Customers in Germany being charged VAT despite items being sent Click And Drop

[Freakzilla]

Hi Guys,

I send all my international items via Click and Drop. A few times recently DHL have charged the German customer Vat and a handling charge to receive the item. Al items are sent with IOSS, so this shouldn’t be the case. All the items have been Large Letters. The huge majority are being received OK.

Anyone else having this issue?

 

[Freakzilla]

I just phoned Click & Drop they checked the order in question, and said everything is fine and the customer shouldn't of been charged, but they have. That's all the help they gave me.

 

[AlanJ1]

I just phoned Click & Drop they checked the order in question, and said everything is fine and the customer shouldn't of been charged, but they have. That's all the help they gave me.

It's being charged by the customs not Royal Mail or anyone on there end so won't be more they can give.

The rules are all over the place and certain towns have different rules to others to cover there cost of doing things. It's all over the place really. We have one right now on Amazon in Spain saying they need to pay 8 Euros, but Amazon take control of all IOSS!

 

[Freakzilla]

It's absolute jokes. Just had another claim on Amazon over it.

 

[Deleted member 335660]

Hi Guys,

I send all my international items via Click and Drop. A few times recently DHL have charged the German customer Vat and a handling charge to receive the item. Al items are sent with IOSS, so this shouldn’t be the case. All the items have been Large Letters. The huge majority are being received OK.

Anyone else having this issue?

Yes, we bought £85 worth of jewellery from a UK supplier and courier charged us €45 in VAT and €23 admin.
I am challenging this and asking UK supplier to help whilst looking for alternative EU supplier to save on cost and hassle.
It’s still a mess and no doubt will get worse after January.

 

[Mr Dibb]

We have had the same issue with FedEx. However we do send them as DDP, so when FedEx make the mistake they bill us instead of the customer. This means we can either just query the invoice with them or issue a correction via our IOSS return. Obviously the latter is not an option for marketplace orders.

 

[romeo b]

I am also getting select orders which have been dispatched via eBay (sent with eBay IOSS / VAT paid by customer, using an IOSS-approved tracked Royal Mail service) that are being charged €14 in France [for example] or so on a £30gbp item including postage.

Most stuff arrives without issue, but then I get random people complaining they have been charged. I just don't get it, and it stops repeat custom from these people.

 

[fallschirmjaeger]

I am also getting select orders which have been dispatched via eBay (sent with eBay IOSS / VAT paid by customer, using an IOSS-approved tracked Royal Mail service) that are being charged €14 in France [for example] or so on a £30gbp item including postage.

Most stuff arrives without issue, but then I get random people complaining they have been charged. I just don't get it, and it stops repeat custom from these people.

Are you using a IOSS Sticker/Stamp and stamping 'EU VAT DUTY PAID' I have had zero complaints when i started using these. Think about it - when a 'standard' package arrives in the EU postal service, you need to make it easy for the sorting staff to determine which needs to be charged VAT and which doesn't. So using these on front and back of an item makes it easy for them!

 

[romeo b]

Are you using a IOSS Sticker/Stamp and stamping 'EU VAT DUTY PAID' I have had zero complaints when i started using these. Think about it - when a 'standard' package arrives in the EU postal service, you need to make it easy for the sorting staff to determine which needs to be charged VAT and which doesn't. So using these on front and back of an item makes it easy for them!

It's got the IOSS logo anyway on the CN22 from eBay itself, but maybe like you say an extra bit is required to make it idiot proof. I don't know how automated it is with regards to sorting and human interaction of 'this needs surcharging' in other countries, I have a fair bit of knowledge of the UK's sorting procedures however.

I can't see why one item gets through and another doesn't. Baffling.

I'll probably start doing that though with big obvious stickers. Probably worth me adding "VAT PAID" enormous all over the item too to make it even more simple.

<sigh>

 

[fallschirmjaeger]

It's got the IOSS logo anyway on the CN22 from eBay itself, but maybe like you say an extra bit is required to make it idiot proof. I don't know how automated it is with regards to sorting and human interaction of 'this needs surcharging' in other countries, I have a fair bit of knowledge of the UK's sorting procedures however.

I can't see why one item gets through and another doesn't. Baffling.

I'll probably start doing that though with big obvious stickers. Probably worth me adding "VAT PAID" enormous all over the item too to make it even more simple.

<sigh>

Yeah the IOSS sticker on CN22 is tiny!

Well that's what I've done and may be coincidence but I'm not getting any complaints of having to pay VAT a second time. I add the IOSS stamp to front and back and also 'EU VAT DUTY PAID' next to the IOSS stamp!

 

[Freakzilla]

Any update with this? I'm still having this issue.

 

[romeo b]

Any update with this? I'm still having this issue.

Same here, in multiple countries.

Even with IOSS paid and a bright yellow “VAT PAID VIA EBAY IOSS” purpose made sticker, customers report having to pay anywhere from €3-10 for £15-20 items.

 

[fallschirmjaeger]

Same here, in multiple countries.

Even with IOSS paid and a bright yellow “VAT PAID VIA EBAY IOSS” purpose made sticker, customers report having to pay anywhere from €3-10 for £15-20 items.

That's interesting as i am not getting any customers complaining to me and i send approx. 10 to 15 items per day to all over Europe. However I also do it the old fashioned way with a franking machine and CN22 sticker on the back and I add the IOSS stamp to front and back and also 'EU VAT DUTY PAID' next to the IOSS stamps. I've had a couple of returns and some long delays but no complaint about charges!

I'm starting to think it is just luck!

 

[Graham Wharton]

IOSS status needs to be included in the electronic customs info. Just writing IOSS on the packet isn't enough.

 

[Freakzilla]

Same here, in multiple countries.

Even with IOSS paid and a bright yellow “VAT PAID VIA EBAY IOSS” purpose made sticker, customers report having to pay anywhere from €3-10 for £15-20 items.

I've had 4 claims on Amazon today alone.

 

[capacitum.com]

Hi
We had a look into this as we had major issues in July 2021 even after being IOSS registered and using IOSS images and labels on the packages. Customs would reject parcel or charge customers taxes and duty etc. It was a huge mess and very costly.

Shipping from the EU, with goods stored in the EU requires one to be VAT registered in the country your goods will be stored in. So for example if you are going to use a 3pl or open your warehouse in say France, you will need to be VAT registered in France. Then if you are going to sell in other EU countries, not just France then you also have to register for OSS so you can collect the taxes on your online store checkout.

Then each month you will need to provide the necessary sales information to the company that will be handling your VAT returns and OSS submissions and pay the taxes you have collected from each countries sales. Remember VAT rates are different in each EU country so you really want a web platform that can handle that or open an individual store aimed for that specific country.

After looking through all of our options we opted for FRANCE, as it didn't require fiscal representation, it seemed like the quickest time to get our registrations in place and it was the closest to the UK so sending our goods from here to there would be "cheaper and quicker".

We are now able to send our goods to the whole of EU much faster than we ever could from the UK, we can ship to Ireland and other EU countries in 1 day and overall our customers are much happier.

I hope this information helps