Importing from EU countries

[NigelJK]

Just ordered something from the USA via Amazon Global store - international delivery free.

[cojak]

This an an accounting question - sadly I didn't turn up in time, so the relevant posts will be copied and placed there.

Edit: Sigh - when it lets me...

[mattster]

Not brought anything over from the EU since Brexit, but have had quite a bit in from the US over the years.
You should note that VAT will be charged on the cost of the goods + the cost of delivery, which makes it even higher. Obviously make sure you are not paying VAT on the initial purchase price (in the country of origin) as well, assuming your retailer can do that for you. Tariffs are only applied for certain types of products, and vary by product type.

Fees wise, from distant memory, Fedex were the most (and the worst to deal with), something like £15 on top. They just invoiced me after delivery, so for a while I thought I had got away with it - no such luck. The post office charges about a tenner on top of VAT, and won't deliver until you pay (you get a card through the door, but no parcel).

Fedex really screwed me once when I had to send quite an expensive (£1k) item back to the US for a warranty repair. You are not supposed to pay VAT on it when you get it back, given that you have already paid this once. Despite filling in the correct forms beforehand (proof that you are sending it out of the UK etc), they charged me VAT on the return parcel on the declared value of the goods (the company had put £500 on for insurance purposes). After much back and forth, Fedex agreed to remove the fee, but only on payment of an administrative fee of essentially the same amount (£100). I just paid the original fee in the end and vowed never to use them again.

[AtW]

Just buy British - I am already on a lookout for x64 compatible CPUs an JEDEC standard RAM

[Whorty]

Why is he not allowed to ask about importing trojan horses?

Because his post is about a dog-whistle

[Paralytic]

oi subforum! He is asking a reasonable question about importing unless its a trojan horse of course.

Why is he not allowed to ask about importing trojan horses?

[TestMangler]

Unfortunately, thats how things are now.

If the goods pass the EU origin test, then it's VAT plus collection fees. If the item doesn't pass EU origin tests, then it's VAT, Duty and collection fees.

[ladymuck]

There's an article about it on Money Saving Expert. Maybe that will help

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/sh...e-post-brexit/

[vetran]

Did you vote for Brexit? If so, you got what you voted for.

oi subforum! He is asking a reasonable question about importing unless its a trojan horse of course.

[Paddy]

Did you vote for Brexit? If so, you got what you voted for.

[agentzero]

Has anybody bought anything from an EU country this year?

Carriers are charging differing fees for importing and I'm not sure what company to use to bring in a 700euro item. I can find the duty of 6% from here: https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/chapters/87

So the cost would appear to be: Item cost (converted to £) + 20%VAT + 6% duty + {carrier admin fee} + {other carrier fees} It is the latter two I am concerned about.

If I look at DHL, FedEx and UPS, it is almost impossible to determine how they are charging for this. It seems as if they may pay all charges on your behalf and then expect a payment at the door during delivery, however I suspect that they will make up their own charges, including currency conversion, despite HMRC using their own currency conversion methods to calculate VAT and duty due in the first instance.

Has anybody had any positive or negative experiences with deliveries? I can't determine which of the 3 carrier options to choose because their websites and phone helplines won't give me a cost estimate based on the price of an item, which is crazy. It looks to me like an easy way for them to load on charges to deliveries and hope the person signing for it is too stupid to understand they're being ripped off.

When I was in Canada we could tell the courier we would self declare customs clearance for items delivered from the USA, which would take all those stupid fees from $100 to $10. If you're buying a lot this saving soon adds up. Can we self clear with HMRC here and tell the courier companies to do one?