Man told to pay VAT bill to pick up online order after it arrived in the UK

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Man told to pay £29 VAT bill to pick up online order after it arrived in the UK

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/m ... r-BB1dfLWV

During the never-ending Brexit negotiations, many consumers were left to wonder: "What will this mean for me?"

What we all desperately wanted to know was whether there would be an impact on our consumer rights and whether we would suffer as a consequence - through higher prices and fewer rights, for instance.

We were assured there would be no detriment - but we are starting to see that this clearly isn't the case.

This is high on the agenda at the European Commission so this means all EU states have good consumer protection laws.

Once upon a time, you could pursue EU traders via the English courts, but this right disappeared with Brexit.

UK consumers are now in the unenviable position of having to use courts local to the EU trader if they need to take action to ­enforce their rights.

The reality is, of course, that very few consumers will do this and it’s an important point that no one in government warned ­consumers about.

Additional costs

Before Brexit, the price displayed for goods on EU websites was typically the price you would pay.

However, post-Brexit, the position has changed dramatically. New rules introduced on January 1 have changed the way VAT is collected on purchases from the EU. Where the purchase price is greater than £135, tax is now collected at the point of delivery, rather than at the point of sale.

This means you will be asked to pay the VAT on your doorstep when the goods are delivered.

As Darren from Doncaster found out, it also means that many consumers may be misled when it comes to the price of goods purchased from an EU trader. He bought a high-end gaming webcam from a trader in Spain.

When it arrived, Darren was asked to pay £29 VAT. He refused as this naturally made the webcam more expensive and he could have got a cheaper deal elsewhere.

Darren later complained but the retailer said he could not have a refund because he rejected the delivery.

It is clearly now going to be a common occurrence for UK ­consumers to be misled over the cost of goods from the EU.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Why post to and from the UK is more expensive after Brexit

https://www.thelocal.es/20210131/brexit ... and-the-uk

As of December 31st, when the Brexit transition period officially ended, the cost of sending packages to and from UK has gone up. Here's what you need to know.

Most of us were aware that Brexit was going to affect importation and exportation businesses, but what about the consequences for individual people?

One of the main issues that many UK residents in Spain have already noticed are the high taxes, which must be paid on sending and receiving packages to and from the UK and Spain.

The taxes imposed occur whether you are ordering goods from the UK, if you send a package to the UK, or if friends and family in the UK send you a package in Spain. Typically, you have to pay the fees before you’re allowed to pick the item up at the post, delivery office or online.

Graham Hunt, an estate agent in Valencia tweeted “Daughter’s friend just received a package from the UK. Not allowed to pick it up without paying customs and taxes, in this case €79. That’s a price increase of 20% in effect. Watch UK exports dry up over next 6 months as EU buyers realise”.

Daughter’s friend just received a package from the UK. Not allowed to pick it up without paying customs and taxes, in this case €79. That’s a price increase of 20% in effect. Watch UK exports dry up over next 6 months as EU buyers realise @BestForBritain @sturdyAlex @IanDunt pic.twitter.com/JGbRZRz7Z5
— Graham Hunt (Valencia Property) (@grahunt) January 26, 2021

While Juan Pablo Venditti tweeted: “We had problems with a package coming from UK last week, it arrived on January 6th and customs stopped it here in Spain. We had to pay €160 extra in taxes and management fees. We won't be ordering anything from UK in the near future, it's a shame”.

Another disgruntled Spanish resident, journalist Eugene Costello experienced similar issues when sending an item to his daughter back in the UK. He tweeted: “I live in Valencia and recently sent an old laptop to my daughter. ParcelForce are withholding it until the bill of £146 is paid. Can this be right? An old laptop sent by a Dad to his daughter, so she can work online since her school is shut?”

Dear @HMRCgovuk @HMRCpressoffice I live in Valencia and recently sent an old laptop to my daughter. ParcelForce are withholding it until your bill of £146 is paid. Can this be right? An old laptop sent by a dad to a daughter so she can work online since her school is shut #Covid!
— Eugene Costello (@eugenecostello) January 27, 2021

According to the UK government website “Most goods arriving in the UK are liable to any or all of the following taxes: Customs Duty, Excise Duty and Import VAT”.

The website also states that these taxes must still be paid whether the person in the UK has:

Paid for the goods or is receiving them as a gift
If the goods are new or used (including antiques)
If the goods are for your private use or for re-sale.

If you are sending a gift from Spain to the UK, import VAT typically only applies to goods whose value is over £39, or the equivalent in Euros. Customs Duty is due only if the value of the goods cost over £135.

The UK government website states that in order to qualify as a gift, a customs declaration must be completed correctly and the gift must be sent from a private person outside the UK to a private person(s) in the UK. This also applies to items where there is no commercial or trade element and the gift has not been paid for either directly or indirectly by anyone in the UK.

It also states that a gift is of an occasional nature only, for example, for a birthday or anniversary.

The customs declaration form includes sections which state what is inside the package, what material the item is made from, the size of the item and the monetary value of the item.

Similarly, when receiving items sent from the UK to Spain, senders will need to complete and attach a customs declaration form (CN22 or CN23), Letters, postcards and documents are usually exempt.

Residents in Spain will need to pay customs or VAT charges and a handling fee before they can claim the parcel. These charges will depend on the value of the item and whether it is a gift or not.

[Tman]

The reality is a little different-
https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... nuary-2021

Eugene Costello shouldn't be paying £146 for a 2nd hand lap top to be sent between family members.

[NWpostie]

Its not much different from sending and receiving items from Canada or Australia, it's the new reality, there are ways round it, send it as a gift for private use or no commercial value many exporters and family members do this, make sure its value is less than £39 or £135 as appropriate, for any bigger imports do your sums and see if a UK based seller can do it cheaper or not then buy with that knowledge.

It's only been four weeks since we left the EU, there's bound to be some shock and adjustments as time goes on, it will eventually level out as people get used to it.

There may be some hopes on the horizon as Britain is looking at applying to join the CPTPP* tariff-free trade group of Pacific nations.

Members include Japan, Canada , Vietnam, Australia and New Zealand, it may expand further to include other entities maybe even ironically the EU who may want to join it which in a roundabout way what we wanted in the first place.

Its a start at least as its a trade organisation rather than an unitary political federal entity, which the EU is progressing toward as per the Lisbon treaty.


*Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).