General > General Technical Chat
UK abolishes <£15 VAT free imports. EU to follow.
CJay:
--- Quote from: Monkeh on January 08, 2021, 02:56:33 pm ---
--- Quote from: Fraser on January 08, 2021, 02:20:35 pm ---This thread has nothing to do with BREXIT
--- End quote ---
Well, it does, because if it weren't for Brexit we'd be bringing this in in six months along with the rest of the EU in a unified system which would be far less disruptive to our trade.
--- End quote ---
I *think* that businesses only need to register in one EU country (Harmonized System) to sell to all EU countries.
But we're no longer in the EU.
We haven't even got the fish.
madires:
Over here a non-EU seller who sells his stuff to consumers via Amazon/ebay/etc. needs to register with a specific tax office and has to pay VAT. Because many non-EU sellers don't register (and don't pay VAT) there are changes under way to make the market platforms liable for the black sheep. So the market platforms have to verify that sellers are registered before allowing them to sell to German consumers. There will be also rules to help the tax office to check sales amounts. Besides that we have a < EUR 22 VAT free import which is also abused massively. So this exemption might change too in the future.
Fraser:
Reading what some manufacturers and suppliers in the UK have said about this change, it appears to be very popular and many have complained that it has taken so long for HMRC to bring it in. On this matter, we are ahead of the EU. What these UK businesses said was that the Chinese sellers have benefitted for too long from low shipping costs combined with avoiding charging VAT on what they sell to the UK and this provided an unfair advantage over UK domestic sellers of products. When I think about the items I have bought from China that have arrived in week or two and the total cost, including postage was less than the UK postage alone would have been! How were UK sellers supposed to compete with that ?
Looking at this change from the domestic sellers positions, It does seem fair and a benefit to domestic companies. Legitimate manufacturers using Chinese sourced parts should not be effected as they tend to buy in bulk and are already paying whatever import fees are applicable. On a selfish note, it might increase my ‘toy’ costs a little but it also avoids the situation I have experienced where a £20 item costs me £4 VAT but also £8 or £12 carrier paperwork fees ! Now I will pay the supplier £24 and that is it, no courier fee (hopefully).
The subsidised postage in China remains a cause of annoyance to UK sellers however. How can an item be shipped from China to the UK and cost less shipping than UK to UK domestic post ?
Fraser
CJay:
--- Quote from: Fraser on January 08, 2021, 03:21:09 pm ---The subsidised postage in China remains a cause of annoyance to UK sellers however. How can an item be shipped from China to the UK and cost less shipping than UK to UK domestic post ?
Fraser
--- End quote ---
It's very simple, it's an international agreement, the seller pays postage for the item to get to the shipping centre and be processed, then the recipient country's mail service continues the delivery on receipt of the goods into the country.
It's a reciprocal arrangement which means China pays the delivery from receipt to buyer.
Royal Mail are the ones ripping us off. not the Chinese
Monkeh:
--- Quote from: Fraser on January 08, 2021, 03:21:09 pm ---On this matter, we are ahead of the EU.
--- End quote ---
Well, actually, the law which brought it into force on Friday was probably from the EU. We just didn't get the revision which pushed it back to allow sellers more time to get organised, which means we're now shooting ourselves in the foot internationally.
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