New UK & EU VAT Charges for Incoming Low Value Packages - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: 48X24X48X
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 24, 2021, 08:29:19 am
content: Today I received an email from DHL E-commerce stating the following:QuoteIf I'm understanding it correctly, non-UK and non-EU seller now needs to collect tax on behalf of UK and EU. UK VAT needs to be remit to them while EU they will refund. This is the first time I came across this and I'm not aware of the changes to the VAT system post-Brexit. I'm sure there are many small seller here in the same position.Moderator, I think this could be in the wrong section. Please help to move it if it is wrong.

author: SMTech
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 24, 2021, 08:47:36 am
content: There's a thread about this in one of the other sections. It has been in the works for a while which is why you see it happening in both the UK and EU despite Brexit having happened. For VAT the main difference after Brexit in B2B between the UK and the EU now has VAT, whereas before you could leave it off, pretty silly really given the recipient in a B2B transaction is immediately going to claim it back, high time they worked out that stupidity. For consumers its got a whole lot messier, pretty much making that level of trade unworkable for many industries.The aim of the legislation is fairly clear, lots of products were being shipped (mainly from China) marked up at these exemption prices and where they were not, dodgy descriptions and fake VAT numbers on things like eBay listings were being used to circumvent it instead. This makes it a bit harder.

author: phil from seattle
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 24, 2021, 10:48:43 pm
content: Unfortunately, the UK VAT changes haven't been tracked by my selling platform - Tindie. I have stopped selling to the UK because of this. There is no way I can collect the tax at the point of sale. If I send it anyway, it costs the customer an extra 8 pounds in addition to the VAT.Right now Tindie hasn't done anything about it. And I have little hope of them tracking the EU program.I'm ready to move somewhere else. Half my customers are in the EU or UK. Does anyone have suggestions/recommendations?

author: tunk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 24, 2021, 11:17:40 pm
content: Here's the other thread:https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/uk-abolishes-lt15-vat-free-imports/msg3405826/#msg3405826

author: SMTech
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 24, 2021, 11:37:34 pm
content: I have no idea what Tindie does for you or its fee structure, but a quick google suggests they have been very slow to implement this kind of thing even before these rules came into place even though it should have been a feature on such a platform. eBay I believe will collect VAT on your behalf as they are obliged to but of course they have fees and arguably its a cesspool of indistinguishable rip-offs. Or you could get an agent/distributor who you drop ship larger consignments to, or less palatable to some, get someone else to make it under licence or contract.To be honest this issue is a very American one, all these trendy new platforms have basically ignored the realities of global trade leaving the consumer to pick up the costs they may not have been expecting.I'm sure there's plenty of other ideas, not least gathering a few like minded sellers and creating a rival service that handles taxes properly.

author: 48X24X48X
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 25, 2021, 01:07:49 am
content: I read more on this. It seems EU has postponed this to July 1st 2021 while UK has already implemented it.What we can do as seller outside of EU and the UK, is to register with HRMC (the UK) and one of the any 27 EU countries VAT system (recommended as Ireland). And start collecting on their behalf and remit them quarterly I believe.I'm running on a WooCommerce based website, so this somehow can be done albeit the £135 value threshold part will need some script playing. EU countries has different VAT percentage altogether, again need some work around.Phil,I would recommend to just use either EBay or Amazon to solve your issue temporarily as you are not selling on your own website for orders to the UK and EU. It seems to be taken care of.

author: phil from seattle
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 28, 2021, 10:03:19 pm
content: So, I have spent a full day digging into this and still don't have clarity. I looked into Amazon and eBay and neither actually remit VAT to the relevant tax authority. The seller is responsible for that. At least they collect the taxes based on buyer location. Something Tindie is still not capable of. It looks like I would have to register with HMRC for UK and at least one country for EU (I've seen Ireland recommended a number of times). I don't suppose they take PayPal... Still Amazon and eBay are not my top choices. Looking atSpotifyShopify. There are several others.

author: 48X24X48X
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 01, 2021, 12:22:53 am
content: Quote from: phil from seattle on February 28, 2021, 10:03:19 pmI registered with HRMC UK few days back and still waiting for them to process.I had 4 packages to UK in January and they were all delivered. I asked the customers about the VAT and so on but they said things went through without taxes and it still works the same as before (they deliver once you pay the taxes). I guess it still not fully implemented but I reckon they could go full force at a similar timeline like the EU in July.Edit:I'm running WooCommerce on WP for many years coming from the heavy resources Magento. It's best for small and medium sized shop. There are plugins to take care of the VAT in UK & EU in different currency. You have more freedom running something like this setup rather than Shopify.

author: t0m
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 01, 2021, 12:32:19 am
content: This is hopeless from Tindie. I do still sell there, but most of my sales volume is through Etsy now. I refuse to be swallowed by Amazon, and eventually decided that eBay wasn't worth the fees.

author: phil from seattle
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 01, 2021, 01:06:31 am
content: Quote from: t0m on March 01, 2021, 12:32:19 amHow is Etsy on local taxes? Thinking about using them. Tindie really bugs me - they take around 10% and provide minimal services.

author: t0m
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 01, 2021, 02:09:59 am
content: Quote from: phil from seattle on March 01, 2021, 01:06:31 amEtsy sorts out the tax for you, as far as I can tell.

author: 1276-2449-1-ND
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 10, 2021, 05:48:29 pm
content: I've been selling to the UK (from Canada) and nobody has reported any problems yet.The package contents and values are clearly labelled and are above the deminimis.

author: phil from seattle
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 10, 2021, 06:18:30 pm
content: Quote from: 1276-2449-1-ND on March 10, 2021, 05:48:29 pmIt appears that the new law is not being enforced. Or, at least enforcement is spotty. At some point, though, I expect they will start sending back packages that don't follow the law (ie charge VAT and remit to the UK tax authorities).By the way,here is what Stamps.com says about it.

author: Monkeh
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 10, 2021, 06:23:17 pm
content: Quote from: phil from seattle on March 10, 2021, 06:18:30 pmI don't think anyone even knows what the new law is. The published legislation is not kept up to date or usefully indexed and the guidance refuses to reference the law.

author: 48X24X48X
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 11, 2021, 12:56:49 am
content: 2 weeks after registering with UK HRMC, still nothing from them. Not being processed yet. I guess they too think it's not urgent.

author: phil from seattle
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 11, 2021, 05:37:08 am
content: Well, until they start sending back packages, I'll just take my chances. Hell of a way to deal with international trade.I'm just a small time outfit but while I wasn't shipping to the UK (about 5 weeks), I got contacted 6 times asking me to do it and got 8 tindie requests to ship to the UK.

author: t0m
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 11, 2021, 09:27:23 am
content: I'm just crossing my fingers and sending them, too. I honestly have no idea what is likely to happen.

author: phil from seattle
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 12, 2021, 06:20:07 pm
content: Some updates. In the last day, I've have several packages delivered to customers without the dreaded Royal Mail notice to come and pay VAT + 8 GPB fee.There is a somewhat relatedarticle in the NYT(paywall, sorry) about how unprepared the UK is on imports. Eventually they will get their act together.Seems like the bureaucrats haven't caught up with the politicians. They will though - can't resist building a complex system to collect a couple of quid a pop on small packages.