VAT, customs duties, handling fees etc out of Europe 2021?

[lostplanet]

Brexit: 'I was asked to pay an extra £82 for my £200 coat'

Shoppers buying items from Europe now have to pay customs or VAT charges on those above a certain value.

www.bbc.co.uk

So, brexit has happened good or bad, now we have to deal with whats in front of us.

I am confused about the facts as a consumer when buying goods from the EU.

I have known and expected customs charges from outside the EU (the USA) and that's has swayed many purchases because it was far to expensive by the time it reached my door.

So in laymans terms if I bought a Sarma smock from Varusteleka before brexit the price would be what I paid at checkout.

How much would the same jacket cost me now to my door and who's taking the extra money and why?

Many Thanks

 

[Hodge]

I purchased an item off Varusteleka today and an amount was added to the list price to cover vat!

 

[lostplanet]

Shopping cart
Product total 62.28 GBP including VAT
Delivery method
DHL Express 2 - 3 working days (Up to 7 kg) 10.59 GBP
Payment method
PayPal 0.00 GBP
Shipping information
Order total
72.87 GBP including VAT ⚠As dictated by UK officials, UK VAT 20 % will be added to orders with a VAT excluded total of under 135 GBP. We will settle these taxes to the UK Gov.

For orders with VAT excluded total of over 135 GBP, prices will be VAT free and the UK Customs will handle collecting the taxes from the customer.

Yes, we know that this is bat **** stupid.

Yes I saw that too, are you expecting any added charges by the time it arrives at your door?

 

[BigMonster]

Pretty much every country now is like USA. Aliexpress is adding 21% VAT at the checkout and customs over (I think) £163. I had to send my drill for warranty repair to repair centre in Ireland, ton of trouble filling customs declarations.
I'm trying to send one of my orders to Finland. Not only price jumped 30%, all the faff with customs and vat declarations, it came back to me cause DPD service was interrupted for few days due to legislations so hopefully second attempt is the charm.

Also notice any camping kit made abroad is now out of stock on amazon and most outdoor shops. Ebay is empty as well....

 

[BigMonster]

Oh and my main supplier of fabrics and insulation (extremetextile) in Germany stopped shipping to UK completely.

 

[Broch]

And these are the conditions we have to deal with when we did broker a deal - I can't begin to think what it may have been like without a deal

 

[lostplanet]

And these are the conditions we have to deal with when we did broker a deal - I can't begin to think what it may have been like without a deal

Doesn't sound like much of a deal at all. I really don't know anything about trade deals etc and i'm not very good at absorbing complicated issues, Has the US got a deal with europe or is it the same as the US UK agreement?

Surely when buyers vote with their wallets, someone somewhere is going to see they are losing money or profit and something needs to change, or is this by design by the Gov to force chaos into change?

 

[daveO]

Once companies get used to the new system and the couriers are forced to get competitive on their 'handling fees' then things should settle down a bit. The worst part about importing from the States was the ransom fee you had to pay to the courier once it cleared customs here. I guess the tiny bright side is that people will be encouraged to spend their money within the UK more now and help prop up the businesses that are struggling with Covid problems.
I noticed even places like Heinnie Hayes are out of stock of quite a few imported products though.

 

[Hammock_man]

Minor point is that Eu sellers are supposed remove EU VAT from the price before the UK add their VAT..... but they don't seem to remember that.

 

[Toddy]

If anyone believes that the Chancellor will forego any import tax that can be garnished, I think they're delusional.

Spending money in the UK is fine, if the goods are here, but we import right across the board.
I reckon everything's going to cost more.

Shops are already under huge stresses, I think there will be more closures.

 

[Broch]

There should not be two lots of VAT applied. We don't charge VAT on goods sold to the States; why are European countries charging VAT and then UK VAT being added at import? I really do not understand what is happening.

On some goods we will have to pay import tax and VAT but we shouldn't be paying the source country VAT.

 

[C_Claycomb]

What I do not understand is that before Brexit, everyone had to pay VAT on purchases from the EU. Now, is it just that people are not factoring in the 20ish% and imagining they are getting an amazing deal, only to be hit with VAT, Duty and handling, or are they getting hit for VAT in the EU and again by the UK?

While the UK's past history of how they have long handled imports from the US does not give me much optimism, maybe the situation with the EU will prompt some re-thinking. From the sound of it though, they think they have done their re-thinking and what they came up with has prompted suppliers to cease shipping.

It is still very early days and people are scrambling to figure out how things work. Personally I think it is foolish to place orders to Europe for the time being.

The woman in the BBC article sent all her purchases back, rather than pay the VAT and Duty and fees, but that puts the European seller out of pocket for all the shipping and stocking. Its that exact action that prompted some US retailers to refuse to ship to the UK decades ago.

 

[lostplanet]

And this confuses me even more, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-47213842

The free trade deal between the UK and EU, announced on Christmas Eve, takes effect from 1 January.
What does the agreement mean and what other trade deals has the UK made?

What is a free trade deal?​

A free trade deal aims to encourage trade - usually in goods but occasionally in services - by making it cheaper. This is often achieved by reducing or eliminating tariffs - taxes or charges by governments for trading goods across borders.
Trade agreements also aim to remove quotas - limits on the amount of goods which can be traded.
Trade can also be made simpler if countries have the same rules, such as the colour of wires in plugs. The closer the rules are, the less likely that goods need to be checked.

 

[C_Claycomb]

Indeed, that BBC article suggests that there would not be tariffs, but the earlier article says that there could be.

I never liked paying VAT on US purchases, but I knew it was right to do so. The thing that made my blood boil was how it was applied, the documentation stated that it would be applied to the value of goods, the value of shipping, and any Duty applied. In other words, UK tax on UK tax, and UK tax on a service mostly performed outside the UK by non-UK based companies. Finally, the handling fee, which is meant to cover paperwork, but its all electronic and co-located and would cost exactly the same for all packages regardless of value, but which some carriers tier based on package value. The fees are all just because HMRC doesn't want to chase millions of people, but how it can cost more for the carrier to administer that service than it cost to actually move an object the length of the country makes no sense. Always smelled like a money grab.

 

[Toddy]

There is no longer free movement of people and goods. To 'enforce' that needs customs officers and offices and warehouses, that alone will cost extra fees.
Then add on the extra paperwork and fees that sellers need to do to ship across that boundary, and that will cost extra fees too. As will delays, storage facilities, etc.,
....and then the Chancellor will want a cut too.

 

[MikeeMiracle]

It is just the first month and teething problems should be expected. I'm sure in 6 months time all the relevant suppliers will have the scenario sorted out and things will return to normal, albeit with an extra charge to buy EU goods of course.

 

[Jared]

Just listened to a small US business boss that sells electronic components (small, cheap) to repair £1,000+ laptops.
Uninsured parcel delivery (parts too cheap for insured) from US to UK is unreliable enough that lost parcels costs the business money, as profit margins on $10 items aren't great.
Now on top of that have to get a UK VAT registration from HMRC, track UK sales and pay the VAT quarterly.
So decided to stop selling to UK customers.

 

[lostplanet]

@MrEd Just wondering how you got on with your brisa purchase? which i assume came from finland? was the checkout cost the same as the in your hands cost?

 

[lostplanet]

People findings ways round the Faff,

Brexit: Exporter sets up Dutch firm to avoid bureaucracy

A company opens a base in the Netherlands to avoid paying tax twice on exports after Brexit.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Kepis]

Now on top of that have to get a UK VAT registration from HMRC, track UK sales and pay the VAT quarterly.
So decided to stop selling to UK customers.

Id say he has been given a vast amount of duff info, a US based seller does not have to register with HMRC, does not require a UK Vat Reg and is not responsible for paying UK VAT, anymore than a UK seller has to register and pay taxes to the US Dept of Commerce, IRS or whatever its called.

VAT & Duty is payable by the importer not the exporter, and even so i believe, but cannot currently check, that VAT is not added to amounts up to something like £30.00 and duty is not payable on amounts of around £100.00 i think it is, you may incur a handling fee from the carriage company DPD, TNT, Royal Mail etc though.

Unfortunately there is a lot of false information and scaremongering going on by entities that really should know better, but you only have to look at their track record in recent years to realise their bias, which applies to both camps im afraid.