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

Kelpie

Kelpie

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No tariffs, no quotas, that's the headline.
Does this mean I can carry on buying stuff from Germany via eBay, and not have to worry about paying VAT twice etc? I was going to buy a couple of solar panels but held off until we found out what was happening.
 
I was wondering the same thing, too early to know exactly what it means to us. If there are no tariffs then it should be OK, however, there will be a need for additional paperwork which will increase the cost eventually.
 
Tarifs refer to customs duty. VAT is a different matter.

In theory, you should have to pay VAT on goods coming from the EU (and vice versa).
 
Buying it from a business we should be able to buy it VAT free over there and only pay VAT once here. Fortunately we're one of the cheaper VAT countries but there will be costs probably as it is now buying from USA. It will take a while for EU sellers to arrange to sell to us VAT free I guess. And will it happen on smaller items?
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I believe that Germany always allows goods to be exported local tax free, like most countries. Tax in country of use usually payable on import unless you are a business. Having left the EU I doubt you can buy goods tax paid in the EU and avoid UK tax. The importer may charge a handling fee. Which may be large in relation to the value.
 
The main thing that I import into France, Adnams excellent ales, I have always done net of UK VAT and duty, both of which I obviously pay in France.

It is often tricky with smaller items to get a supplier to agree to a VAT free price, as they need to check with their local VAT office that the international VAT number supplied is bona fide, otherwise they can be saddled with stumping up for the VAT themselves. To be fair, on small amounts, it does represent quite a lot of hassle.
 
Frogmogman said:
The main thing that I import into France, Adnams excellent ales, I have always done net of UK VAT and duty, both of which I obviously pay in France.

It is often tricky with smaller items to get a supplier to agree to a VAT free price, as they need to check with their local VAT office that the international VAT number supplied is bona fide, otherwise they can be saddled with stumping up for the VAT themselves. To be fair, on small amounts, it does represent quite a lot of hassle.
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VAT numbers can be checked on line these days and most large chandlers will zero rate export sales.
 
Kelpie said:
No tariffs, no quotas, that's the headline.
Does this mean I can carry on buying stuff from Germany via eBay, and not have to worry about paying VAT twice etc? I was going to buy a couple of solar panels but held off until we found out what was happening.
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I bought a couple of new Sunbeam Systems 50W panels from Ferropilot in Germany earlier this month, for similar reasons. I don't really need them, as I already have a pair waiting to go on the boat, but since I am going to commit to mounting them with Sikaflex-held battens, I decided it would be a good idea to have spares. The Sunbeam ones are an odd size (545 x 535) - very convenient for me, but odd.

I warmly recommend Ferropilot, by the way, from whom I bought the last pair as well. Their prices this time was slightly more than SVG but shipping was slightly less, making them just a couple of euros more expensive. Ordered and set up the transfer from my German bank account on a Monday, transfer went through and panel dispatched on the Tuesday, arrived in Scotland on the Thursday.
 
LadyInBed said:
We buy from China, so the EU shouldn't be too difficult.
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It's funny you say that. I was recently quoted for a set of lithium cells, direct from China. Shipping to an EU country was $105, shipping to the UK was over $300. Why should it make any difference, the goods are coming from outside the EU anyway. But those were the numbers. A few months ago the shipping was the same price. So I don't think we can make assumptions about trade will be affected.
 
Kelpie said:
It's funny you say that. I was recently quoted for a set of lithium cells, direct from China. Shipping to an EU country was $105, shipping to the UK was over $300. Why should it make any difference, the goods are coming from outside the EU anyway. But those were the numbers. A few months ago the shipping was the same price. So I don't think we can make assumptions about trade will be affected.
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I recently tried to order some specialist parts from a small company in the US I’ve used before. They refused my order, saying they’re not sending things to the UK for now because ”there's a lot of confusion and unanswered questions around these changes, due to conflicting and incomplete information coming from the government.“ They say they’re going to wait and see how things develop, and may start dealing with the UK later next year if the situation becomes clearer. In the meantime, I cannot get these items that only they make.

Pete
 
I'd expect it to work in a similar way to to now. You import something, it gets stuck at customs, you then get fleeced by DHL for fees to sort it out.
 
E39mad said:
No requirement then for your Ghost Ship to Broadside the French Navy to get the beer in following the trade deal ;) ?
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Excellent Innovation in Southwold Best wordplay. ?

Yes, it's a relief, although I will lose the 50% rebate on French beer duty (which is only open to beer from small breweries in the EU) and I suspect the paperwork will go back to how it used to be before the introduction of the EMCS electronic system.
 
sailaboutvic said:
we on the opposite end of the stick , we normally buy parts from the UK to come to where ever we based in the EU , wonder how thats going to work now .
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In theory quite simple, the goods are zero rated for export but in practice there's extra VAT documentation and customs declarations for the retailer so, I suspect many smaller businesses won't want to be bothered for low value items. Those of us in the EU need to start finding alternative EU based suppliers.
 
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.
 
RichardS said:
It's all good. :)

Richard
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Until you try to take any boat gear you have already bought in the UK over to your boat in Croatia. Then (unless you fail to declare it to evade tax) you will likely have to pay VAT for a second time.
Remind us what value of goods you can bring with you tax free when you fly from UK to Croatia from 1 Jan?
 
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