The 'E' Type Forum

Hi I recently sold a S 1.5 expansion tank on ebay to someone in Sweden . It was returned by carrier twice the saying they do not carry car parts, third time I sent via Royal Mail International on about the 17th February and he has not got it yet . He knows its in Sweden because he has received a vat and possibly tax form . I have recently before Brexit sent many items abroad without all this hassle. Be aware.
Bryan

Compared to the EU selling and buying to and from the US now seems like childsplay.

Barrie

It works quite well, as long as you follow the basic rules for export:

You need to fill out a customs form (CN22 or CN23)
This must be done electronically in advance and the form attached to the package.
You need to give a tariff number for the items (https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/headings/8512)
You might need an EORI number (https://www.gov.uk/eori)
Companies have to attach 3 copies of the invoice to the package.

Looking up the tariff number may need a little time, everything else is straight forward.
The parts I sent from EU to a UK forum member (with Austrian Mail) took 10 days.

It seems that some parcel services have teething problems with that.

I recently sent a package to Japan and it took 5 days not three weeks and I did fill in a export form for Sweden .

tinworm wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 07, 2021 3:47 pm

Compared to the EU selling and buying to and from the US now seems like childsplay.

Not quite. On Nov 30th I shipped two boxes from the US to a Jag-lovers guy in Germany. Total cost $283.

Next day on Dec 1st one package was bounced 'return to sender' at US customs near here, despite a completed customs form and just before new year it was left at the wrong address. Being on holiday the guy didn't know and I got my parcel back soaked from being left outside in mid Jan.

The second parcel was bounced on Dec 2nd and eventually came back around end Jan. So much for filling in the sender phone number in case of issues. Thetracking was useless and the first I knew was when my $283 parcels came back with no refund or suggestion how to do things differently. I've sent plenty of car bits transatlantic but the world of international shipping has gone mad, including USA.

Sounds very similar to the book that I carefully packaged and sent, customs forms included, to my old school mate in Spain for his birthday in January, that is still supposedly "in transit" (although despite its tracking references, no one knows quite where) some two months later.......

I’ve just sent some parts to a forum member. The process was simple using a major carrier. Delivery took a little longer than expected but what was a shock was the duty charges of about 30% of the contents value.... !

Tim

Could we all stop using this emotive term « Duty » when talking about the EU and Brexit ?

It gets trotted out all the time, generally in indignation, when it is almost NEVER « Duty «, but almost always VAT.

Inter EU transactions for individuals were and are subject to the exporting country’s VAT, and have been so for decades.

Britain included.

Now the UK is outside, all exports to it from the EU are meant to be VAT free from the exporting country, and will be subject to VAT when arriving in the UK.

So no change in price, other than differences in VAT rates.

What HAS changed is that shippers are now charging to COLLECT the VAT upon import.

This is NOT duty.

In most cases it can even be avoided if the exporter PAYS the destination country’s VAT via the famous EORI number which was set up to precisely address this problem.

It will be a bordel monstrueux for a year or so and then we’ll wonder what all the fuss was about.

(Ed - you sure about this ?!)

For illustration, here I am reproducing the text I received from DPD for a parcel sent from the UK by one of our forum members:
"We would like to notify you that your parcel from xxxx with parcel number 1xxxxxxxxxxx2504 has been registered with us. Because this parcel originates from United Kingdom with destination Belgium, import duties and taxes must be paid.
These charges amount to: € 13.29
After payment we will have your parcel delivered to this address:
xxxxx
xxxxx
Belgium
We request that you pay the import duties and taxes for your parcel 1xxxxxxxxx2504 before 17/03/2021 via our secure online payment service. If you have not paid before 17/03/2021, your parcel will be returned to its sender."

There was only one mention of "Duty" in this thread prior to Rory,s post........anyway details here on VAT & Duty payable for goods into the UK https://www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad/tax-and-duty There is import duty to pay on all items over £135..... the rate depends on what it is then plus vat.....Importing into the EU details https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/i ... country_en

Yes, a tax on a tax!

Other threads on the Forum have used this word DUTY, and with some indignation.

The Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) was only signed on 24 December 2020 so it's a bit early to condem the current issues as being definitive.

The TCA introduced a prohibition on the imposition of tariffs on the supply of goods originating in either the EU or UK and supplied into the territory to the other party. However, the ‘preferential tariff treatment’ is not automatic and must be claimed – either at the time of importation via the customs import documentation or, by derogation, retrospectively for up to three years after the date of importation.

https://www.accountancyeurope.eu/public ... epare-now/

The key concept is that the seller either practices DDP (Delivered Duty Paid) where he/she pays the receiving country's VAT, which he/she charges the buyer as part of the sale, or DAP (Delivered At Place) where it is for the buyer to pay the VAT and (and therein lies the rub) the fees of the agent (FedEx, DHL etc) that is recovering those sums.

Correctly managed, then, there is NO duty "on the supply of goods originating in either the EU or UK and supplied into the territory to the other party", with the sole exception of "excise-goods" like alcohol and tobacco.