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| PoE Ethernet GPIB Adapter – Open Source Project, now public |
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| Hydron:
The UK has brought in a rule that anything that is <135GBP, shipped to a non-business customer and is NOT a "gift" has to have VAT paid to the UK govt by the seller. This means that EVERYONE selling to individuals in the UK needs to register for VAT and file returns with the UK govt, which many businesses have decided is way too much dicking about for the size of the UK market. It's not directly to do with EU/Brexit actually, but the fact that the UK is not in the customs union means that the rule applies to sales from the EU as well (pre-brexit it would not have), and had this been an EU wide system there would be a much larger market to justify the admin effort. Many EU companies I used to buy stuff from just gave up dealing with the UK, hence my earlier comment. There have actually been some benefits to be fair - shipments between the old stupidly low no-VAT threshold (15 quid or something) and the new 135 one (beyond which you have to pay VAT/duty yourself, or via the carrier) will now just incur VAT on purchase and not need separate clearance (saving clearance fees and time), e.g. when you buy from Aliexpress/eBay/Amazon US. Before it was always a crapshoot as to what the seller would declare and whether you'd get away without paying any VAT or need to pay VAT + sometimes crazy fees. Without Brexit there would be less downsides though! The sensible way to do it would have been to put a threshold on sales before requiring UK VAT registration, which would capture all the big players while not hurting smaller companies with excessive compliance costs - NZ has done this for example - but the UK and it's govt isn't known for having an abundance of common sense recently. As for this purchase, the only way for Kofen to ship one to me direct is to declare as a gift (at correct value for two pieces it would incur VAT and fees but at least it is possible, one @ $47 USD might just squeak under the threshold if shipping doesn't count) or register for UK VAT, though if you're going to mis-declare as a gift to sidestep the stupid rules you may as well adjust some numbers to sidestep the VAT/fees as well ;). Norway not being the in the EU doesn't come into play here other than possibly making it more annoying/expensive to get it via an EU country (as I was thinking of as an option in my last post). |
| Monkeh:
--- Quote from: Hydron on January 04, 2025, 12:30:56 am ---The UK has brought in a rule ... had this been an EU wide system there would be a much larger market to justify the admin effort. --- End quote --- It is an EU wide system. This was an EU move we simply continued to copy after brexit, as a wonderful demonstration of our newfound independence. |
| Hydron:
Huh, didn't realise that. I did know that Germany had some similarly annoying though different compliance requirements. Still think the VAT registration/collection thing should have an annual total sales threshold to avoid unreasonable compliance costs but it would have far fewer downsides as part of the large EU market... |
| Kofen:
Hi everyone Yes, Europe / EU and shipping VAT is a mess. While norway is not part of EU we are part of the EØS agreement that binds us to some of the same rules I think. At least we have the same problem as you describe. But, please send a message if there is any request to make life easier thru customs or if there are any special rules I need to know about. I am also VAT registred thru my personal firm that I can use in case things get really complicated. Just let me know! All of you that have already sent me a message should have gotten your invoice now. I have tried to organize everything up so I can keep track, but in case you notice anything wrong, just reach out and I will fix it. I will also try to edit the first post with all the info that is a bit spread around to make it easier for new folks that stumble across to figure out what the deal is. I have sent a message to all of you who have posted that you want an adapter in this thread after I posted the pricing, asking for shipping details. I would do another round of invocing later today. And still plenty of adapter to go around, no worries there. I will do my very best to keep the production time as short as possible, just need to get some parts and pcbs in house. Thanks again for all the support! |
| Monkeh:
--- Quote from: Hydron on January 04, 2025, 01:27:30 am ---Huh, didn't realise that. I did know that Germany had some similarly annoying though different compliance requirements. Still think the VAT registration/collection thing should have an annual total sales threshold to avoid unreasonable compliance costs but it would have far fewer downsides as part of the large EU market... --- End quote --- Well, in the EU market it's optional for foreign companies to register and collect (it probably is for us, too, but I have yet to locate the actual legislation driving all this, the government will not cite it, and they're experienced in.. creative interpretations in guidance to suit agendas other than what parliament voted for). The purpose was to pay VAT to the EU nation a product was sold to, rather than the nation it was purchased from - so a unified VAT payment portal was created, which you'd use whether you're paying it to your own nation or another EU nation. We just decided to continue implementing the same system.. on our own. With none of the benefit and all of the cost. |
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