no longer ships to the UK.

Imagine if every country did this. Your little business has to register with almost 200 countries, keep 200 sets of records, send 200 payments at regular intervals and so on. It's ridiculous, and just an attempt to dodge building more infrastructure here in the UK to cope with the massive increase in goods that need checking. Courier fees have also gone up considerably as a combination of covid and leaving the customs union and single market.

That's so ridiculous as to be completely insane ! That is NOT the same as it was before when buying from the rest of the world. Companies never needed to register with the HMRC and all that stuff - they simply sold the items without any VAT and it was charged upon arrival in the UK.