VAT question for you UK guys

[Rb4276 803]

If you UK members order something from the US do you get charged VAT? I was under the impression you didnt. Thanks in advance

[njmlondon 747]

Oh we don't just get charged! We also pay the courier a further £10-£20 "handling fee".

A $50 item cost me £17 VAT (clearly not 20% of $50 / £33) and £11 "handling".

Never again. 

In fact with us not being in the EU, I avoid buying from Germany now, which I used to do a lot.

We still get stung by customs for packages from Asia, but oddly it always seem to be on the low side and I have even got £300 kits through with no charges. 

Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs are a law unto themselves, as are Parcelforce who are useless and greedy!

[alvinlwh 7688]

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[sosidge 748]

11 minutes ago, Rb4276 said:

If you UK members order something from the US do you get charged VAT? I was under the impression you didnt. Thanks in advance

It's become quite complex now after Brexit because HMRC have also taken the opportunity to require overseas sellers to charge VAT on the UKs behalf for transactions under £135. Completely unnecessary bureaucracy in my opinion which also means a lot of overseas sellers won't ship small orders to the UK any more.

But the basic concept (and this is the same worldwide) is that you don't pay sales tax in the country of origin, but it is due in the UK once it arrives.

You can also have duty and handling fees if something gets stopped at customs.

[MadInventor 3888]

I still buy stuff from the US (Mainly heavy duty traxxas differentials or drive shafts), which are generally low value and so have not been stung for a while. I've not been that active on the RC for about 8 months now, so if I need bits and bobs I generally just buy from UK model shops or UK based EBay sellers.  If I was to buy another kit now I would in all probability just go to Model Sport or @Fusion-Hobbies. It's faster than ordering from abroad and takes the suspense away of 'Is the postman going to bring me a kit, or a bill?'

[Rb4276 803]

Thanks guys, that is what I thought. It is odd because i sold a record on discogs for $120 which is below the supposed $135 and they still paid VAT to me which i then have to forward at the end of the month to discogs which i thought was odd cause i never did before and i move high dollar vinyls pretty regularly that i own from djing for years in nyc. 

[alvinlwh 7688]

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[Rb4276 803]

20 minutes ago, alvinlwh said:

WRONG! If below £135, VAT to be paid at point of sale. If above £135, VAT + Customs duty to be collected at point of entry. 

However, this £135 (or not) should include postage if the seller charges for. Free postage is fine and does not add to the total. 

Exactly, another reason i am questioning it. I know back in November they charged me NY sales tax for a record i sold to someone in Canada which also makes no sense. It was from another country. I think they are basically double dipping. 

[alvinlwh 7688]

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[Rb4276 803]

Here is another one recently, only sold for $89.99 and they charged vat. They charged 22.99 pounds vat. Shipping was 24.99 US

[Rb4276 803]

Is it possible cause with shipping? it went of 135 pounds in total. I am not only asking for me but also for buyers if they are getting ripped off. 

[alvinlwh 7688]

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[Gazzalene 171]

 I wont order from over seas now at all. I know some here will say its easy to address the issue BUT the vat/tax/duty/handling ,etc etc etc is never what the uk rules state.  I had 4 orders all were in the 20% + 8% category all was over,ok it might of be apx £2 in one case BUT how hard is it to work out,this is the HMRC. If their sums were in facr correct then the 20% and 8% was not used. then the couriers /handlers seem to charge what ever they want. Has anyoe tried to reach or talk to this government debt? nightmare!

[Wooders28 5048]

Depends on the value, and if its marked as 'gift'....😉

In the past, I've been charge a 10% import charge (on the cost of the item Inc the shipping) , plus 20% vat (tax on tax...) and then a nice £13 'handling charge' from the courier.....

 

 

[alvinlwh 7688]

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[Rb4276 803]

4 hours ago, alvinlwh said:

This "gift" trick can only work if the seller is willing to cooperate. Very unhelpful if bought from, say PJ, where they paste the details of the entire contents right on the front (even if below £39. Not very "gift" like. 

To be honest i have had a few customers ask me to gift or mark the package significantly less then what they paid for what it was worth. I had to refuse to do that because if the item is lost or the buyer says they never received it i would be out alot of money. For a repeat customer i would and have done it for. 

[Wooders28 5048]

6 hours ago, alvinlwh said:

This "gift" trick can only work if the seller is willing to cooperate. Very unhelpful if bought from, say PJ, where they paste the details of the entire contents right on the front (even if below £39. Not very "gift" like. 

Hence the ,wink emoji....

 

1 hour ago, Rb4276 said:

To be honest i have had a few customers ask me to gift or mark the package significantly less then what they paid for what it was worth. I had to refuse to do that because if the item is lost or the buyer says they never received it i would be out alot of money. For a repeat customer i would and have done it for. 

Even then, its a dangerous game. I know of someone sending his mate a 1970 dodge charger door over from a dry state, which didn't arrive, and was out of pocket alot of money.

I've had a brand new radiator panel 'liquidated ' as it was 'too large to process through the facility', and was refunded, again I'd have been out of pocket ,if it had been marked up wrong.

With toy car parts, it's been a lesser risk and I've been more successful tbh, and parts from China, its pretty much the done thing, to mark as gift.

The UK have changed the import laws about recently, and they did drop ,gift , to £35 (sure it was unlimited at one point?) ,but sure it does include the shipping cost.

[alvinlwh 7688]

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[alvinlwh 7688]

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[Elbowloh 1483]

Right.

I made an ebay purchase from Germany. Item was 95 Euros,  plus 27 euro postage. Ebay collected 20% vat even though the total cost is less than £135.

 

Now Parcelforce have made me pay another 20% VAT and a £12 release fee, again the cost is less than £135. So that's now about £48 charges and tax i've had to pay on an item that was only £83.

 

I'm both confused and ******* angry. I have to try and claim this back and don't know how to even start!

[toyolien 6515]

1 hour ago, Elbowloh said:

Right.

I made an ebay purchase from Germany. Item was 95 Euros,  plus 27 euro postage. Ebay collected 20% vat even though the total cost is less than £135.

 

Now Parcelforce have made me pay another 20% VAT and a £12 release fee, again the cost is less than £135. So that's now about £48 charges and tax i've had to pay on an item that was only £83.

 

I'm both confused and ******* angry. I have to try and claim this back and don't know how to even start!

If you've already paid the vat through ebay then parcel farce shouldn't take it again. Have you tried ringing parcel farce?

Incidentally I no longer buy from overseas through eBay because they always add the vat...

[alvinlwh 7688]

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[alvinlwh 7688]

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[Elbowloh 1483]

Cheers guys.

I've now spoken to ebay, and they said they'll refund the VAT if i provide them with the paid VAT invoice from Parcelforce (just upload the document into a link they gave me). That is simpler and quicker than claiming back from HMRC which is filling in a form by hand and posting with a proof of VAT payment via ebay.

There's no way to get back the £12 release fee though. It's ridiculous.

 

 

[alvinlwh 7688]

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