Post Brexit import experiences

TheBigEraser · Feb 12, 2021

Thanks Gents!

In this case that would be interesting scenario too. I think when you travel out of EU (e.g. Japan), as an interntional traveller you are entitled to the VAT exemption when buying goods. And if you don't get caught up in EU custom when you travelling back, actually you only pay pre-VAT price of the goods. I wonder if this will be the same scenario for EU residents to travel to UK now.

And the next questions would be if this applies to made-to-measure jackets. For example if I ordered the jacket now and paid the VAT-free price, is it possible to pick it up personally later when you travel to the UK, or they have to ship that out after the jacket is made.

Harris HTM · Feb 12, 2021

TheBigEraser said:
Thanks Gents!

In this case that would be interesting scenario too. I think when you travel out of EU (e.g. Japan), as an interntional traveller you are entitled to the VAT exemption when buying goods. And if you don't get caught up in EU custom when you travelling back, actually you only pay pre-VAT price of the goods. I wonder if this will be the same scenario for EU residents to travel to UK now.

And the next questions would be if this applies to made-to-measure jackets. For example if I ordered the jacket now and paid the VAT-free price, is it possible to pick it up personally later when you travel to the UK, or they have to ship that out after the jacket is made.

No idea. Whenever I travel outside the EU I never do the trick with VAT (getting the exemption from local VAT and then "forgetting" to mention it at the dutch customs, I guess I'm too coward when it comes to legal issues and confronting the state).

Cornelius · Feb 12, 2021

Bartender Edit:

OK, folks, let's keep away from the political angles, please - tax and otherwise. We're letting this thread stay open so that people can discuss and offer the benefit of experience on the practicalities of buying and selling in and out of the EU <=> UK as things have changed, but if it veers into the politics we'll have to close it. House Rules. Thank-you!

Edward · Feb 12, 2021

bn1966 said:
Another clothing order from Germany through today & things ran smoothly (under the import duty threshold), price I ended up paying was same as last year. Have purchased the odd T shirt too at under 22e but paid VAT in country of origin, these were very small outlets.

I'm not clear on where we're ta right now, but I understood that while duty already applies on items from the UK arriving in the EU, the UK has some sort of grace period, until April, to get its customs operation in order?

Marc mndt said:
+1

It feels wrong giving hundreds of euros to the tax authority, for nothing.

I'd say the trick is to work out what costs less; paying the UK VAT at, what, 20%? or paying whatever it will cost locally. Then it's a matter of where the difference lies, and if it's significant enough to make one option much preferable.

I shouldn't think, given these arrangements are all still very new and the inevitable sensitivity of it that there's much chance of packages arriving in the EU from the UK slipping through unprocessed.

Harris HTM said:
No idea. Whenever I travel outside the EU I never do the trick with VAT (getting the exemption from local VAT and then "forgetting" to mention it at the dutch customs, I guess I'm too coward when it comes to legal issues and confronting the state).

Never done it myself either. Mind you, for me that has predominantly been the US and China, and anything I've bought there would be unlikely to not end up costing me more in the UK. In any case, I've ever come close to the 'personal allowances limits'.

Harris HTM · Feb 12, 2021

My excuses for letting the thread move to more political issues like taxation. I removed any posts directly referring to tax system, let's keep it in the spirit of experiences regarding selling/buying between UK/EU.
My apologies once more.

Mandarin · Mar 12, 2021

I just received today an invoice from UPS asking me to pay 43 € for VAT concerning a jacket I received from the UK jan 16th. I called to ask why I was asked to pay two months later, and was told that at the time, they chose not to block the goods in customs and would take time to process the red tape later.
Another piece in the file. I guess I won't be buying from UK before long.

Monitor · Mar 12, 2021

Mandarin said:
I just received today an invoice from UPS asking me to pay 43 € for VAT concerning a jacket I received from the UK jan 16th. I called to ask why I was asked to pay two months later, and was told that at the time, they chose not to block the goods in customs and would take time to process the red tape later.
Another piece in the file. I guess I won't be buying from UK before long.

They can actually do that???

Mandarin · Mar 12, 2021

Monitor said:
They can actually do that???

Given the chaos induced by Brexit, I suppose they improvised to avoid stocking tons of unprocessed goods on both sides of the border.
I hope I'm not in for other delayed surprises like this.

NYDRH · Mar 12, 2021

Monitor said:
They can actually do that???

I've experienced similar with UPS and DHL in the U.S.

ton312 · Mar 13, 2021

My last Aero sailed through customs without any fee. I’ve had that happen 2/3 times. No clue what the deciding factor is. If I don’t get the email from DHL at around midnight the day after it ships, I figure I’m good. Never heard of a retroactive tax. Man that would blow.

Marc mndt · Mar 13, 2021

ton312 said:
My last Aero sailed through customs without any fee. I’ve had that happen 2/3 times. No clue what the deciding factor is. If I don’t get the email from DHL at around midnight the day after it ships, I figure I’m good. Never heard of a retroactive tax. Man that would blow.

You've got VPN, from Aero in Schotland to your doorstep. No one can touch

Tom71 · Mar 13, 2021

Mandarin said:
Given the chaos induced by Brexit, I suppose they improvised to avoid stocking tons of unprocessed goods on both sides of the border.
I hope I'm not in for other delayed surprises like this.

This must be the explanation. And to be honest, this is the fairest deal for all involved. The alternative would have been to wait forever for the jacket/parcel until everybody had sorted out how to deal with the new situation.

bn1966 · Mar 13, 2021

Had some slip through the net and been hit a bit harder with others including handling charges...paying a bit more overall for higher value items thus far than pre-Brexit but still very doable in my case.

nattevagten · Mar 15, 2021

MrProper said:
From Aero:
„We are currently trying to work out the best way to work things out longterm, to enable Aero to continue and to make sure European customers aren’t being given the short straw. We will likely be completely reorganizing our pricing structure, which has always been one price world wide, but this is something we’re still looking into as its early days for us in this situation too.“

I hope they’ll come up with some sort of a solution soon. Their jackets are fairly expensive as it is, now add another 30% in VAT / customs fees. Did some calculating meanwhile and it appears If I bought a £700 jacket, I’d have to pay another £210 in fees (20% VAT + 10% customs fee in these parts). Actually even more, as I didn’t include shipping. Simply can’t justify that price, unfortunately.

Bat02 · Apr 23, 2021

Sharing my experience with Aero; I bought a jacket from their sale and they shipped though DHL to France. I didn’t have to pay duties but I did have to pay French VAT which makes no sense to me as Aero’s price already includes UK VAT if I’m not mistaken (at least it did pre-brexit). As others have stated, the only up-charge I had to pay was VAT, no duties or tax were added because it’s a « made in UK » item. This is probably due to Aero’s invoice which lists their price as excluding VAT. This leaves me with a bitter taste in the mouth as it significantly reduces the attractiveness of the sale: you get 25% off retail price but get hit with 20% VAT (usual rate in the EU) that DHL makes sure you pay as a pre-requisite to delivery and I know other UK vendor actually deduce UK VAT when exporting to the EU. I wrote to Aero about it and I’m waiting for their feedback but I’m not optimistic judging from their positions on this in the past. It does feel like they’re trying to pocket the difference. Additionally, there’s no such thing as « worldwide price », it either includes or excludes VAT. It’s common practice to leave duties and import fees to the buyer but saying an item is including VAT for locals and excluding it for non-locals with no variation in price is illegal as far as I’m aware.

willyto · Apr 23, 2021

Yes, it's very clear they won't change their price for overseas customers when other business are doing it.

There's two ways to see it:
- You're paying Taxes twice on the jacket , UK VAT and French VAT so you're given the short straw
- You're being charged more than a regular UK customer just because you live in France so you're given the short straw

Either way you're paying more than you should be paying. They aren't charging you UK VAT so they must be pocketing the difference. That's the only explanation as of now.

Bat02 · Apr 23, 2021

They were doing the same to non-EU customers before so I guess I’m complaining like a good douche just because now it happens to me. I’m just puzzled how they could be getting away with it as this could have legal ramifications. I’m guessing it could also be transparent for the UK as they may declare as 0 VAT to the shipping company but still honor their responsibilities to the UK government and only penalize the international consumer in the process.

MrProper · Apr 23, 2021

Bat02 said:
Sharing my experience with Aero; I bought a jacket from their sale and they shipped though DHL to France. I didn’t have to pay duties but I did have to pay French VAT which makes no sense to me as Aero’s price already includes UK VAT if I’m not mistaken (at least it did pre-brexit). As others have stated, the only up-charge I had to pay was VAT, no duties or tax were added because it’s a « made in UK » item. This is probably due to Aero’s invoice which lists their price as excluding VAT. This leaves me with a bitter taste in the mouth as it significantly reduces the attractiveness of the sale: you get 25% off retail price but get hit with 20% VAT (usual rate in the EU) that DHL makes sure you pay as a pre-requisite to delivery and I know other UK vendor actually deduce UK VAT when exporting to the EU. I wrote to Aero about it and I’m waiting for their feedback but I’m not optimistic judging from their positions on this in the past. It does feel like they’re trying to pocket the difference. Additionally, there’s no such thing as « worldwide price », it either includes or excludes VAT. It’s common practice to leave duties and import fees to the buyer but saying an item is including VAT for locals and excluding it for non-locals with no variation in price is illegal as far as I’m aware.

On Facebook Aero wrote about the sale: "Please note - price shown are worldwide prices paid to Aero but do not include any duties / tariffs which may or may not be applied in any country which we export to."
We do not have to pay customs duties in the EU because there is a trade agreement. But VAT does, since there is no tax treaty. Aero could do without the Vat, as some other companies do, but they don't.

Bat02 · Apr 23, 2021

Just to restate, « worldwide price » isn’t a thing. They’re either collecting VAT or not collecting VAT when you’re buying the item. If they’re collecting UK VAT, it should be deduced when they export it to another country for the applicable VAT to be applied by the customs upon entry. Customs duties and fees are a different story and is an up-charge to import goods. An item cannot be VAT inclusive and non VAT inclusive with no variation in price just based on the country of shipping otherwise you’re either over-collecting or sub-collecting tax for it. This wouldn’t sit well with your local Treasury Office unless you’re invoicing differently to the customer and in your books but that’s not legal and penalizes the customer so it’s a weird practice for a business. Worst case you’re pocketing the difference but that’s also illegal.

MrProper · Apr 23, 2021

Bat02 said:
Just to restate, « worldwide price » isn’t a thing. They’re either collecting VAT or not collecting VAT when you’re buying the item. If they’re collecting UK VAT, it should be deduced when they export it to another country for the applicable VAT to be applied by the customs upon entry. Customs duties and fees are a different story and is an up-charge to import goods. An item cannot be VAT inclusive and non VAT inclusive with no variation in price just based on the country of shipping otherwise you’re either over collecting or sub collecting tax for it which wouldn’t sit well with your local Treasury Office unless you’re invoicing differently to the customer and in your books.

Check your bill. You will see that there is 0% VAT listed there. Due to the export to a third country, no VAT has to be paid in GB.

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