Do we pay import duty and VAT now ?

danwel

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Just looking at a watch from Italy and wondered if we pay both import duty and VAT now ??
I am sure it’s 20% VAT but wondered if we also pay import duty too ??

Thanks
 
Yup, VAT @20% and probably around 2.5% import duty - oh and don't forget about the handling fee from the Courier or Post Office.

Welcome to Brexit...
 
I am just trying to work out exactly how much it’s going to cost.

I have been in the simply duty website and that suggests just Vat but I aren’t 100% sure
 
It depends on the value. There's a cut off of £135 before the rules change.
 
The watch is definitely more than £135

I’m certain we pay 20% VAT but do we pay import tax/duty too ?
 
The watch is definitely more than £135

I’m certain we pay 20% VAT but do we pay import tax/duty too ?

It’s pretty likely that you’ll get charged import duty, as well as a handling fee, on top of VAT. Items being marked as “gift” are likely to be checked too, so it’s hard to get away from.
 
The watch is definitely more than £135

I’m certain we pay 20% VAT but do we pay import tax/duty too ?
Yes - importing anything over the value of £135 from a 3rd country results in the imposition of import duty.
 
Yes - importing anything over the value of £135 from a 3rd country results in the imposition of import duty.
Yep. I've just pre-ordered another DAP from Amazon Japan and again with all customs/VAT/fees its about £170 cheaper than in UK.
 
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Oh yes, even with fees it can still work out much cheaper - I recently bought an iphone from Hong Kong at a much reduced price.
 
I had bargained for the 20% VAT and the handling fee but I wasn’t entirely sure if they then added an import duty on there too ??
 
Best advice is to call them. There's a helpline number on their website.
 
Yep. I've just pre-ordered another DAP from Amazon Japan and again with all customs/VAT/fees its about £170 cheaper than in UK.

Oh yes, even with fees it can still work out much cheaper - I recently bought an iphone from Hong Kong at a much reduced price.
Neither of those are in the EU are they ;)
 
Neither of those are in the EU are they ;)

Indeed - which makes you wonder why EU exporters are so uncompetitive.

China has had no trouble exporting all kinds of cheap tat to us for decades (without a trade agreement) - yet companies within the EU are finding it too difficult (with a trade agreement)..o_O
 
^^^
Either all the EU exporters and UK importers (from the EU), have got it wrong, or you both are overly simplifying things...

Somehow I'd say the latter.

Comparing an individual buying one item from outside the EU, travelling via a postal service, against a UK company importing the varied and multiple consignment items from the EU or even China, bundled in one shipping container, might not be equivalent....
 
^^^
Either all the EU exporters and UK importers (from the EU), have got it wrong, or you both are overly simplifying things...

Somehow I'd say the latter.

Comparing an individual buying one item from outside the EU, travelling via a postal service, against a UK company importing the varied and multiple consignment items from the EU or even China, bundled in one shipping container, might not be equivalent....
Well I bow to your superior knowledge. But I doubt that all the Chinese crap that we are inundated with comes to an individual via the postal service. i suspct the vast majority comes in on containers like most imports.
 
Well I bow to your superior knowledge. But I doubt that all the Chinese crap that we are inundated with comes to an individual via the postal service. i suspct the vast majority comes in on containers like most imports.
It would of course come that way for bulk items sold via a reseller. However, how many containers from China are delayed and held at customs due to incorrect paperwork from the exporter/importer? Probably a large enough percentage of the the inbound ones to make it someone's permanent job to resolve. Therefore perhaps not as seamless trade as you may want to believe.

The UK's full border checks for EU goods has not been implemented yet. Seeing as those EU goods are more likely to be perishable food stuffs, you can see the issue with any delay will lead to problems - hence the reason for postponing the checks - they are not ready to do it now and may still not be in July/Sep/Nov 2022....


As such saying your iPhone - which I assume was more likely sent by air from HK and not weeks at sea by container, should make it easy for EU exporters to get their goods into the UK, was flagged as an unfair comparison.
 
It would of course come that way for bulk items sold via a reseller. However, how many containers from China are delayed and held at customs due to incorrect paperwork from the exporter/importer? Probably a large enough percentage of the the inbound ones to make it someone's permanent job to resolve. Therefore perhaps not as seamless trade as you may want to believe.
But it is not a problem is it?. So if it is not a problem for Chinese imports I fail to see why it should be an issue for EU imports.

The UK's full border checks for EU goods has not been implemented yet. Seeing as those EU goods are more likely to be perishable food stuffs, you can see the issue with any delay with lead to problems - hence the reason for postponing the checks - they are not ready to do it now and may still not be in July/Sep/Nov 2022....

I think that is a separate question. Given that until last year EU food standards were good enough for the UK I dont see why we need to impose stringent checks on the import of EU foods.

However I do fully accept that the Government appears to disagree - instead of getting Singapore on Thames we are getting Brussels on Thames with all the pointless regulation.

But at least we can now change the Government and change the regulations. :smashin:
 
But it is not a problem is it?. So if it is not a problem for Chinese imports I fail to see why it should be an issue for EU imports.
Well we don't know it isn't a problem for the Chinese exporters/ UK importers. It's just that it's not news and may have always been that way...?

But I'm going to guess here that it is a scale, time and distance factor. Chinese imports could be 1000s of the same item in a container from one ship. These goods have been subject to customs since forever. The exporters and importers know the rules. HMRC knows what to do. Knowledge exists and the procedures are defined. The paperwork is simpler for one container full of one or two different item types shipped by one common exporter, delivered to one warehouse for onward distribution to resellers and shops.
.
EU imports are smaller, more frequent, multiple items from different suppliers in one container/truck, with paperwork generated from different exporters and the possibility of the driver accompanied trucks doing cabotage deliveries to save costs. One bit of incorrect paperwork (which is very possible) and you have delays to the whole truck. Add into the mix that the numerous exporters, HMRC systems and the EU all use various cobbled together systems requiring pages of coded entries for each item - it's no wonder it may differ from the Chinese import procedures. Hence the reason most EU small vendors have just given up exporting to the UK. Plus the need to register for UK VAT - which I understand costs a fair bit for the average SME. That double whamy has just driven business away.

But at least we can now change the Government and change the regulations. :smashin:

Hahahah - This isn't going to happen. The millions lost already on non collection of customs duty will not be allowed to continue - those logistics carriers that are bucking the system by non declarations are no doubt rife. The only way is is to rejoin the SM or CU in some fashion. Again not happening for years.
 
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But at least we can now change the Government and change the regulations. :smashin:
Not until at least 2024, with no real guarantee of any changes specific to import processes/regulations, but it's a useful response when the negative reality of this Governments' actions are discussed.
 
Not until at least 2024, with no real guarantee of any changes specific to import processes/regulations, but it's a useful response when the negative reality of this Governments' actions are discussed.

It's good though to see an acknowledgment of the failings.
 
Hahahah - This isn't going to happen. The millions lost already on non collection of customs duty will not be allowed to continue - those logistics carriers that are bucking the system by non declarations are no doubt rife. The only way is is to rejoin the SM or CU in some fashion. Again not happening for years.

Well you then come to the question of whether we need Customs Duty. Do you want to replicate Fortress EU in the UK or do you want to be an open free trade economy with the world.

If we wanted to stay behind an external tariff barrier and keep out trade, then we might as well have stayed in the EU.

But that is a domestic political argument now - which is as it should be. :smashin:
 
Well you then come to the question of whether we need Customs Duty. Do you want to replicate Fortress EU in the UK or do you want to be an open free trade economy with the world.

If we wanted to stay behind an external tariff barrier and keep out trade, then we might as well have stayed in the EU.

But that is a domestic political argument now - which is as it should be. :smashin:
Most Favoured Nation.

A most-favored-nation (MFN) clause requires a country to provide any concessions, privileges, or immunities granted to one nation in a trade agreement to all other World Trade Organization member countries. Although its name implies favoritism toward another nation, it denotes the equal treatment of all countries.
 
Most Favoured Nation.

Well I have always tended to the views of the economist Joan Robinson:

'Even if your trading partner dumps rocks into his harbor to obstruct arriving cargo ships, you do not make yourself better off by dumping rocks into your own harbor.'

Hence the question over need for Customs Duties.. ;)
 

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