thinking of buying from technikdirekt? - read this

savemejebus

FYI

Just for anyone thinking of buying from technikdirekt or any online german retailers, be aware that on 1st of january German VAT goes up from 16% to 19% and prices will most likely go up accordingly.

karltimber

Good info.

but based on TechD and other German websites the saving are substanial compared to here or England.

So even an extra 40 odd euro will not hinder folks buying from them = me thinks.

good info all the same Save

Alun

savemejebus wrote:

FYI

Just for anyone thinking of buying from technikdirekt or any online german retailers, be aware that on 1st of january German VAT goes up from 16% to 19% and prices will most likely go up accordingly.

It may make no difference at all. There's an EU regulation that obliges distance sellers in EU countries to charge the VAT rate of the country they're selling to (rather than their own) if their sales to that country exceed a certain limit annually. For Ireland that's €35k p.a.. See http://www.revenue.ie/leaflets/vatguide_chapt11.htm#11

I've not seen anything on the website, or on the invoices I've received when I've bought stuff off them before, that indicates what VAT rate they're charging, so I don't know whether they fall under that category or not (yet) but I have noticed in recent months that some photographic items have increased in price by an amount that corresponds pretty well with an increase from the German rate of 17% to the Irish one of 21%.

slave1

There's an EU regulation that obliges distance sellers in EU countries to charge the VAT rate of the country they're selling to (rather than their own) if their sales to that country exceed a certain limit annually

Correct, but there's a lot of companies that don't bother, just because the EU have issued a directive does not mean that all countries and companies therein have to comply from day one, there are any number of directives that countries are slow to implement, just keep an eye on your checkout process with whatever website you're thinking of purchasing from and you'll know whether they are in compliance or not

Alun

slave1 wrote:

Correct, but there's a lot of companies that don't bother, just because the EU have issued a directive does not mean that all countries and companies therein have to comply from day one, there are any number of directives that countries are slow to implement, just keep an eye on your checkout process with whatever website you're thinking of purchasing from and you'll know whether they are in compliance or not

Well, it's not really a directive, it's EU tax law, and I'd say the German tax authorities would be pretty hot on that myself. Anyway, like I said, I've never seen anything on any of the invoices I've seen from them that indicate what VAT rate was charged, so no real way of checking. You could price the same article to two different countries, say the UK and Ireland and see what the difference is, if any.