UK import charges/fees from France.

[final_edition]

What is the deal with purchases made from overseas now?

I have purchased a bike part from France for €350 plus €18 shipping.

The price includes the vat in France.

I have received a text from FedEx requesting an import charge for £77.42. To include a £12 handling charge.

The reasoning in the text was that the item had been purchased outside of th EU.


Import duty is £0
Import tax £65.42

Do I need to pay the amount and collect a tax rebate form the French business seller?

Thanks

Typo on the title..unable to edit

Edited by final_edition on Tuesday 23 February 16:51

[Lonely]

This news article may help you - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55734277

[final_edition]

Lonely said:

This news article may help you - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55734277

I understand having to pay vat on the item but the charge has been worked out with the French vat added to the item. Am I expected to pay vat to both countries?

Apologies if I missed that in the article.

[seveb]

You should not have been charged VAT in France. Get seller to refund it or cancel order. Seller should only charge VAT on items below £135.

[QuickQuack]

I'm not sure if anyone knows the definitive answer. All the Brexit guidance seems to be for businesses and traders rather than for consumers buying directly across borders (in both directions). It may or may not be legally possible to claim the VAT paid in France back. However, even if it is possible, I doubt that an actual process exists for anyone to be able to put a claim in. I made a purchase from Europe as well and had to pay an extra £72 in import duty plus handling charge on just over £360 worth of electrical items. That price had also included the local VAT, so yes, we're being clobbered with VAT and import duty on top of that. I don't think there's a remedy available to consumers yet. Thank Boris and the Brexiteers...

[Toltec]

I bought something recently for a little under €200, when I entered a UK delivery address the local VAT was removed from the price and I had to pay UPS to cover the UK VAT before delivery.

[BlackTails]

final_edition said:

What is the deal with purchases made from overseas now?

I have purchased a bike part from France for €350 plus €18 shipping.

The price includes the vat in France.

I have received a text from FedEx requesting an import charge for £77.42. To include a £12 handling charge.

The reasoning in the text was that the item had been purchased outside of th EU.


Import duty is £0
Import tax £65.42

Do I need to pay the amount and collect a tax rebate form the French business seller?

Thanks

Typo on the title..unable to edit

Edited by final_edition on Tuesday 23 February 16:51

The French seller ought not to have charged you TVA based on the delivery address. Sounds like he might have just used you to plump his profit margins though. Good luck getting the TVA back from him...

[21st Century Man]

There's no duty and it's vat off, vat on. Some carriers are taking the piss with fees.

[final_edition]

BlackTails said:

The French seller ought not to have charged you TVA based on the delivery address. Sounds like he might have just used you to plump his profit margins though. Good luck getting the TVA back from him...

I do have conversations with the seller. I have purchased from him before. He has also ended up with a bike that I once owned.

There is common ground.

I have just messaged him and wait his reply.

[Lonely]

final_edition said:

BlackTails said:

The French seller ought not to have charged you TVA based on the delivery address. Sounds like he might have just used you to plump his profit margins though. Good luck getting the TVA back from him...

I do have conversations with the seller. I have purchased from him before. He has also ended up with a bike that I once owned.

There is common ground.

I have just messaged him and wait his reply.

Sounds like this is correct. I found this bit on the Gov website for you - and if this is over £135 then normal VAT and customs rules will apply, meaning that import VAT will be chargeable and so supply VAT should not be charged at the point of sale.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/changes...

[final_edition]

As the invoice is in with the item, I wrongly assumed that the seller had included VAT.

He has informed me he has charged zero vat, as it's a used part, which doesn't incur vat in France.

Although being liable for a UK vat invoice, I am happy that I am not paying twice.


Thanks for your advice

[21st Century Man]

Used. That's the kicker. There isn't vat on second hand goods, not in France and not in the UK. Yet for some inexplicable reason vat is levied upon import. This is also the case if the goods were given to you for free, with no transaction and no invoice.

[megaphone]

On used kit, keeping 'invoices' below 22 Euro is best.

Edited by megaphone on Wednesday 24th February 08:29

[rlw]

21st Century Man said:

Used. That's the kicker. There isn't vat on second hand goods, not in France and not in the UK. Yet for some inexplicable reason vat is levied upon import. This is also the case if the goods were given to you for free, with no transaction and no invoice.

There is VAT on secondhand goods bought from a UK business that is VAT registered.

I've stayed out of the whole thing but it seems to me that much of the guidance is aimed at businesses and not individuals and different rules may well apply, just as they did before, for each category.

[final_edition]

Item has been delivered without payment of charges.

Lets see how long they take to chase it up.

Edited by final_edition on Thursday 25th February 09:29

[megaphone]

Good article on Money Saving Expert, clear as mud!

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/buying-...

[Lonely]

megaphone said:

Good article on Money Saving Expert, clear as mud!

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/buying-...

But to give them due respect they do clearly state they are receiving conflicting advice from those who should know!