Customs

[Justin McArdle]

The UK-EU Preference system is only available to VAT registered traders and requires that the EU seller states that materials are of EU origin their invoice.
EU suppliers should not charge VAT to UK retail customers. UK VAT and import duty will be charged via the carrier - often after the materials have delivered. The VAT and duty will be levied on the total  value of the materials  and the cost of carriage. Courier companies will also charge a processing fee if £8.50 to £11.00.
The taxes are calculated on the commercial value of the materials irrespective of they are gifts or free samples.
For the record UPS is largely dysfunctional; wait times of 1+ hour to get through to customer service; their warehouses overwhelmed by delayed EU to UK shipments.
GLS has always been a very slow service.

[neil-yaj396]

There is no Customs duty on goods moving EU to UK and vice versa, if it is charged, this is in error.

The exception may be goods coming from say China or elsewhere via the EU (Brussels airport is a big hub for such movements).

I think ebay, or other platforms, are now liable for VAT on sales into the UK from the EU, so that is likely to be the big extra cost as Charles points out.

[Charles Frodsham]

There is no Customs duty on goods moving EU to UK and vice versa, if it is charged, this is in error.

Still confused!

Does that mean no VAT between EU and UK?

[peteracs]

Hi Charles

No, Neil means import duty, not VAT which are different.

Peter

[peteracs]

For the record UPS is largely dysfunctional; wait times of 1+ hour to get through to customer service; their warehouses overwhelmed by delayed EU to UK shipments.
GLS has always been a very slow service.

I also heard from a supplier of mine in the UK that shipments to EU are well behind, normal next day parcel to Germany via DHL at the end of Jan had still not got there by Monday this week. I guess this will sort itself out in time, but I would suggest delay any purchases if they are not urgent or at least the shipping of them.

Shipping from elsewhere appears normal. I bought some (electronic) parts from the US the other Thursday and Fedex delivered the following Monday morning as would be normal.

Peter

[simonandjuliet]

Here is the FEDEX receipt , it clearly states import duty and import tax (plus handling) - on a 500 euro sale

[Lightweight_911]

.

Whether or not import duty is charged will depend on the commodity (tariff) code - of which there are 1000's.

Rates of duty can be anything from zero to 12% (eg some clothes) - maybe more - highlighting the importance of giving goods the correct tariff code.

For instance, here's the information from HMRC's website relating to shock absorbers:

[Kevinlincs]

Does this only apply to new items?

[Lightweight_911]

.

No - it applies to used items as well ...

.

[peteracs]

Hi

Is this true for items of EU origin as I thought they did not attract import duty in the Brexit agreement?

Peter

[neil-yaj396]

Hi

Is this true for items of EU origin as I thought they did not attract import duty in the Brexit agreement?

Peter

You're right Peter, at the risk of repeating myself there should be absolutely no CUSTOMS duty on goods shipped from the EU. Confusingly in Lightweight's post it refers to third countries, which pre-brexit excluded the EU and the term seems to be wrongly staggering on.

If Simon's invoice relates to goods UK to France then he has been overcharged, unless, as already stated the items somehow made their way via the UK from somewhere else.

I think this whole post just goes to show how confused people, and many businesses, have become now that they are suddenly exposed to customs procedures. Imports from the US have always been subject to this, so merrily carry on as normal. When I worked in Customs in the 1980s imports from the EU did have to go via customs until the single market, and again, because it was normal everything worked reasonably well, albeit with a lot of extra paperwork.

This is no doubt what some club members voted for......

[lancianut666]

Hmmm...I have bought items from Austria used cameras and Italy new car parts and the parcels just landed at the door and the man said there you go Sir! no charges or demands...so is this all
1) A SNAFU
or
2) A FUBAR
or
3) One big Con!
or
4) A combination of any or all of the above!
I have also sent things to Norway and Germany with no problems. But had an ocean of grief when I sent a parcel to South Africa. I think the codes from HMRC are the key in all this so I can understand why some things just run into a world of pain when they troll up on a custom man's desk. It will presumably completely grind to a halt both ways when the UK actually starts checking stuff coming in. As for the people of Northern Ireland they are in a bad place.
Mystified of Redcar

[Duncan23]

It's more complicated than where the goods are sent from. In theory, if a part is sent from China (or anywhere outside the EU) to France, and then from France to the UK, duty is liable on both legs of that journey. The part only becomes "of French origin" is it is processed in some way (eg included in some larger component, and making up less than 45% of the value of that component). This makes things really difficult for any shipping company - if they apply the rules correctly then they need paperwork to show that it is of French origin in order to exclude the duty.

There are all sorts of other exemptions, like a limit on the value of gifts at £39 before they become liable for VAT, and £135 before an item is liable for duty:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55734277

As it applies to bicycles:
https://www.bicycleassociation.org.uk/news-press/post-brexit-regulations-product-safety-standards-ukca-mark-uk-eu-rules-of-origin/

Given how much confusion there is on this topic, I think it's going to take quite a while before this settles down into something that is predictable for the consumer.

[Waka]

I wrote about this in an earlier post, particularly in relation to Ebay sales, where Ebay are adding VAT at the point of sale when you bid on items on Ebay.it or presumably .fr or any other European site. I bought items made for Lancia in Turin, new old stock, and VAT was added and then import duties as i was text by UPS with a link to pay "Import fees" - It leaves you in a very difficult situation as failure to pay halts the shipment and then returned to sender. There was also a fee for admin. A few days later another shipment sailed through without any fees (again UPS but not Ebay) there is apparently a massive backlog at docks and it seems to depend on whether the seller (or agent in this case Ebay) is registered with UK Customs and Ex.
I've also had sellers in Holland and France refusing to sell to UK due to paperwork required. Whether this remains the case we will see.

[rikardo]

My GLS shipment from Germany arrived all-of-a-sudden yesterday 11 February. There was no update for 10 days while it was en route to their main parcel centre (in Germany) and then just 3 days for it to arrive at my door. No added charges so Im guessing the seller (autodoc) had their paperwork correctly completed for HMRC VAT purposes.

My UPS shipments from Spain have now "Cleared Customs". From the shipment sent/dispatch date, this has them taken 28 days and 20 days, but there is still no scheduled delivery date for either. Their excuse for the longer delay was bad weather. I know for a fact this is untrue, the seller confirmed this. And I checked the weather forecast at the time, no such thing. Indeed, if you have the option, do not use UPS, they are utterly hopeless in every respect. I have no reason to doubt the sellers telling me they completed the paperwork correctly (they emailed me copies for me to confirm this). One is now "pausing" his trade to the UK and both are considering other shipping companies in the meantime.

A Le Mans 24hr race-goer friend who lives near Paris has likewise had to "pause" his trading to the UK because Colissimo (French Postal Service) and Mondial Relay both discontinued shipments to the UK, certainly for private/small-scale sellers like himself. That was the situation about a month ago, things may have changed by now, I dont know. Luckily, my last purchase from him was pre-brexit.

Whatever the situation, this whole brexit mess (there - Ive nailed my colours to the mast) is going to take some time to settle down/get used to. Our previous expectations of delivery times from Europe will have to be re-thought and put more in line with deliveries from the other side of the ocean and/or planet, certainly for the time being.