Claiming back VAT from Chinese purchases

[lavster]

Hello, I am an ebay seller and I stock / sell products from china, I am near the need to register for UK VAT and im concerned of a big loss of sales if I have to charge an extra 20% on top of my current sales. If for instance i place an order for £2000 from china, is it possible to claim back VAT as im guessing i wont have a VAT invoice from my supplier.

 

[Hash and Bash]

Once you are vat registered and have an EORI, you should be issued with a C79 form detailing the vat that has been levied on your imports.
"You can reclaim the VAT paid on the goods you’ve imported as input tax. You will need the import VAT certificate (form C79) to show that you’ve paid the import VAT."
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/manuals/insmanual/ins12705.htm

 

[GraemeL]

Hello, I am an ebay seller and I stock / sell products from china

Do you currently pay VAT on the products you import from China?

i wont have a VAT invoice from my supplier.

You definitely will not get an invoice from a Chinese supplier that includes VAT. You will pay HMRC though.
G

 

[lavster]

Thanks both for your replies. Yes i've just been checking back through my commercial invoice and my fedex invoices for import duty, looks like I have been paying the VAT for my imports. I already have an EORI so il need to get C79 form for all my details

 

[mtools]

Your Chinese supplier won't issue a VAT invoice because they don't charge VAT. You pay when it enters the UK. If you get it sent by air you'll get an invoice from the company shipping it, if you've got it sent by sea your forwarding agent would sort it, but either way you'll pay import duty and VAT on every shipment regardless of if you're VAT registered or not