import taxes
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URL: https://forum.speakerplans.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=107150
Printed Date: 18 April 2024 at 9:24pm
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Topic: import taxes
Posted By: snowflake
Subject: import taxes
Date Posted: 15 June 2022 at 12:27pm
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Hi I've imported a few things from China recently and there seems to be some inconsistency in whether import taxes are charged. first time I wasn't charged any taxes second time I was charged on the doorstep when the goods were delivered third time I have received an invoice a week after delivery. tariff code is 8518400090 which seems to have 0% import tariff VAT is calculated on the shipping cost + the declared value of the goods but the sender companies seem to be under-declaring the value of the goods on the paperwork they have given to the freight company. This saves me money up front but if I sell stuff on will not be able to deduct as much from VAT bill. there seems to be a lot of conflicting information online. Is there a threshold for import VAT? Was £15 but seems to have been abolished. Is there a threshold of £135 under which the sender is liable for VAT, over which importer is liable? If you purchase through an e-commerce sight such as alibaba are they responsible for collection and remittance of VAT? I'm not sure whether I'm getting away with something or being scammed  Phil |
Replies:
Posted By: kedwardsleisure
Date Posted: 20 June 2022 at 11:21pm
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if you're importing from china, the sender wont charge vat at their end because VAT is a european thing. The UK adopted VAT over Purchase Tax ready for the common market in the 70's and we've still got it. The VAT is paid by the buyer to the british customs coffers. Import duty is applicable based on a commodity code, there are tons of them but there's a code finder on the HMRC website, its fairly simple. All the sender has to do is fill out a customs declaration form, which they may or may not do. Whether the vat (and duty) payable is detected by customs, the courier who delivers to you or is left to yourself to work out, is very variable. If it's not stopped at customs and the courier does not bill you (they should!) then it's either not eligible or you must fill an import form in and declare it yourself. Duties and VAT are different depending on whether the goods are classed as a gift sent to you, or merchandise you've ordered. Here's the link regarding the thresholds, but pay attention to the wording re - Gifts. https://www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad/tax-and-duty" rel="nofollow - https://www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad/tax-and-duty ------------- Kevin North Staffordshire |
Posted By: snowflake
Date Posted: 21 June 2022 at 12:04am
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amplifiers seem to have 0% duty coming from China to UK. online platforms such as alibaba apparently collect VAT and remit it to the uK govt. for items less than £135 but otherwise it is as you describe. I guess the first time the customs must have just missed it and not charged me. Surprised Fedex handed me the goods before payment this latest time though. |
Posted By: Earplug
Date Posted: 21 June 2022 at 7:27am
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I don't know about the UK, but stuff bought off ebay from China from here (and in EU in general?), now gets charged VAT at the checkout, even for small sums. There does not seem to be any lower limit. IIRC, the change came about a year or 18 months ago and from what I've managed to glean, China was, for many years, afforded some sort of special "Developing Country/Economy" status, which meant that "small purchaces" were tax free. That has now been changed - and no big surprise. By no stretch of the imagination could China now be classed as a poor "Developing Country"! TBH, I've cut back hugely on my ebay activity since they changed their payment system and split from Paypal. I didn't bother signing up to their new system - and had all my stuff for sale removed! Very nice of them!  ------------- Earplugs Are For Wimps! |
Posted By: Bams
Date Posted: 21 June 2022 at 7:43am
| Second to the story from earplug. Besides the developing country status couriers were flooded with parcels with no real value which clogged the delivery system (at least in the netherlands) or ended up which led to the transition. |
Posted By: kedwardsleisure
Date Posted: 21 June 2022 at 10:15am
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If a foreign country is charging you VAT then they must have a uk-registered office (usually a uk factoring agent). So the deal is between you and the factor, your payment goes to them and they pay the VAT part to HMRC and the goods value to the originator in eg china, plus a but of commission for themselves. This arrangement is often transparent for online sales but it's there nontheless. Large ebay sellers from China also do this. Where the item is made and sent from is now seperate from where the bill is paid to. It's the same when you sell something on ebay and it's bought by a chinese client, but the address you send it to is a PO Box in London. They are export agents who pay you and deal with the export forms and the chinese buyer gets it a month later with his duties paid to the chinese authorities. But you need to know to be sure. As I said already, VAT (and import duty) is payable to the UK government (HMRC) not to any foreign supplier, since VAT is an EU/UK thing. Before Brexit, any EU supplier would either charge you VAT at their local rate (as they were supplying another vat-using country) or, if you were VAT regsitered, you could have the VAT suppressed by the EU supplier so you didn't pay it - since you would otherwise be claiming it back. In that case you had a special column on the VAT return and a periodic form for 'intra-community' taxable transactions, so that if you needed to claim vat back from say a supplier in Germany, you could claim it back in the UK and then the HMRC would claim it back from Germany. Complicated! There are different rules and taxes for 'Gifts' and 'everything else'. It might be hard explaining to the tax man why a professional power amp were received as a gift. ------------- Kevin North Staffordshire |
Posted By: Earplug
Date Posted: 21 June 2022 at 11:22am
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Yes - small packages were treated differently under an International Postage Agreement between China and several western states, eg. USA & EU. Anything bigger, like a pallet, or container full of gear had to go through an agent. That now seems to have been updated/scrapped and everything become subject to VAT. Maybe down somewhat to huge debt crisis we have. All the governments need to grab what they can, while they can.  ------------- Earplugs Are For Wimps! |
Posted By: al_x
Date Posted: 21 June 2022 at 2:52pm
| When I purchased an amp from China they put the value as £100 on the shipping note so it avoided any charges our end. |
Posted By: jacethebase
Date Posted: 21 June 2022 at 4:52pm
Great if you don't get caught. But is looked upon as fraud if you do get caught. ------------- www.wedding-production.co.uk www.stage2sound.com |
al_x wrote:Posted By: Earplug
Date Posted: 21 June 2022 at 5:49pm
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"But is looked upon as fraud if you do get caught." Yup. Practically a Capital Offence to try defraud the VAT Man!  And down here, getting stuff through the Customs in Madrid can be a nightmare. The family of one American guy I know, who lives near me, thought that it would be a good idea to send him a birthday cake. It took over a month to get through customs and was not edible when it finally arrived on his doorstep.  ------------- Earplugs Are For Wimps! |
Posted By: snowflake
Date Posted: 21 June 2022 at 9:22pm
I don't think it has avoided charges completely because of the valuation, they just haven't look at that item. If they had they would have charged you VAT on £100 and VAT on the shipping cost. The Chinese seem keen to undervalue their goods on the export invoice - I certainly didn't ask them to do so! |
Posted By: woody2
Date Posted: 21 June 2022 at 10:27pm
Not just the Chinese , you need to be aware that the shipping company will only payout whats on the invoice if lost. |