Buying goods from the EU... now that we know what 'Leave' meant

[SvenH]

Government just published new VAT rules for imports.

* Low value consignment relief abolished
* Consignment over £135 VAT and fees collected from consumer
* Consignment under £135 vendor must register with HMRC, collect the VAT and pass it on.

Were these rules published December the 28th?

I found out about them yesterday and it means it is no where near worth it for me to supply boaty parts to the UK.
As far as I could see it would even be to difficult/expensive to use a UK based platform to sell through.

 

[DinghyMan]

Were these rules published December the 28th?

I found out about them yesterday and it means it is no where near worth it for me to supply boaty parts to the UK.
As far as I could see it would even be to difficult/expensive to use a UK based platform to sell through.

Rules were published June 2020 - by the EU as its an EU Directive the UK adopted - but for some reason implemented it six months earlier than the EU are doing

Its been under discussion since 2011: Directive 2006/112/EC — the EU’s common system of value added tax (VAT)

Come into force across the EU in July this year

 

[Frogmogman]

Were these rules published December the 28th?

I found out about them yesterday and it means it is no where near worth it for me to supply boaty parts to the UK.
As far as I could see it would even be to difficult/expensive to use a UK based platform to sell through.

I think there is a lot of low-level economic activity which will be impacted, not even down to tax stuff; just the expense and hassle of all of the extra red tape.

For example, the UK brewer from whom I've been buying excellent beer for the last 25 years tells me that for them to continue selling packaged beer (bottles and cans) into the EU, they will all have to be re-labelled, and unless they set up a distribution company in an EU state, bottles and cans will have to be individually labelled for each EU country in which they sell in the EU. This will involve for them a one off cost in the region of £50000, and ongoing annual costs to support the operation of an EU based subsidiary. For the volumes they sell in the EU, it will very likely make the whole thing uneconomic, so they will quite likely abandon that market.

 

[Sandy]

Deleted

 

[john_morris_uk]

Deleted

Slightly bizarre post Sandy. (I mean the original one you made, not the one that just says 'deleted'.)

 

[Poignard]

DHL claim not to charge a handling fee IIRC

Here’s a copy of a bit of the receipt they emailed me;




It was a circumnavigation courtesy flag set (most of the common cruising countries visited in the world!) for $249. Cost including shipping $264 and for 67 flags I thought it a reasonable deal
Depending on the exchange rate £47.03 is 25% so it appears that it’s the EU VAT rate fir lots of places. This is confusing as our VAT rate is 20% which is what I assume I’d have to pay.

Even with tax it’s about £4 per flag. And no panicking about upsetting officialdom when you arrive somewhere.

This is the explanation I had from Sailrite:




This is how Fedex explains it:

 

[Buck Turgidson]

Why is this thread here? Surely it's just another Brexit political thread. Lounge anyone?

 

[JumbleDuck]

Why is this thread here? Surely it's just another Brexit political thread. Lounge anyone?

Discussing the changes made by Brexit to acquiring sailing stuff seems very much on-topic here.

 

[dgadee]

This is how Fedex explains it:
View attachment 106709

What has always annoyed me is that if something is bought from the US, you have to pay VAT on the delivery costs - costs which arise in the US, not the UK.

 

[Forum Admin Team]

Several posts that came to our attention have been removed. The thread has a very specific and narrow topic.

DO NOT introduce broader Brexit discussions, discussions that the forum has endured ad nauseum for the past four years.

 

[Kelpie]

Why is this thread here? Surely it's just another Brexit political thread. Lounge anyone?

I started it because I had planned to buy some items for my boat from the EU, and this appears to be no longer possible.
Therefore I wanted to explore the options now available, including any beneficial implications now open to us.

 

[Buck Turgidson]

I started it because I had planned to buy some items for my boat from the EU, and this appears to be no longer possible.
Therefore I wanted to explore the options now available, including any beneficial implications now open to us.

Yes, and in #18 I shared my experience of being in Europe and outside the EU with regard to that. Shame some can't miss a chance to start an argument.

Has anyone in the UK ordered from a major EU based online retailer yet? SVB24 for example.

 

[Yellow Ballad]

Has anyone in the UK ordered from a major EU based online retailer yet? SVB24 for example.

My order from December mentioned in a previous post was part shipped a few days ago, tracking still shows it it sitting in Germany. SVB reinvoiced the order into two, as they've shipped one item (but still waiting on the other) and refunded my the German VAT as mentioned previously.

I imagine I'll be charged UK VAT and a handling charge when they turn up.

 

[Kelpie]

You will now be in the same position I am in Switzerland. Purchase at vat free price and pay Vat locally. In my case it means I only pay 7.7%. There are however a lot of products that carry high import duties here whereas you have a more complete free trade agreement.
Switzerland has very high import duties on some foods in order to support farming here which given the terrain can never be competitive but they consider supporting the land use important socially.

Could I ask you, what is the position with importing directly from China? This is something that has suddenly become much more expensive and difficult for us in the UK. It would be good to know if it's a temporary hiccup.

 

[Buck Turgidson]

Could I ask you, what is the position with importing directly from China? This is something that has suddenly become much more expensive and difficult for us in the UK. It would be good to know if it's a temporary hiccup.

I don't personally so can't say. I don't buy anything from eBay or other single traders.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Has anyone in the UK ordered from a major EU based online retailer yet? SVB24 for example.

I just tried a dummy order with ferropilot.de, from whom I have twice bought solar panels, and they seem perfectly happy to ship to the UK as before. I haven't actually ordered, though, so there may be pitfalls.

 

[AngusMcDoon]

Could I ask you, what is the position with importing directly from China? This is something that has suddenly become much more expensive and difficult for us in the UK. It would be good to know if it's a temporary hiccup.

The origin of the legislation that requires a foreign seller to collect VAT is an EU directive (2006/112/EC ) that the UK was obliged to implement before finalising Brexit. All EU member states are also obliged to implement it, although delayed by 6 months for them. From July purchasers in the EU will have the same issues buying from China, or from any other non EU country. I don't know if Switzerland follows EU directives. The UK may revert to the previous situation as it is no longer obliged to follow EU directives, but given the parlous state of the UK's finances, I can't see the guvmint reverting if doing so pulls in less VAT.

It seems that foreign sellers have been brought in line with domestic sellers, because a UK/EU business selling to a domestic customer has to register for VAT and collect it on the guvmint's behalf.

 

[Beneteau381]

The origin of the legislation that requires a foreign seller to collect VAT is an EU directive (2006/112/EC ) that the UK was obliged to implement before finalising Brexit. All EU member states are also obliged to implement it, although delayed by 6 months for them. From July purchasers in the EU will have the same issues buying from China, or from any other non EU country. I don't know if Switzerland follows EU directives. The UK may revert to the previous situation as it is no longer obliged to follow EU directives, but given the parlous state of the UK's finances, I can't see the guvmint reverting if doing so pulls in less VAT.

It seems that foreign sellers have been brought in line with domestic sellers, because a UK/EU business selling to a domestic customer has to register for VAT and collect it on the guvmint's behalf.

Will be interesting to see with Chinese ebay and amazon sellers what will happen.

 

[AngusMcDoon]

Will be interesting to see with Chinese ebay and amazon sellers what will happen.

I think I remember hearing that the VAT collection obligation is being out on the platform, i.e. ebay and Amazon.

 

[Kelpie]

The origin of the legislation that requires a foreign seller to collect VAT is an EU directive (2006/112/EC ) that the UK was obliged to implement before finalising Brexit. All EU member states are also obliged to implement it, although delayed by 6 months for them. From July purchasers in the EU will have the same issues buying from China, or from any other non EU country. I don't know if Switzerland follows EU directives. The UK may revert to the previous situation as it is no longer obliged to follow EU directives, but given the parlous state of the UK's finances, I can't see the guvmint reverting if doing so pulls in less VAT.

It seems that foreign sellers have been brought in line with domestic sellers, because a UK/EU business selling to a domestic customer has to register for VAT and collect it on the guvmint's behalf.

That's all very interesting but the problems I've encountered have nothing to do with VAT.
One Chinese supplier have trebled their shipping charges to the UK, the other have simply refused to deliver here.
From what they've said it's to do with finding an alternative shipping route that doesn't go through the EU. Maybe VAT is involved but that hasn't been mentioned and I'm not sure I see how it's relevant.