Amazon.co.uk - No VAT on certain items under €22

starlit

beardybrewer wrote: »

Thanks, that's a relief that it won't apply to everything made outside the UK. That said I'm happy to look for alternatives and still hope amazon.de will take advantage of Irish shoppers looking elsewhere.

I'm assuming with the uk that if you order products whether with amazon or not that you don't pay any custom duties if order is under €22?

I have not looked into the amazon.de as I always ordered through the uk website to order items for delivery to Ireland and within the UK and I use the US site for the kindle the uk site did not work for me in that regards. I am replying to beardybrewer and oghams post above and below my own.

Ogham wrote: »

Duty does not apply to everything over €150. It depends on
a) If it was produced in EU or UK (No duty)
a) category of product - some are zero duty (such as headphones)

Some more examples here -
https://www.moneyguideireland.com/ir...purchases.html
Thanks, that's a relief that it won't apply to everything made outside the UK. That said I'm happy to look for alternatives and still hope amazon.de will take advantage of Irish shoppers looking elsewhere.

Quote:
Some Examples of Items that can be imported to the EU with 0% Duty
Here are some examples of goods from the UK that we understand can be imported duty-free into Ireland if the country of origin is not the UK.

Computers & Computer Parts
Computer Monitors
Calculators
Printers/Copiers/Faxes
Printer Inks & Accessories
Phones (Mobile/Non Mobile)
Laptops
Digital Cameras
Storage Drives
Games-Consoles
Headphones
Books
Radios
Sound recording or Reproducing Equipment (CD players, Turntables)
CDs
Memory Cards
Electric Toy Trains
Billiard/Pool Tables
Kids Bikes/scooters
Wooden Furniture
Plastic Furniture
Metal Beds
Upholstered Seats
Vitamins & Pro Vitamins
Whey Protein
There are many more items that will not be liable to customs duty. We have tried to just list the popular things that people would be buying online.

sondagefaux

Padre_Pio wrote: »

RE this "made outside the UK" stuff.

Does that apply to UK companies who have factories outside of the EU? Like say I'm a Saville row clothes shop, but my shirts are made in Taiwan. Can I sell to the EU duty free?
I'm not buying and reselling, I'm manufacturing and selling.

Or say I'm a clothes shop and I import from an EU clothing manufacturer, who has factories in Taiwan. Can I resell to the EU duty free?

No, but read on...

If you really want to get into the fun and fascinating world of Rules of Origin in trade agreements, have some serious booze to hand.

The EU and UK have a trade agreement.

Goods made in the UK can be imported into the EU without EU import duties.

Goods made in the EU can be imported into the UK without UK import duties.

Now take something with 4 parts: 2 are made in the EU, imported into the UK, and added to 2 UK-made parts. The finished product is imported from the UK into the EU. It still qualifies for no import duties because all the parts are made in either the EU or UK.

Something more complicated might have some parts made in the EU, some in the UK, some in Taiwan.

If at least 55% of the parts are made in the UK, or in the EU, or the UK and EU combined, it qualifies under this trade agreement's Rules of Origin and won't have import duties imposed if it's sent from the UK to the EU or vice versa.

But this only happens if the manufacturer can provide evidence that at least 55% of the product originates in the UK and/or EU.

Providing that proof costs money and if the import duty is low enough (say 1%), the manufacturer might not bother getting the proof for the product to be able to avoid import duties.

Then there are products that are imported into either the UK or the EU from somewhere else that might still qualify for waiver of import duties if traded between the UK/EU if enough work has been done to alter them after they've been imported into the UK/EU.

Lets say you imported seeds from Australia into the EU, grew them into plants and extracted oil from the leaves of the plants.

Both the plants grown from the seeds and the oil extracted from the plants would qualify to be traded between the EU and the UK without import duties.

But if you just took some of some of the seeds (let's say you imported 100,000) and packaged them into smaller amounts (say packs of 100), they wouldn't qualify, because you wouldn't have altered them enough.

That's just a very, very brief introduction to Rules of Origin in trade agreements.

For your example, you'd need to prove that at least 55% of the material in the shirts came from the EU or the UK, or that the shirts were partly made in Taiwan, partly in the EU/UK, with enough work done in the EU/ UK for the shirts to qualify.

Easy, isn't it?

Mav11

Question may have been asked before, but is there any benefit to taking out, or switching prime membership to Amazon.de??

Basq

Mav11 wrote: »

Question may have been asked before, but is there any benefit to taking out, or switching prime membership to Amazon.de??

Don't think so.. you'll still need to pay shipping on everything.

Mav11

Basq wrote: »

Don't think so.. you'll still need to pay shipping on everything.

Thanks, thought as much.

bluestrattos

Basq wrote: »

Don't think so.. you'll still need to pay shipping on everything.

From - Amazon.de

Standard Delivery (3-5 working days) | music, DVD, software, video games (excl. consoles) | €5.00 per delivery  + €1.30 per kg (proportionally)
Standard Delivery (3-5 working days) | all other items* | €7.50 per delivery  + €1.30 per kg (proportionally)
2-Days-Delivery (2 working days)** | all items eligible for "2-Days-Delivery" |€8.00 per delivery  + €2.00 per kg (proportionally)

The Continental Op

It looks like Amazon are leaving the VAT off items that are the sterling equivalent of €22 BEFORE UK VAT.

So, I just bought an item I've had on my wish list for ages and it finally came down in price and at £23 I decided to buy it. At checkout with no VAT added I paid £19.17.

By my calculation anything under £23.80 (maybe as much as £23.94) that has UK VAT on it should have the UK VAT removed at the checkout.

Ogham

The Continental Op wrote: »

It looks like Amazon are leaving the VAT off items that are the sterling equivalent of €22 BEFORE UK VAT.

So, I just bought an item I've had on my wish list for ages and it finally came down in price and at £23 I decided to buy it. At checkout with no VAT added I paid £19.17.

By my calculation anything under £23.80 (maybe as much as £23.94) that has UK VAT on it should have the UK VAT removed at the checkout.

True

As stated here - https://www.moneyguideireland.com/vat-and-online-shopping-in-the-uk-after-brexit.html

But - in theory it could change in Feb when the exchange rate used by Revenue will change. But I would be surprised if Amazon would be that accurate.

Benedict

benmeade wrote: »

Am I the only person that was getting next day delivery from Amazon the week before Christmas?
Nothing via dpd or anpost but by Amazon themselves. I noticed the tracking numbers changed to a GAxxxxx number and I would get a map and tracking counting down the deliveries until mine.
I have a feeling customs won't be an issue or at least hope with their new setup.

I too was amazed that parcels were arriving from Amazon next day before Xmas. I have Prime and was wondering if that was the reason.


I am nervous now about ordering anything - I heard the Minister on with Pat Kenny yesterday and Pat asked 3 times about the delivery man insisting on extra payment. The Minister side-stepped presumably because he didn't know the answer but wouldn't admit it.

Ogham

Benedict wrote: »

I too was amazed that parcels were arriving from Amazon next day before Xmas. I have Prime and was wondering if that was the reason.


I am nervous now about ordering anything - I heard the Minister on with Pat Kenny yesterday and Pat asked 3 times about the delivery man insisting on extra payment. The Minister side-stepped presumably because he didn't know the answer but wouldn't admit it.

No need to be nervous .
Just read this post - https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=115788766&postcount=977

Jofspring

Jofspring wrote: »

Same, one item. Got text Sunday from An Post. Amazon says delivery by today at 8pm but says still in Dublin. If I didn't have it by 10:30 this morning then not getting it. Looks like it'll be tomorrow. In Limerick.

Still waiting on this. Been sitting in Dublin for 5 days now. Longest I've ever had anything waiting to be delivered once it arrived in Ireland.

Sheep Shagger

Ordered something last Saturday, was supposed to be delivered this Sunday. Cleared customs in Essex on Monday afternoon. Arrived on doorstep just now (not An Post, was a guy in a white van).

Am Dublin.

Yggr of Asgard

All my VAT free parcels shipped on Saturday have now arrived with either the letter carrier or the van.

The Continental Op

Still awaiting on six although one was only ordered today but have 5 that were ordered over 5 days ago and still not even picked yet (all Amazon Prime fulfilled by Amazon). Delivery hasn't budged from the 18th Jan - Monday week. None of it stuff I really need would be mad with them if I needed it asap.

sondagefaux

Padre_Pio wrote: »

RE this "made outside the UK" stuff.

Does that apply to UK companies who have factories outside of the EU? Like say I'm a Saville row clothes shop, but my shirts are made in Taiwan. Can I sell to the EU duty free?
I'm not buying and reselling, I'm manufacturing and selling.

Or say I'm a clothes shop and I import from an EU clothing manufacturer, who has factories in Taiwan. Can I resell to the EU duty free?

Not a chance.

"Debenhams has been forced to close its online business in Ireland to avoid the cost of tariffs which are now required under the trade deal agreed between the UK and the EU.

The Debenhams.ie website was taken offline on Christmas Eve as the Trade and Cooperation Agreement was published.

Customers were informed that it is no longer possible for Debenhams to deliver orders to the Republic of Ireland "due to uncertainty around post-Brexit trade rules".

Debenhams is not alone. At least 50 major UK retailers, including Marks and Spencer and Tesco, are in the process of going through their products lines, to establish how many of them will be now subject to tariffs from the EU.

River Island and H&M have both confirmed to ITV News they expect to pay penalty tariffs on some clothing sent between their UK and EU businesses.

Tariffs are taxes charged on the import of goods from foreign countries.

Under the terms of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, trade in goods between the UK and the EU remains tariff-free.

But it has since become clear that goods which are imported into the UK and then exported on to the EU are, in many cases, not tariff-exempt because they don’t originate in the EU or the UK.

For instance, if Tesco imports a pair of pyjamas from China into the UK and then sends them to the Republic of Ireland - which is in the European Union - for sale in its 151 stores there, henceforth they could be hit by an 12% tariff.

Tariffs can be applied to food and well as clothing.

...

The key point is that, as a result of Brexit, henceforth goods must "originate" in either the UK or the EU - under so-called "Rules of Origin" - in order to qualify for zero-tariffs.

"Clearly goods imported from Asia and re-distributed to the EU are not from the UK - they are from China or Bangladesh or wherever.

Goods will be now be subject to a tariff when entering the UK and then again when entering the EU," explains Sam Lowe from the Centre for European Reform."

https://www.itv.com/news/2021-01-07/debenhams-closes-online-business-in-ireland-as-50-major-uk-retailers-face-eu-tariffs

bb12

sondagefaux wrote: »

Not a chance.

"Debenhams has been forced to close its online business in Ireland to avoid the cost of tariffs which are now required under the trade deal agreed between the UK and the EU.

The Debenhams.ie website was taken offline on Christmas Eve as the Trade and Cooperation Agreement was published.

Customers were informed that it is no longer possible for Debenhams to deliver orders to the Republic of Ireland "due to uncertainty around post-Brexit trade rules".

Debenhams is not alone. At least 50 major UK retailers, including Marks and Spencer and Tesco, are in the process of going through their products lines, to establish how many of them will be now subject to tariffs from the EU.

River Island and H&M have both confirmed to ITV News they expect to pay penalty tariffs on some clothing sent between their UK and EU businesses.

Tariffs are taxes charged on the import of goods from foreign countries.

Under the terms of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, trade in goods between the UK and the EU remains tariff-free.

But it has since become clear that goods which are imported into the UK and then exported on to the EU are, in many cases, not tariff-exempt because they don’t originate in the EU or the UK.

For instance, if Tesco imports a pair of pyjamas from China into the UK and then sends them to the Republic of Ireland - which is in the European Union - for sale in its 151 stores there, henceforth they could be hit by an 12% tariff.

Tariffs can be applied to food and well as clothing.

...

The key point is that, as a result of Brexit, henceforth goods must "originate" in either the UK or the EU - under so-called "Rules of Origin" - in order to qualify for zero-tariffs.

"Clearly goods imported from Asia and re-distributed to the EU are not from the UK - they are from China or Bangladesh or wherever.

Goods will be now be subject to a tariff when entering the UK and then again when entering the EU," explains Sam Lowe from the Centre for European Reform."

https://www.itv.com/news/2021-01-07/debenhams-closes-online-business-in-ireland-as-50-major-uk-retailers-face-eu-tariffs

the consequences of this are huge considering almost every business has spent the last 20 years outsourcing all its manufacturing to asia.

Swampy

Placed 4 small under 22 euro orders at different time/days at least a week ago. Only now have they been dispatched and are now grouped together in one delivery. I am expecting to now be stung for VAT and fees. My advice is to wait until your stuff is dispatched before placing another order.

petejmk

Swampy wrote: »

Placed 4 small under 22 euro orders at different time/days at least a week ago. Only now have they been dispatched and are now grouped together in one delivery. I am expecting to now be stung for VAT and fees. My advice is to wait until your stuff is dispatched before placing another order.

If you live with anyone else, add a new address with their name. I placed two orders this morning for under €22. I was about to order both under my name but ordered the second under my wife's to avoid being groupes together. Think I'll add the kids too 😂

Ogham

petejmk wrote: »

If you live with anyone else, add a new address with their name. I placed two orders this morning for under €22. I was about to order both under my name but ordered the second under my wife's to avoid being groupes together. Think I'll add the kids too ��

Or just multiple versions of your own name ,,, Mr P jmk . Mr Pete Jk , etc

gaming_needs90

I ordered on Amazon before the 1st Jan at around 50GBP but only getting dispatched now. Will I get hit for VAT etc even though I purchased before 1st?

Ogham

Swampy wrote: »

Placed 4 small under 22 euro orders at different time/days at least a week ago. Only now have they been dispatched and are now grouped together in one delivery. I am expecting to now be stung for VAT and fees. My advice is to wait until your stuff is dispatched before placing another order.

I would be fairly sure that 4 orders delivered as one by Amazon will not be looked at by customs . They will know that Amazon are one of the ones doing things right and will probably not even look at it. They are hardly going to have staff to be looking at everything.

Let us know what happens though

carveone

bb12 wrote: »

the consequences of this are huge considering almost every business has spent the last 20 years outsourcing all its manufacturing to asia.

This all seems a bit bewildering for the average consumer, ie: me. When I saw the 12% excise rate on Revenue I assumed that this was Ireland adding this, not the EU. I guess the 12% is a common external tariff but it's not as if it's mentioned very obviously. For those who remember huge customs duties from the UK in the 1980s, one is inclined to think "this again".

For instance, if Tesco imports a pair of pyjamas from China into the UK and then sends them to the Republic of Ireland - which is in the European Union - for sale in its 151 stores there, henceforth they could be hit by an 12% tariff.

I wonder why this is different from before? Wouldn't Tesco previously have paid 12% on importing them to the UK and then 0% from the UK to Ireland? And how does the North figure into all this? I assume I can drive up to Newry, buy a Samsung telly and drive back again, right?

Edit: I think I see. Looking at the Irish Times yesterday, it appears to be a confusing expensive mess. Example:

Separately, the baking sector is facing difficulties as flour imports from the UK, necessary because of the shortage of domestic milling capacity, will in some cases now attract tariffs of up to 50 per cent. This is because the flour used for much of the bread baked in Ireland includes Canadian wheat and as this comes from outside the EU it means tariffs apply.

I think the whole thing can be summarised as: prices going up.

Padre_Pio

carveone wrote: »

I think the whole thing can be summarised as: prices going up.

Prices going up in weird, unpredictable, and arbitrary ways.

Quackster

sondagefaux wrote: »

For instance, if Tesco imports a pair of pyjamas from China into the UK and then sends them to the Republic of Ireland - which is in the European Union - for sale in its 151 stores there, henceforth they could be hit by an 12% tariff.

Tariffs can be applied to food and well as clothing.

...

The key point is that, as a result of Brexit, henceforth goods must "originate" in either the UK or the EU - under so-called "Rules of Origin" - in order to qualify for zero-tariffs.

"Clearly goods imported from Asia and re-distributed to the EU are not from the UK - they are from China or Bangladesh or wherever.

Goods will be now be subject to a tariff when entering the UK and then again when entering the EU," explains Sam Lowe from the Centre for European Reform.

To take the example of the pyjamas from Tesco, as long as they are not put into free circulation in the UK prior to re-export to the EU or wherever, no UK duty should apply and EU duty will apply as it always did.

I'm assuming though they'd need to be stored in a customs warehouse while in the UK. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/how-to-use-a-customs-warehouse

sondagefaux

bb12 wrote: »

the consequences of this are huge considering almost every business has spent the last 20 years outsourcing all its manufacturing to asia.

These are UK retailers importing clothes and other goods into the UK and selling some of these products to customers in the EU.

Their senior management evidently didn't know or didn't ask (an even worse mistake imo) what would happen to the products they import into the UK and sell into the EU after 31.12.2020.

I'm no longer even slightly surprised at how complacent or unaware so many business figures in the UK have been about the effects of Brexit.

The EU has multiple trade agreements with non-EU countries and unilaterally waives tariffs on almost all imports from another few dozen countries.

If you're in the EU, you can import most goods, fully finished goods or components/ingredients from a total of over 100 non-EU countries and then sell them across the entire EU and some other countries (eg. NI, Turkey) without having to worry about rules of origin.

Even if or when the UK catches up with the EU in this respect, the rules of origin in the EU-UK trade agreement make it far harder for GB-based businesses to take advantage of trade agreements with other non-EU countries.

The British have really shot themselves in the foot by having really poor negotiators who accepted such strict rules of origin.

corkie

Packaging waste piles up as online shoppers try to avoid post-Brexit charges

"It has led to Irish consumers online advising others to order items singly, to a total value of less than €22, instead of bundling them as normal at checkout, if they are buying a few things from websites such as Amazon.

That would mean avoiding some charges, but would lead to an increase in packaging waste, environmental non-profit organisation Repak said.

Repak called on Irish consumers to be mindful of adding to packaging levels, which hit record highs in 2020 as shoppers went online during the Covid-19 pandemic."

Quackster

Ogham wrote: »

I would be fairly sure that 4 orders delivered as one by Amazon will not be looked at by customs . They will know that Amazon are one of the ones doing things right and will probably not even look at it. They are hardly going to have staff to be looking at everything.

Let us know what happens though

Yeah, I'd be 99.9% confident that any VAT lability that arises as a result of Amazon combining these into one will be absorbed by Amazon. I think they even state somewhere that if the Import Fees Deposit doesn't cover the final import costs of any order, they'll absorb the difference.

Hopefully because I ordered a load of small things and looks like they are coming in one order.....not for 2 weeks either according to them

James Forde

sondagefaux wrote: »

These are UK retailers importing clothes and other goods into the UK and selling some of these products to customers in the EU.

Their senior management evidently didn't know or didn't ask (an even worse mistake imo) what would happen to the products they import into the UK and sell into the EU after 31.12.2020.

I'm no longer even slightly surprised at how complacent or unaware so many business figures in the UK have been about the effects of Brexit.

The EU has multiple trade agreements with non-EU countries and unilaterally waives tariffs on almost all imports from another few dozen countries.

If you're in the EU, you can import most goods, fully finished goods or components/ingredients from a total of over 100 non-EU countries and then sell them across the entire EU and some other countries (eg. NI, Turkey) without having to worry about rules of origin.

Even if or when the UK catches up with the EU in this respect, the rules of origin in the EU-UK trade agreement make it far harder for GB-based businesses to take advantage of trade agreements with other non-EU countries.

The British have really shot themselves in the foot by having really poor negotiators who accepted such strict rules of origin.

I think for a lot of companies it was abundantly clear that this would be case, with regards to tariffs, in a no deal scenario. However, I think the deal agreed lulled them into a false sense of security whereby they thought it would be business as usual from a goods point of view with the exception of some additional customs requirements.

Shocking really.

Enrico Palazzo

corkie wrote: »

Packaging waste piles up as online shoppers try to avoid post-Brexit charges

"It has led to Irish consumers online advising others to order items singly, to a total value of less than €22, instead of bundling them as normal at checkout, if they are buying a few things from websites such as Amazon.

That would mean avoiding some charges, but would lead to an increase in packaging waste, environmental non-profit organisation Repak said.

Repak called on Irish consumers to be mindful of adding to packaging levels, which hit record highs in 2020 as shoppers went online during the Covid-19 pandemic."

No doubt there might be some increase in waste overall, but over the past few months I had Amazon send me vast majority of items separately, even if they were ordered together, while now they seem to be making an extra effort to consolidate shipping as evidenced by shoppers actively looking for ways to prevent that from happening.