Brexit and VAT & Customs

[commadus]

So how will this affect competition?

If you are a UK consumer buying off say Ali Baba etc then you will pay customs duty and VAT on everything that is under £15? I believe before you only paid VAT and customs if it was above £15?

Now if you buy from a European supplier - they will charge UK VAT - but would that mean they need to register with HMRC for VAT?

Or they send the item without VAT so then we can pay it in the UK - but there will be customs charge, VAT charge and handling fees. Making small purchases uneconomic?

Is this correct or have I got it mixed up?

So how does that affect UK online sellers selling into Europe? Do we need to register with each countries VAT authorities?

 

[jjscruff]

i've posted about this elsewhere and no replies either.
No one seems to know anything about it, which is strange since this should be in practice now.
All e-commerce vendors based worldwide who sell to a UK consumer need to register for uk vat.
Absolutely bonkers. If i was an international seller and UK made up a small portion of my orders i'd rather just exclude it.

 

[JamieM]

Yes, any non UK seller needs to register for and charge UK VAT.

No customs duty due in the UK on goods under £135.

There shouldn't be any admin fee because VAT is already paid.

For UK selling to EU there is currently import VAT due in the EU country for order values above €22. Duty is also due on goods valued above €150.

From 1st July UK sellers can register for One Stop Shop VAT in an EU country and collect the VAT at the point of sale. They only need to register in one EU country and file a VAT return in that country for all EU sales.

That's my understanding of it.

 

[jjscruff]

Yes, any non UK seller needs to register for and charge UK VAT.

No customs duty due in the UK on goods under £135.

There shouldn't be any admin fee because VAT is already paid.

For UK selling to EU there is currently import VAT due in the EU country for order values above €22. Duty is also due on goods valued above €150.

From 1st July UK sellers can register for One Stop Shop VAT in an EU country and collect the VAT at the point of sale. They only need to register in one EU country and file a VAT return in that country for all EU sales.

That's my understanding of it.

This is all correct i believe except that "For UK selling to EU there is currently import VAT due in the EU country for order values above €22"

A UK company doesn't have to register for EU VAT unless they pass VAT thresholds in any EU countries. They can send goods into the EU but the EU customer will have to pay the VAT on import (f the item is above €22)

In July the threshold for the entire EU will be only €10,000 so most exporting companies will have to register then. I'd imagine Irish accountants will get a good bit of business from the UK from One Stop Shop VAT

 

[Jonsam]

anyone know anything about sending in the NI now, do you just charge the vat as normal? i was thinking about holding some goods in NI and shipping our NI and ROI orders from there, but I read that to send stock over to northern Ireland you need to pay the vat again to get it there is that correct?

 

[jjscruff]

anyone know anything about sending in the NI now, do you just charge the vat as normal? i was thinking about holding some goods in NI and shipping our NI and ROI orders from there, but I read that to send stock over to northern Ireland you need to pay the vat again to get it there is that correct?

surely nothing has changed there since NI is UK and so has the same rules as england/scot/wales?

 

[Ally Maxwell]

surely nothing has changed there since NI is UK and so has the same rules as england/scot/wales?

Have you been living on a different planet to everyone else ??

 

[paulears]

Thomann, one of my favourite German suppliers has changed their website English pages to show all prices excluding VAT, and then customers will have to pay VAT when it's applied by DHL, Fedex or Royal Mail, plus the handling charge. However - items above 35Kg come by a specialist heavy carrier and they won't accept imports at the moment - so they are not supplying anything large coming in. OK via the usual carriers, but pallets are out for the moment.

I'm on a carnet course next week because I sell goods into NI, but also travel to Belfast fairly frequently with a van full of gear to do shows - everything coming off the ferry needs to be itemised and on the carnet, and then the same when I come back. That is my understanding.

At the moment the jury is out on the process for sending items to NI - I'm not actually sure if I'm supposed to charge VAT in the normal way and just get it delivered via Royal Mail. At the moment - I don't know. Many of my ebay sales go to NI, so I am hoping when the next one appears, ebay will prompt me for the correct procedure.

 

[scstock]

Thomann, one of my favourite German suppliers has changed their website English pages to show all prices excluding VAT, and then customers will have to pay VAT when it's applied by DHL, Fedex or Royal Mail, plus the handling charge

I thought that all EU sellers had to register with HMRC for VAT?

I wonder what will happen if something you buy from them develops a fault after six months and you need to return it for repair/replacement? Duty and VAT payable both ways?

 

[YPC2017]

I have pallets on their way from Italy. VAT is charged when it enters UK. You get a VAT certificate and claim it back. EU companies don't need to be registered for VAT in UK.

 

[scstock]

I have pallets on their way from Italy. VAT is charged when it enters UK. You get a VAT certificate and claim it back. EU companies don't need to be registered for VAT in UK.

Is that just for B2B shipments though? B2C e-commerce need to register for, and charge UK VAT I believe.

 

[DontAsk]

Is that just for B2B shipments though? B2C e-commerce need to register for, and charge UK VAT I believe.

For consignments under £135.

 

[commadus]

So if you provide services as a free trial, you don't need to account for any sale until the customer is invoiced and then it depends on amount, where they are based, whether they are a business or personal customer?

 

[Mr D]

So if you provide services as a free trial, you don't need to account for any sale until the customer is invoiced and then it depends on amount, where they are based, whether they are a business or personal customer?

Now you understand why some companies are not supplying buyers in the UK currently.

A couple of our suppliers - we had stocked up once again prior to end of transitional regs - have written to us to tell us they aren't supplying anything to UK currently however they can supply to EU freight forwarder who we can then contract with to have stuff delivered.
If we can find one to do deliveries.

Got several months of their stock on hand in case of problems so either things get sorted out by summer or there's a gaping black hole of stuff in the UK, only available to consumers purchasing small quantities.

 

[paulears]

I did a webinar today on carnets - as I'll almost certainly need to use them this year if business starts again. However, my information that you need a carnet to go in and out of Northern Ireland is wrong. A customs declaration is what is needed, but this is for goods being sent to NI and left there. I would take a load of gear in, then bring it back. To countries outside the EU, I'd use a carnet - with the usual vouchers, so I assumed this was extended to NI, but the chamber of commerce who I'd use tell me you don't need a carnet for NI. So do I just get on the ferry and hope at the other side they don't asked for paperwork of any kind. I can produce a list - the same list I'd use for the carnet. I tended to use a big list, and delete the items on it that I wasn't taking for a trip as you cannot add to a carnet, but you can note missing items which is cheaper as they last longer. I don't know because it's not mentioned anywhere I can find how temporary equipment is managed for GB to NI. After the training, I think I'm OK with the carnet system - but nobody knew about temporary imports to NI. The carnet training was useful as I had not realised that Eurostar do not have customs at the place you drive into the train - the customs office is somewhere else, so you have to go there, get the exit voucher processed then drive to the train. The same happens in France. Hopefully it will settle soon - but actually getting a customs officer to stamp the form and take the voucher is apparently impossible at some points of entry/exit as when you pick up the phone, there could be a delay of an hour to get somebody to the site. The penalties for not getting the stamps when you come back in are quite steep, and the chamber of commerce are concerned that having to pay the UK customs to confirm you brought goods back in, because nobody in France or Belgium was there to stamp the form can be very expensive - I think it's about £60 for the visit, and the £90 for the certificate.

 

[SeanOF]

This is all correct i believe except that "For UK selling to EU there is currently import VAT due in the EU country for order values above €22"

A UK company doesn't have to register for EU VAT unless they pass VAT thresholds in any EU countries. They can send goods into the EU but the EU customer will have to pay the VAT on import (f the item is above €22)

One addition to this, as I understand it, is that if you hold stock in the EU (as an Amazon Seller probably would) then you also have to register for VAT in that country regardless of how much (or little) you sell.