Amazon vat query

snubbleste

I bought powdered milk from amazon.co.uk.
It retails at £15, but I was charged £15.38
Revenue give the impression that milk powder is 0% vat.
Is that correct? If so, how do I get the 38p refunded and possibly any UK vat?

Give them your registered VAT number when you are make the purchase?

snubbleste

Deleted User wrote: »

Give them your registered VAT number when you are make the purchase?

I don't have a company.
If vat is not payable in the destination country, then I should get any UK vat refunded, no?

NinjaTruncs

Have you asked Amazon? Their customer service is usually great.

fepper

Is it really worth the hassle with revenue here claiming 38p, the paperwork alone

snubbleste

NinjaTruncs wrote: »

Have you asked Amazon? Their customer service is usually great.

I just did. :cool:
They confirmed I should not have been charged Irish VAT and will get a refund from Amazon at some point.
Although it is still not clear if I was charged UK Vat (given I was charged 3% extra) or if it is a glitch on the Amazon system.

RossieMan

Jesus it's 38p. And people said the Celtic tiger is back!

fepper

For a milk rich country like Ireland producing the most natural form of fresh milk every day,it might be cheaper to get it in the local shop

HorseSea

The 38p is the difference between UK and Irish Vat, an equivalent percentage is always added by Amazon to purchases when the order is from Ireland, at least it is for me, so if they have agreed a VAT refund it should be for the full amount, 23% which will be the UK VAT plus the 38p.

my3cents

HorseSea wrote: »

The 38p is the difference between UK and Irish Vat, an equivalent percentage is always added by Amazon to purchases when the order is from Ireland, at least it is for me, so if they have agreed a VAT refund it should be for the full amount, 23% which will be the UK VAT plus the 38p.

But isn't the problem that the item is zero rated (food) in the UK and zero rated here but Amazon have done what you have suggested without realising they are selling a zero VAT item?

But I'm not 100% sure powered milk is zero rated?

snubbleste

HorseSea wrote: »

The 38p is the difference between UK and Irish Vat, an equivalent percentage is always added by Amazon to purchases when the order is from Ireland, at least it is for me, so if they have agreed a VAT refund it should be for the full amount, 23% which will be the UK VAT plus the 38p.

I know that..
But I suspect that prepared milk is also vat-exempt in the UK. That leads me to think it is a glitch in the amazon system.

my3cents

snubbleste wrote: »

I know that..
But I suspect that prepared milk is also vat-exempt in the UK. That leads me to think it is a glitch in the amazon system.

Wouldn't be the first glitch, remember the problems with free super saver delivery to Ireland that took ages to fix?

rubadub

fepper wrote: »

For a milk rich country like Ireland producing the most natural form of fresh milk every day,it might be cheaper to get it in the local shop

Dried milk is pretty expensive here, and many are skim milk powder not whole milk powder. The one he got 6 of is £3 per 400g in tesco UK, and that's a special offer

http://www.tesco.com/groceries/product/details/?id=260148289

Occono

Why, when the price changes at checkout from your basket, doesn't Amazon tell you it's because of local VAT? I was so confused.

"Great consumer support" my ****, their UI doesn't give two ***** about anyone outside the UK.

rubadub

Occono wrote: »

Why, when the price changes at checkout from your basket, doesn't Amazon tell .

They should really allow you to log in and pick Ireland as your delivery address and display those prices, or display UK & irish, i.e. allow you pick your parcel motel address and regular one. And it could easily show if items can be posted to you too, e.g. batteries etc. There was a plugin for firefox that showed Irish prices, but I think it guessed some VAT items.

I did a test there to buy UHT milk portions and it was zero vat for Ireland and UK, The powder in the OP has VAT in both as expected.

Whey protein powders are zero in the UK but 23% here if they look like sports nutrition stuff.

snubbleste

So, I got my 23% vat refund today.. that means they are charging UK customers VAT all this time.
Amazon terms it an "Item billing error"

Woohoo, really cheap powdered milk

Howjoe1

But a 38p refund does not equal 23%

rubadub

Howjoe1 wrote: »

But a 38p refund does not equal 23%

he never said he got 38p, it was the full 23%, about £2.87

38p was only the difference between uk and irish vat