importing into Ireland
Discussion
We are importing some bottles from Eygpt into Ireland for storage for customers to call off.
They are sitting at Customs as there is a bit of debate about Irish VAT etc.
We have a UK deferment account, but that is no use. The goods are "invoiced" to the customer who will store them on our behalf, but we retain ownership of the glass.
If we pay the VAT, we can't claim it back, so what to do?
Any thoughts?
They are sitting at Customs as there is a bit of debate about Irish VAT etc.
We have a UK deferment account, but that is no use. The goods are "invoiced" to the customer who will store them on our behalf, but we retain ownership of the glass.
If we pay the VAT, we can't claim it back, so what to do?
Any thoughts?
Need a lot more info to ascertain your liabillity on this one.
You say 'We' - what is 'We'? Irish Republic, Nothern Ireland or UK Company? Did you charge VAT to the Company in Eygpt supplying the bottles?
When you say 'The goods are "invoiced" to the customer who will store them on our behalf, but we retain ownership of the glass.'
Who is the Customer? (Irish/UK Company or Person?)
You normally only pay VAT when you purchase something, can you not add that VAT back on when you sell?
I'm no accountant, but one of the reasons that I run my Compnay from the Irish Republic is that 90% of my income comes from the UK, that means I can zero rate the VAT and save myself a huge VAT liabillity.
So a bit more info please.
You say 'We' - what is 'We'? Irish Republic, Nothern Ireland or UK Company? Did you charge VAT to the Company in Eygpt supplying the bottles?
When you say 'The goods are "invoiced" to the customer who will store them on our behalf, but we retain ownership of the glass.'
Who is the Customer? (Irish/UK Company or Person?)
You normally only pay VAT when you purchase something, can you not add that VAT back on when you sell?
I'm no accountant, but one of the reasons that I run my Compnay from the Irish Republic is that 90% of my income comes from the UK, that means I can zero rate the VAT and save myself a huge VAT liabillity.
So a bit more info please.
OK, Clarification ...
The Goods were purchased from a glass manufacturer in Egypt.
The goods are going to be stored at our customer's premise, acting as a warehouse, so that other customers can collect. It saves us stacks loads doing this, and we often do it here in England.
We are an English registered company (137 years ago to be precise) with GB VAT number.
We had to create an invoice, effectively a proforma, for the customs paperwork, so we put the customer who is storing it on our behalf.
The customers will either be Irish, or Northern Irish, water companies.
Is that enough? Good point about the Irish company side of things, it would make sense, but some customers might get a little bit funny over it!
The Goods were purchased from a glass manufacturer in Egypt.
The goods are going to be stored at our customer's premise, acting as a warehouse, so that other customers can collect. It saves us stacks loads doing this, and we often do it here in England.
We are an English registered company (137 years ago to be precise) with GB VAT number.
We had to create an invoice, effectively a proforma, for the customs paperwork, so we put the customer who is storing it on our behalf.
The customers will either be Irish, or Northern Irish, water companies.
Is that enough? Good point about the Irish company side of things, it would make sense, but some customers might get a little bit funny over it!
P4554T said:
OK, Clarification ...
The Goods were purchased from a glass manufacturer in Egypt.
The goods are going to be stored at our customer's premise, acting as a warehouse, so that other customers can collect. It saves us stacks loads doing this, and we often do it here in England.
We are an English registered company (137 years ago to be precise) with GB VAT number.
We had to create an invoice, effectively a proforma, for the customs paperwork, so we put the customer who is storing it on our behalf.
The customers will either be Irish, or Northern Irish, water companies.
Is that enough? Good point about the Irish company side of things, it would make sense, but some customers might get a little bit funny over it!
OK let me know if I've got this wrong.The Goods were purchased from a glass manufacturer in Egypt.
The goods are going to be stored at our customer's premise, acting as a warehouse, so that other customers can collect. It saves us stacks loads doing this, and we often do it here in England.
We are an English registered company (137 years ago to be precise) with GB VAT number.
We had to create an invoice, effectively a proforma, for the customs paperwork, so we put the customer who is storing it on our behalf.
The customers will either be Irish, or Northern Irish, water companies.
Is that enough? Good point about the Irish company side of things, it would make sense, but some customers might get a little bit funny over it!
- You're a UK Company, you bought something in Egypt, but had it shipped to Ireland.
- You created a proforma Invoice for the Irish Customs, that had Irish Customer's VAT/Company details on it.
- You're looking to get screwed at the Irish base rate of 21% VAT on the import.
- Your Customer doesn't want to pay 21% VAT on the import (let alone the Import Duty)
Maybe you are just trying to make life easier by directly shipping to your Customer in Ireland whilst trying to pay the VAT and Duty due as if you'd shipped to the UK and then forwarded to Ireland?
Either way, from what you have written it's a little difficult to ascertain where the cash is moving.
My thoughts would be that even if the good were shipped into Ireland, but paid for by a UK Company, then the UK Company is going to have to pay the Irish Customer the total cost of import into Ireland. (VAT & Duty). So the Irish Customer will bill you the total cost of import. You'll then pay that amount.
The reason I put it this way is that the Irish Customer was acting on your behalf in accepting the goods, so you are liable for their cost.
Then the UK Company is going to Invoice the Irish Customer for the goods at an agreed rate, thus the Customer will pay for the goods tat you arranged to be bought on their behalf.
Jeez, that's one hell of a mess! As I'm sure you are aware.
PH'er Eric MC is an accountant (often posts in here - strange we've not seen him on this one) and can probably give you much better advice. But still, there is still not enough info about the nature of your Irish Customer, and where money has been paid to and from to give anything close to a definitive answer.
I'd be having a proper chat with your Company Accountants about this. As said, there's still not enough infomration about what has actually happened, what monies have been paid from whom to wwhom to ascertain exactly what is going on.
Keep on though, very interesting and I'd be interested to know the result of all this!
best
Ex
Thanks Ex, it is a bit of a mess, and no, we are not trying anything sinister.
The goods are not destined to be sold to the customer who will be storing them, rather we will be invoicing customers direct for goods collected from that warehouse.
The issue that we don't want to pay the VAT as we will never get it back, and completly negates the idea of storing full loads there and shipping out smaller quantities for customers who are local.
The goods are still owned by us so as such, there should be no VAT paid, just as if we were shipping from the UK. To me it is a bit of a grey area, as the Irish Govt will sill get the VAT, so why should they be entitled to it twice ... as we can't claim it back.
Could the customer who is storing it, not claim the VAT back themselves?
The goods are not destined to be sold to the customer who will be storing them, rather we will be invoicing customers direct for goods collected from that warehouse.
The issue that we don't want to pay the VAT as we will never get it back, and completly negates the idea of storing full loads there and shipping out smaller quantities for customers who are local.
The goods are still owned by us so as such, there should be no VAT paid, just as if we were shipping from the UK. To me it is a bit of a grey area, as the Irish Govt will sill get the VAT, so why should they be entitled to it twice ... as we can't claim it back.
Could the customer who is storing it, not claim the VAT back themselves?
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