VAT and Imports

stealthyspeeder

Hi All,

Excuse me if this is in the wrong section (never posted in here before!)

I have recently ordered a specialist car part from a company in England. Its quite expensive. 350 GBP. (this part would have originally been produced in Japan) After I ordered it, the company rang me back and said that as I was not in the UK (ordered to ROI), I could get this for 305 GBP as I did not need to pay UK VAT.

Is this correct?

I would assume that I will be paying Irish VAT on this? (if it is detected at customs?)

So I went to order another car part, from a different UK comapny (same situation). I asked the man on the phone to take the VAT off it as it was coming to ROI. (And the product this time was produced in America). The man refused and said that as the product was being sold inside the EU, VAT could not be taken off? It could only be taken off if I was outsidde the EU.

My point is the products both were made outside the EU, both sold in the UK, both delivered to Ireland, and one company wants me to pay VAT (UK rate) and the other doesnt!!

Whats going on? can someone enlighten me as to which company is correct? What the procedure is, and any offical links?




(I hope the guy who refused to take the VAT off is wrong as he was very rude on the phone!)

jor el

stealthyspeeder wrote: »

After I ordered it, the company rang me back and said that as I was not in the UK (ordered to ROI), I could get this for 305 GBP as I did not need to pay UK VAT.

Is this correct?

No. Pretty much everything sold commercially in the EU has VAT applied. Doesn't matter if it's sold in France to a buyer in Scotland, VAT is applied at the selling country's rate, unless the company ships over a certain amount to the recipient's country in a year.

stealthyspeeder wrote: »

(I hope the guy who refused to take the VAT off is wrong as he was very rude on the phone!)

He's not, the only way you can avoid paying the VAT is with a VAT registration number, if you're a business, and only if what you're buying is for the business.

The first guy is an idiot that doesn't know what he's talking about. If he knocks off the VAT, he's defrauding the UK government.

stealthyspeeder

Thanks!

Im not looking forward to ringing the 2nd company (the sole suppliers in Europe of the part!) back, and ordering with the VAT!

rubadub

jor el wrote: »

The first guy is an idiot that doesn't know what he's talking about.

He is probably just used to dealing with companies who would have a VAT number. Many shops like this have not much (if any) experience dealing with "normal" consumers. If you bought from him he might come looking for VAT numbers in the future. I get this quite a bit in my job, I purchase oddball items outside the system, and get requests for VAT numbers afterwards, sometimes several months after.

Once in dublin I got a high end carpenters tool, I found the shop in the phonebooks went to town and it was shut, turned out I needed to ring a bell to get it, then I copped it was really a "trade-only" shop. The guy said it was more hassle for him to sort out the VAT and I just handed over cash for the ex-VAT amount. It was him I phoned and he said from the way I was talking he presumed I was in the trade (as I knew exactly what to ask etc), said he would have refused me over the phone if he knew, but seeing as I had come all the way in I think he just wanted to sort me out as a one off.

Sonic_exyouth

stealthyspeeder wrote: »

Hi All,

Excuse me if this is in the wrong section (never posted in here before!)

I have recently ordered a specialist car part from a company in England. Its quite expensive. 350 GBP. (this part would have originally been produced in Japan) After I ordered it, the company rang me back and said that as I was not in the UK (ordered to ROI), I could get this for 305 GBP as I did not need to pay UK VAT.

Is this correct?

I would assume that I will be paying Irish VAT on this? (if it is detected at customs?)

So I went to order another car part, from a different UK comapny (same situation). I asked the man on the phone to take the VAT off it as it was coming to ROI. (And the product this time was produced in America). The man refused and said that as the product was being sold inside the EU, VAT could not be taken off? It could only be taken off if I was outsidde the EU.

My point is the products both were made outside the EU, both sold in the UK, both delivered to Ireland, and one company wants me to pay VAT (UK rate) and the other doesnt!!

Whats going on? can someone enlighten me as to which company is correct? What the procedure is, and any offical links?

(I hope the guy who refused to take the VAT off is wrong as he was very rude on the phone!)

VAT at point of entry only really applies to goods coming in from outside the EU.
You should pay be paying UK VAT on these, but, if you can get away with not, you should try it!

jor el

Sonic_exyouth wrote: »

You should pay be paying UK VAT on these, but, if you can get away with not, you should try it!

Encouraging tax evasion is hardly the smartest thing, is it?