Courier VAT charge - Already paid

[Jhonno]

I think this might be the right forum for it.. (It may have been covered before, but I don't frequent forums outside of the car ones).

I've just received an invoice out the blue, for VAT charges from FedEx, for £90 item I bought from Czech through eBay in July, where I paid the VAT at POS,

Not only that, but they are invoicing me for £44 (plus their handling fee) which is ~50% VAT..

There is no name on the invoice, it's been invoiced to my house (but my name is on the delivery details further down).

Am I likely to get anywhere telling them to go away as I've already paid the VAT? (I have the eBay invoice proving it) Any failings in their system creating double charge, shouldn't be being paid for by the customer.. I order from the US/China etc regularly without any such issues..

[Ussrcossack]

Some one will come along in su 're with a better answer

You've paid EU vat now UK vat.

That's brexit

[SmoothCriminal]

Quick look at which guide says you shouldn't be charged VAT at source but 20% on the total cost of order and shipping when it arrives in the UK.

[guitarcarfanatic]

This is quite common and I think you can claim the extra VAT back from HMRC. The admin fee is a cost of doing business outside of the UK though (50% seems quite high though! Normally about £10-15!)

Cheers,

Rob

[Jhonno]

guitarcarfanatic said:

This is quite common and I think you can claim the extra VAT back from HMRC. The admin fee is a cost of doing business outside of the UK though (50% seems quite high though! Normally about £10-15!)

Cheers,

Rob

Apologies the admin fee is £12.43 + VAT

The VAT they have charged me is £44 for a £90 item so ~50% VAT

[Jhonno]

SmoothCriminal said:

Quick look at which guide says you shouldn't be charged VAT at source but 20% on the total cost of order and shipping when it arrives in the UK.

When I buy from China now, I pay the 20% VAT at the "Checkout" now.. I never did before. Same as when I buy from the US I can pre-pay the fees with some couriers.

[Jhonno]

Ussrcossack said:

Some one will come along in su 're with a better answer

You've paid EU vat now UK vat.

That's brexit

Would I be paying the VAT from the EU country on a used item?

[martinbiz]

Ussrcossack said:

Some one will come along in su 're with a better answer

You've paid EU vat now UK vat.

That's brexit

That's not how it works. Why post when you don't have a clue about the process?

[guitarcarfanatic]

I bought something from a Spanish company and their policy was:

If it's below £130ish, they would charge VAT it at point of sale. You may get charged by the courier, but then you claim it back.

If it's over £130ish, they wouldn't apply at point of sale and you should be paying via the courier.

Are you sure the 50% is purely VAT? And not other taxes/duty as well? Maybe the declared value was wrong.

[anonymous-user]

Similar problem for me with Fedex, bought item from France but the wrong HS code was put down so they calculated the duty incorrectly. Tried to contact them so they could use the right HS code but no response at all.

Wonder how many others are getting stiffed like this?

Absolutely useless shower of ste they are. Looks like I will have to work out how to claim the excess duty back which is probably a right PITA.

[Jhonno]

guitarcarfanatic said:

Are you sure the 50% is purely VAT? And not other taxes/duty as well? Maybe the declared value was wrong.

Yes, code on the invoice is purely VAT.

[guitarcarfanatic]

The item value must have been declared wrong, HMRC decided it was wrong or no value was declared so it was made up. You will need to claim back the VAT.

[Jhonno]

guitarcarfanatic said:

The item value must have been declared wrong, HMRC decided it was wrong or no value was declared so it was made up. You will need to claim back the VAT.

Have you got a link how to do that? I am a private individual... Just had a quick Google and am only seeing links to do with VAT returns and similar initially.

[thatsprettyshady]

Retailer incorrectly charged you VAT, contact them and ask them to refund.

[guitarcarfanatic]

Here is the link - see at the bottom...

[Jhonno]

guitarcarfanatic said:

Here is the link - see at the bottom...

Cheers mate.

[J__Wood]

Quite a good guide here https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/onl...

As others have said at under £135 there shouldn't be any Duty and the 'new' rules require EU sellers to register with HMRC to account for VAT in order to sell to the UK.

If it were over £135 there would be Duty if item produced outside the EU at whatever rate (can be ~50% if anti-dumping product; steel car wheels, MSG and bicycles originally from China. Thermal paper from Korea) and Import VAT instead of normal VAT.

[guitarcarfanatic]

J__Wood said:

Quite a good guide here https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/onl...

As others have said at under £135 there shouldn't be any Duty and the 'new' rules require EU sellers to register with HMRC to account for VAT in order to sell to the UK.

If it were over £135 there would be Duty if item produced outside the EU at whatever rate (can be ~50% if anti-dumping product; steel car wheels, MSG and bicycles originally from China. Thermal paper from Korea) and Import VAT instead of normal VAT.

That ties up with my understanding - I suspect the couriers err on side of caution if unsure...hence 50% VAT

[Jhonno]

FWIW I questioned the invoice, included the VAT receipt, and I received a cancelled invoice today.

Edited by Jhonno on Wednesday 22 December 11:19

[HiAsAKite]

Thanks for update OP, always good to see closure.