New Import Duty/VAT Thread. Read Post #1 for Rules

auditray2007

Thanks for the reply. What do you mean by won't/can't?

tnethacker

auditray2007 wrote: »

Thanks for the reply. What do you mean by won't/can't?

Usually the value when taking matters to court must be larger than 300 euros. They might try to get the debt from you via some company but you can just tell them to piss off as the original debt would have to be greater than 300 for the courts.

auditray2007

Just got a letter threatening court action from them. Can they put a lean on anything I own?

tnethacker

auditray2007 wrote: »

Just got a letter threatening court action from them. Can they put a lean on anything I own?

No, you can always agree to pay everything back in court, but this sounds a bit suspicious. Did you get a letter from revenue taking you to court?

auditray2007

No. From Control accounts

joebre

Bought 2 bundles of 6 memory sticks at a total cost of €45. When I checked on the delay, I found that the Company was based in Jersey.

I have just read their T&C's and it says "If you order products from our site for delivery outside the UK, they may be subject to import duties and taxes which are levied when the delivery reaches your specified destination"
What is the likelihood of being charged by Customs or can I refuse to accept delivery. I would have split the order at very little cost if I had known.
Bought from Zoombits.co.uk

ED E

Mymemory are the same. Jersey & Gurnsey has some weird tax status.

Ive never had anything taxed coming from MM, but most orders would be 30E ish.

michael1984

Hi, hoping somebody might know this who has imported from China by Container before. I have my first container of goods due in next week and it is stopping off in Rotterdam before coming to Dublin. I heard there is a way to defer paying the VAT to your next VAT return as it has landed in the EU before arriving in Dublin. Is this possible? Do I just give my VAT num to customs when they are clearing it?

It would definitely help with cashflow if it can be done.

ED E

Think this is what you mean:

A bonded warehouse, or bond, is a building or other secured area in which dutiable goods may be stored, manipulated, or undergo manufacturing operations without payment of duty. It may be managed by the state or by private enterprise. In the latter case a customs bond must be posted with the government.

RUDOLF289

ED E wrote: »

Think this is what you mean:

Hello Ed,

Sorry to disagree. However, a bonded warehouse only defers the payment of duty and VAT untill the time that you clear the goods. At that stage Duty and VAT becomes payable.

What Michael1984 refers to is clearing the container at the point of transhipment (in this case and most cases : Rotterdam). The advantage of clearing the cargo in Rotterdam (through a customs broker who also acts as Fiscal Representative), you enter the goods into the EU. You would need to settle the duty at that point, but the VAT is transferred to the Irish importer's VAT return. The Customs Broker / Fiscal Representative clears the cargo in the name of the Irish customer and his VAT Number. In addition, because the goods are transferred to Ireland, he files a VIES return which shows the VAt details of the Irish consignee and also an INTRASTAT return. The VAT liability incurred in the Netherlands is transferred to the Irish VAT number.

That eliminates the VAT outlay at the point of entry here in Ireland. In order to close the loop, you are required to account for the transaction in your periodic VAT return as an INTRA EU aquisition, and if your annual EU imports exceed € 191.000, you also have to include the transaction in your INTRASTAT return. Essentially this is the same process as if you actually bought the goods within the EU. In that case the EU supplier issues a zero VAT rated invoice (provided ofcourse you are VAT registered)and you include the transaction in your periodic VAT return and INTRASTAT return.

If you are interested to find out more, send me a PM with your e-mail address so I can send you an outline of the process.

Cheers,
Rudolf289

Umekichi

I was hoping to find out, how to obtain a refund from customs? I won a child's kimono on eBay for my daughter. Everything was hunky dory until the postie arrived today looking for customs duty. At first I thought okay I got caught until I mentioned it to the postie that it was for my 4 year old. The postie mentioned that vat isn't charged on kids clothes up to the age of 11 and to try get a refund.

I have no idea how to go about this however, I was wondering if somebody knew how to?

Thanks

ohnonotgmail

Umekichi wrote: »

I was hoping to find out, how to obtain a refund from customs? I won a child's kimono on eBay for my daughter. Everything was hunky dory until the postie arrived today looking for customs duty. At first I thought okay I got caught until I mentioned it to the postie that it was for my 4 year old. The postie mentioned that vat isn't charged on kids clothes up to the age of 11 and to try get a refund.

I have no idea how to go about this however, I was wondering if somebody knew how to?

Thanks

There is no VAT on childrens clothes but there may be customs duty.

Umekichi

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

There is no VAT on childrens clothes but there may be customs duty.

But the item value wasn't over €150. It was $61(€55~) so I shouldn't have been charged duty?

Mountainsandh

Hi, just wondering if anyone knows what customs services charge via UPS. I have a bill from UPS there for VAT paid on an item (26.52), and an "other charges" of 14.50 euros, plus VAT on the other charges. I rang ups who told me the other charge is not theirs, but the customs'. I'm having a lot of trouble with ups at the moment, and while I understand the carriers charge something for customs, I don't think "other charges" on a bill and telling me it's not theirs is clear enough. Anyone here knows anything about this ?

ohnonotgmail

Mountainsandh wrote: »

Hi, just wondering if anyone knows what customs services charge via UPS. I have a bill from UPS there for VAT paid on an item (26.52), and an "other charges" of 14.50 euros, plus VAT on the other charges. I rang ups who told me the other charge is not theirs, but the customs'. I'm having a lot of trouble with ups at the moment, and while I understand the carriers charge something for customs, I don't think "other charges" on a bill and telling me it's not theirs is clear enough. Anyone here knows anything about this ?

the 14.50 is the customs clearance fee that goes to UPS.

Mountainsandh

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

the 14.50 is the customs clearance fee that goes to UPS.

So it is indeed charged by ups ?
The UPS lady was telling me to ring the customs.

To be clear what I want to figure out is whether ups are charging 14.50 for a service that cost me 6/7 euros via the post office before.

ohnonotgmail

Mountainsandh wrote: »

So it is indeed charged by ups ?
The UPS lady was telling me to ring the customs.

She was telling you fibs. customs themselves dont charge you for levying vat. UPS, FedEx and An Post charge you for calculating the VAT/customs duty and collecting it on behalf of customs. Even if it isnt very clear though you still need to pay it.

Mountainsandh

Thanks a lot, exactly what I wanted to know. It'll be part of my shopping strategy now to avoid ups as much as possible (out of all the couriers, they are the only ones who refuse to deliver to my door, they drop parcels at a shop !). If anyone knows what FedEx charge for same, that would be very useful, many thanks.

ohnonotgmail

Mountainsandh wrote: »

Thanks a lot, exactly what I wanted to know. It'll be part of my shopping strategy now to avoid ups as much as possible (out of all the couriers, they are the only ones who refuse to deliver to my door, they drop parcels at a shop !). If anyone knows what FedEx charge for same, that would be very useful, many thanks.

the fedex fee is nearly identical. All the couriers charge a very similar fee. The cheapest is An Post who only charge €6

rubadub

There is a maximum legal limit the couriers can charge. One of the couriers charges a % of the price, so it not too bad if you are getting stuff cheap. I think an post is still the cheapest

Your VAT is charged on the postage, for this reason I always try and get the cheapest possible postage, which is usually standard mail, it can also be the tipping point that brings you over the threshold limit.

I also find my stuff coming in via an post is more likely to slip through uncharged (if over the threshold amount), some poster said this should not matter but anecdotally I find it is the case, myself, people I know and several posters have said the same.

Mountainsandh

rubadub wrote: »

There is a maximum legal limit the couriers can charge. One of the couriers charges a % of the price, so it not too bad if you are getting stuff cheap. I think an post is still the cheapest

Your VAT is charged on the postage, for this reason I always try and get the cheapest possible postage, which is usually standard mail, it can also be the tipping point that brings you over the threshold limit.

I also find my stuff coming in via an post is more likely to slip through uncharged (if over the threshold amount), some poster said this should not matter but anecdotally I find it is the case, myself, people I know and several posters have said the same.

Great tips, thanks. I didn't lose out as such this time, as what I got would have cost the same overall price here, but I am very annoyed at UPS, and I think that's the start of me boycotting them.
I'll be trying to convince sellers to use regular post .
UPS have a tariffs pdf that is not very customer friendly, but I think I remember reading that they also charge the seller something hefty to provide customs for customers...

Explosive_Cornflake

I bought a bike frame from the UK in 2009.
I was getting it repaired at a cost of USD300 in the US.
Shipping was $275.

Am I liable for the vat on $575 dollars on this? UPS are charging me that way.

RUDOLF289

Explosive_Cornflake wrote: »

I bought a bike frame from the UK in 2009.
I was getting it repaired at a cost of USD300 in the US.
Shipping was $275.

Am I liable for the vat on $575 dollars on this? UPS are charging me that way.

Yes, that is the correct application.

Think of it this way. If you employed a local courier to deliver the bike to an Irish repair shop you would have been charged VAT over the transport and repair costs.

If you had it delivered to a UK repair shop the same would have applied, except the repair would have been subject to the UK VAT rate.

So in conclusion, you are liable to 23% VAT over the cost of the repair and the transport costs.

Hope this clarifies.

Cheers,
Rudolf289

Explosive_Cornflake

RUDOLF289 wrote: »

Yes, that is the correct application.

Think of it this way. If you employed a local courier to deliver the bike to an Irish repair shop you would have been charged VAT over the transport and repair costs.

If you had it delivered to a UK repair shop the same would have applied, except the repair would have been subject to the UK VAT rate.

So in conclusion, you are liable to 23% VAT over the cost of the repair and the transport costs.

Hope this clarifies.

Cheers,
Rudolf289

Thanks Rudolf.

mick_ser

looking for some info on importing clothing like hats, handbags, shoes etc from Guatemala. do i have to pay import duty? VAT? i'm also looking for information about companies to use for shipping if anyone can recommend one? Thanks

positron

Has anyone had a situation where they bought something on eBay, and the seller confirmed he would ship with USPS, and went ahead and shipped with UPS?

Going thru this thread, it looks like it's going to work out more expensive for me because he shipped thru UPS rather than USPS.

Has anyone taken this type of situation to eBay / Paypal (I can't imagine they would care much... I am just upset that UPS will shaft me with their 'handling fee').

pleasant Co.

positron wrote: »

Has anyone had a situation where they bought something on eBay, and the seller confirmed he would ship with USPS, and went ahead and shipped with UPS?

Going thru this thread, it looks like it's going to work out more expensive for me because he shipped thru UPS rather than USPS.

Has anyone taken this type of situation to eBay / Paypal (I can't imagine they would care much... I am just upset that UPS will shaft me with their 'handling fee').

I suppose you could declare it to customs yourself first, if you've paid the due tax/duty then UPS will have nothing to "handle" for you

EvanKelly6

Hi guys. Just bought a car radio from China and the seller has told me that he has it down on the box that it's worth $30. Not sure if he has it down as a gift or whatever but I believe anything over €22 customs have to charge vat on or would they let it go? Exchange rate is gone to sh**e so it works out at around €27.

RUDOLF289

EvanKelly6 wrote: »

Hi guys. Just bought a car radio from China and the seller has told me that he has it down on the box that it's worth $30. Not sure if he has it down as a gift or whatever but I believe anything over €22 customs have to charge vat on or would they let it go? Exchange rate is gone to sh**e so it works out at around €27.

Have a look at the first post in the thread. Lot of useful information there. The rate of exchange that should be used by Customs for April is 1.0592 (see this link http://www.revenue.ie/en/customs/businesses/importing/exchange-rates/index.html)

also bear in mind that the value over which Customs levies Duty / VAT needs to include the cost of postage / transportation.

Cheers,
Rudolf289

positron

pleasant Co. wrote: »

I suppose you could declare it to customs yourself first, if you've paid the due tax/duty then UPS will have nothing to "handle" for you

Well, thank you, but that what I really wanted to know is if anyone has taken that type of situation (seller using a different courier to the one he promised he would) to eBay / Paypal... But I understand how you focused on the other aspect, this is a thread about tax/duty after all.