Small EU import - unintentionally dragged into paperwork hell?

[jimbof]

Predominantly a tech engineering services firm operating in UK, on occasion I've ordered bits and pieces from EU-land, but probably not post Brexit.
I ordered a couple of supplies from a Czech firm; the order was for £70 ex VAT. They had my VAT number on file and so billed me ex VAT (I'm not sure if they were in error in doing this - I thought they should have charged VAT). Goods arrived, no request for VAT for courier like I get when I buy things from US / India recently, etc, so now I have goods in the country on which no taxes have been paid.

I'm conscious that HMRC obviously are aware I've done the odd import from EU in the past as they do send me various newsletters about import / export (some of which start "as you've previously imported from EU". All seems frightfully complicated, involving agents etc.

Does anyone have a dummies guide to what I need to get setup so this order and maybe others are dealt with properly? I don't want to end up with an investigation because HMRC have record of me receiving tuppence worth of gear from EU and not accounting for it correctly. The amounts of money are insignificant / non-existent as far as I can tell (as the output VAT I charge more than covers the input VAT that could ever apply), the hassle factor... significant...

 

[Martin Patfield]

This is pretty simple for your needs I think on this occasion - https://www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad/tax-and-duty

 

[jimbof]

This is pretty simple for your needs I think on this occasion - https://www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad/tax-and-duty

I've seen this, but it doesn't quite add up and I can only thing this is for non-VAT registered entities, or isn't the full story of all the scenarios. I know the seller didn't charge me VAT on the items, yet they were less than £135.

Is it a given you will always get a bill from the courier for items over £135, even if VAT registered?

 

[DefinitelyMaybeUK]

so now I have goods in the country on which no taxes have been paid.

That's acceptable when you're vat registered and comes under the postponed vat guise. There was a previous thread recently on similar scenario: https://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/...am-i-stupid-very-possibly.415234/post-3112300
Depending how you imported, you may have a statement on the HMRC system (which you need to register for), see my post #3 on the link above. But regardless, you *do* need to declare "missing" vat on your return, either the actual statement amount or an estimate as per HMRC guidelines - the figures cancel out at the end of the day though, so no payment is due.

 

[Imevaconsult]

Predominantly a tech engineering services firm operating in UK, on occasion I've ordered bits and pieces from EU-land, but probably not post Brexit.
I ordered a couple of supplies from a Czech firm; the order was for £70 ex VAT. They had my VAT number on file and so billed me ex VAT (I'm not sure if they were in error in doing this - I thought they should have charged VAT). Goods arrived, no request for VAT for courier like I get when I buy things from US / India recently, etc, so now I have goods in the country on which no taxes have been paid.

I'm conscious that HMRC obviously are aware I've done the odd import from EU in the past as they do send me various newsletters about import / export (some of which start "as you've previously imported from EU". All seems frightfully complicated, involving agents etc.

Does anyone have a dummies guide to what I need to get setup so this order and maybe others are dealt with properly? I don't want to end up with an investigation because HMRC have record of me receiving tuppence worth of gear from EU and not accounting for it correctly. The amounts of money are insignificant / non-existent as far as I can tell (as the output VAT I charge more than covers the input VAT that could ever apply), the hassle factor... significant...

Hi, As the value of the import is less than £135 it is possible that the courier has simply cleared these goods under goods of negligible value CPC, or has used PVA (postponed vat accounting) as method of payment. Another things, could be that the terms you bought these goods on were DDP, and the supplier has covered the costs.