£15 tax free limit to imports has been removed !!

[ColinD]

[font="nta, arial, sans-serif"]https://www.gov.uk/guidance/vat-and-overseas-goods-sold-to-customers-in-the-uk-using-online-marketplaces

[font="nta, arial, sans-serif"]Low value consignment relief (LVCR), which is an import VAT exemption for goods valued at £15 or less, has been removed in:[/font][/font]

• Great Britain for goods imported from outside the UK
• Northern Ireland for goods ordered remotely that are imported from outside the UK and EU

I presume that now, if you import something costing £1 with £1 postage, then you could now be liable for 40p Vat plus around £10 handling fee (or whatever) if you haven't already paid the vat ?

Do I read this right ?

Clearly now, makes sense to pay the vat up front for reasonably priced items then, as long as its all legit and marked as vat already paid.




ColinD2021-01-13 18:59:29

 

[TWB]

That’s how I read it and because the seller is being asked to collect VAT for the UK government on these low value transactions, I would expect charges from them too for additional paperwork.

 

[ColinD]

I just ordered some PCB's.... Value is approx £8 and the Fedex Shipping is about the same.

They are marked on the invoice as PCB Samples.

Just checked Fedex.....


What is the clearance administration charge?

FedEx pays the Duty and Tax charges on your behalf to ensure we can deliver your shipment as quickly as possible. This incurs an administration fee of 2.5% of the combined Duty and VAT charge or £12.00 (whichever is greater)


The shipment contains samples

Samples can be imported to the UK without Duty or Tax charges as long as they meet the following HM Revenue and Customs conditions:

Can only be used as samples.

Are of a negligible value.

Intended to obtain orders for the type of goods represented.

The commercial invoice and any other paperwork provided with the shipment must declare this information.

ColinD2021-01-13 18:51:48

 

[TWB]

Actually there shouldn’t be an handling fee added by the courier/post office because the VAT won’t have been collected by them, and yes it will need to be marked up correctly.
TWB2021-01-13 18:58:03

 

[Flinnster]

I've had a few parts come in from China since Jan 1st and so far they are not being clobbered.

I thought we have a waiver agreement until July 2021 on the LVCR (it certainly is going the other way).

I suspect due to the current shipping delays they are being moved along in favour of just checking larger and more valuable items for now.

Once the backlog is cleared however, who knows.

Suck up your 35% UK living tax with a smile and enjoy some cricket.

Flinnster2021-01-13 19:48:30

 

[John Bennett]

So when/where in the chain do these charges appear?

I've just bashed some numbers into AllPCB and it looks pretty much how it used to be cost-wise (like shipping is never more than 10% of the total cost and that's via DHL).

edit: and that's on items worth way more than £15 too...

John Bennett2021-01-13 20:03:47

 

[TWB]

you should be charged at point of sale.

Only low value items have changed if the value is £135 or over then it’s not changed at all and you’ll get charged the normal way.

The order will be seen as a total price of all the items added together rather than individually for tax collection.

TWB2021-01-13 20:13:21

 

[TWB]

I got the below from myus.com

A Value Added Tax (VAT) will now be collected on low-value consumer shipments to the UK. In accordance with new regulations, MyUS will automatically collect this VAT at the time of shipping, on behalf of the UK government. The UK government defines low-value shipments as those with items are valued at a total of 135 GBP or less. When MyUS Will Collect UK VAT If a shipment's total item value is 135 GBP or less, MyUS will collect VAT at the time of shipping. If a shipment’s total item value is greater than 135 GBP, MyUS will not collect VAT at the time of shipment. Instead, it will be collected by the government after arrival in the UK. The item value of a shipment is determined by adding the value of all items contained in a shipment, whether it is just one item, or many. Only the value of the goods are included when determining the value of a shipment, not any other services. Business transactions are exempt from VAT collection on low-value shipments by MyUS. If you are shipping items for a business, you can enter your VAT registration number in your ship request and VAT will not be collected by MyUS.

How VAT Cost is Determined Most low-value shipments to the UK will be charged a 20% VAT.* The VAT cost is based on the total value of a shipment, not just the value of the items inside. That means VAT is assessed on the cost of the items in a shipment AND the cost of any shipping services. For example, if your Ship Request was for the following: a blanket for $100 (74.86 GBP) with shipping for $17 (12.73 GBP) and $5 insurance (3.74 GBP) You would be taxed on the total amount of that shipment, $122 (91.33 GBP), with a VAT rate of 20%. This means your VAT cost would be $24.40 (18.27 GBP). So, the total amount you would pay to MyUS at the time of shipping would be: the total shipping costs, $17 in shipping + $5 in insurance = $22 (16.47 GBP) plus the 20% VAT cost, $46.40 (34.74 GBP) for a total of $68.40 (51.21 GBP) *While most products will be charged the standard VAT rate of 20% rate, some items may be taxed at a different rate. These items include things like alcohol and tobacco. You can find more information on VAT rates here.

 

[John Bennett]

Hmm, perhaps it’s just never been charged for the PCBs as they must mark the value as zero or something iffy.

 

[Flinnster]

"3.4 Assets that qualify for the VAT exemption


To qualify for exemption, an object must be of national, scientific,
historic or architectural interest. These are often antiques, works of
art and so on. You can find further information about the capital tax
provisions in the guidance on Capital Taxation and the National Heritage."

I am simply preserving valuable items of historical importance, officer.

Flinnster2021-01-13 20:31:46

 

[SUPERSPRINT]

The government will be clawing back every penny they can for a while

 

[ColinD]

Hmm, perhaps it’s just never been charged for the PCBs as they must mark the value as zero or something iffy.

For PCB's.....

Prior to 2021.... Keep it under £15 goods value or take your chances.

2021+ You might get stung for vat and a handling fee unless they are declared as samples and of low value or you have some kind of proof that vat was paid during the sale.

 

[qjuk]

I've had a few parts come in from China since Jan 1st and so far they are not being clobbered.

I thought we have a waiver agreement until July 2021 on the LVCR (it certainly is going the other way).

If you bought an item that was under the old £15 threshold and it was paid for and posted before 31st December 2020, then there is no Import VAT if the item is delivered after 1st January.

I believe the July 2021 date you are referring to is when the EU also start to introduce this same VAT collection at the point of sale (happy to be corrected if I’ve got it wrong).

Don’t forget “Gift” parcels under £39 are still exempt from the tax

I’ve temporarily stopped purchases via Chinese sellers on eBay at the moment as the Import VAT situation is not clear. eBay do not seem to be collecting the VAT from any Chinese sellers that I can see and I don’t want a potential ridiculous charge from Royal Mail for a package that’s worth a few quid.

I’ve moved back to buying on AliExpress as they collect the VAT at checkout, there’s no handling fees and prices seem to be cheaper than eBay anyway, even with the VAT added.

 

[John Bennett]

2021+ You might get stung for vat and a handling fee unless they are declared as samples and of low value or you have some kind of proof that vat was paid during the sale.

So it should be done in China and 'paperwork' completed prior to entry to the UK.

And if it arrives without the forms it is automatically processed for a charge?

So that means the fees can be done at either end, effectively?

(but if it's cheekily marked as nil to $5 value, it's negligible anyway).

Sorry for sounding dumb (never really thought about this).

 

[Alpha1]

"3.4 Assets that qualify for the VAT exemption


To qualify for exemption, an object must be of national, scientific,
historic or architectural interest. These are often antiques, works of
art and so on. You can find further information about the capital tax
provisions in the guidance on Capital Taxation and the National Heritage."

I am simply preserving valuable items of historical importance, officer.

So happy to see a millionaire collector of Rembrandt's doesn't have to pay import tax.

 

[chubsta]

I’m guessing you will have to be even more careful than usual when buying off eBay as it seems rare these days that a seller listed as UK is really here and not China

 

[RygarR]

The government will be clawing back every penny they can for a while

You think?

I'm quite sure that they'll hammer the small guy for every last penny. But that's just to make sure you know your place.

Doubt they'll be going after Amazon, Starbucks, Google, Rees Mogg etc. for the collective £Billions in tax they should have been paying.

Thank goodness we've signed up to the EU's new Anti Tax Avoidance Directive. Oh no, wait....

 

[tronads]

I wonder how much of this VAT being collected in advance by overseas companies will actually reach HMRC....I bet there will be a lot of scamming going on here, I mean how on earth are HMRC going to catch anyone, let alone enforce anything.
I think they have got a bit of a cheek expecting foreign companies to do their dirty work for them.

I miss the good old days of buying from Lik Sang and taking the gamble on your parcel being intercepted and charges added, and feeling like you have beaten the system when one slips through unchecked.

 

[thegreathopper]

I miss Lik Sang, I went to their shop in Hong Kong and they me a free T-shirt, nice guys and lovely stuff in their shop, including a Dreamcast built in to a Tv.

 

[chubsta]

The government will be clawing back every penny they can for a while

You think?

I'm quite sure that they'll hammer the small guy for every last penny. But that's just to make sure you know your place.

Doubt they'll be going after Amazon, Starbucks, Google, Rees Mogg etc. for the collective £Billions in tax they should have been paying.

Thank goodness we've signed up to the EU's new Anti Tax Avoidance Directive. Oh no, wait....

i’ve never quite understood why people think everyone should be paying more tax, the whole tax system is totally immoral. i go to work and do a job and the government is entitled to 40% of what i earn, every time i buy done thing they take 20% of the purchase price, they tax the car, tv, insurance, every damn thing you do or buy has multiple layers of tax on it - they tax the wages of the people who create the product, who transport the product, including road and fuel tax, they tax the buildings used to store and sell the product, every damn thing.

and in return we are told there is not enough money to run a top-heavy health service or education or repair roads, all the while giving out billions in foreign aid and spending £500,000 a time blowing up toyota land cruisers in syria.

and if you don’t pay tax they throw you in prison.

anyone who willingly pays tax and thinks it’s a good idea to tax more is an idiot