Customs & VAT

[WRENNEIRE]

And so it begins troops, from tomorrow

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?tab=mm#inbox/FMfcgzGkXwNcdDPZpNMJwbcdGXtNKMhQ

 

 

[skinner75]

From July 1st 2021, VAT and customs charges will apply when you shop online outside of the EU. We’re here to help you understand these changes and continue to invest in new technology to make online shopping easy.

What does this mean? VAT and customs charges already apply to AddressPal purchases from Great Britain and USA with a value greater than €22. From July 1st the VAT exemption of €22 will be removed. VAT and customs charges will now apply to all applicable items.

How will I know if I have to pay a charge? If Irish Revenue have applied VAT and customs charges to your AddressPal order, An Post will send you an email and text message providing a unique reference number specific to your order detailing the charges that have been applied.

How can I pay a customs charge? The charges can be paid simply at anpost.com/PayCustoms or at any post office using your unique reference number before we deliver your parcel.

Brexit = UK now a Third Country, so no different to any other non-EU country

[Georgeconna]

"new technology to make online shopping easy" - should read easier to take more money off you suckers.

[skinner75]

Brexit has hit UK trade big time. Apparently, Ireland are now a net exporter to the UK, instead of being a net importer as they were a couple of years ago, so well done Brexit!

[irishmail]

Not sure if the new VAT  changes will affect orders from the likes of Hatton's as they are apparently VAT registered for Irish VAT so should not be any issue hopefully.  If not the modelling is going to be a lot more expensive! 

[murphaph]

It'll definitely affect something from say c-rail or Peter's Spares where the light weight usually meant they were assumed to be worth very little so would be waved through (here in Germany anyway) whereas now every parcel will be subject to customs

 

[NIRCLASS80]

1 hour ago, skinner75 said:

Brexit has hit UK trade big time. Apparently, Ireland are now a net exporter to the UK, instead of being a net importer as they were a couple of years ago, so well done Brexit!

But surely it should always have been that way!  Ireland has 60Million potential customers to export to in the UK but the UK only has about 5million to export to in Ireland!

Thats a shameful position for Ireland to have been in the first place, and would make to question what the Irish goverment have been playing at in the first place!  

[connollystn]

The good thing about some of the items I import from the U.K. is that they only need to be inflated after they arrive through the post.

[Garfield]

20 minutes ago, NIRCLASS80 said:

But surely it should always have been that way!  Ireland has 60Million potential customers to export to in the UK but the UK only has about 5million to export to in Ireland!

Thats a shameful position for Ireland to have been in the first place, and would make to question what the Irish goverment have been playing at in the first place!  

Not sure I see the logic there. Ireland hasn't been blessed with the natural resources or heavy industry that Britain has, so traditionally there was no option but to import oil, coal, steel, etc.

The shift in the import/export balance has a lot to with Ireland shifting to a service-based economy, which is thanks to more recent developments areas such as tech and banking. In terms of tangible exports, that's thanks to the growth of Irish food companies to become major players on the world market.

[jhb171achill]

To muddy the waters further, a friend of mine IN Britain now finds extra charges between the U.K. and AUSTRALIA!

[connollystn]

@Garfield - those are valid points. There was the demise the manufacturing industry in Britain also, a lot of companies which were household names no longer exist. When it comes to online purchases, I found that delivery from Britain could take up to two weeks while from Germany & Chechia it was no more than three working days. Unless it's necessary, I don't buy online from Britain - Ireland first then the EU.

[Georgeconna]

5 hours ago, murphaph said:

It'll definitely affect something from say c-rail or Peter's Spares where the light weight usually meant they were assumed to be worth very little so would be waved through (here in Germany anyway) whereas now every parcel will be subject to customs

 

yes this has already affected by purchasing TBH looking at my bank balance!. I will think very long and hard about getting bits n bobs from the UK these days.

I might test the waters on some thing small however to see if stuff will still make it through. Levying VAT on everything is gonna slow stuff right down and create backlogs big time.

[BosKonay]

There is zero exemption now so an post will collect vat on everything g with their new systems unless the item is exported with Irish vat paid and the correct EORI details and tariff codes. 

[jhb171achill]

So as of now, anything I get in Brexitland goes to a relative in Wales, who will accidentally bring it over now and again……

[irishmail]

4 minutes ago, jhb171achill said:

So as of now, anything I get in Brexitland goes to a relative in Wales, who will accidentally bring it over now and again……

Thinking of the same thing myself. 

[DiveController]

9 hours ago, irishmail said:

Not sure if the new VAT  changes will affect orders from the likes of Hatton's as they are apparently VAT registered for Irish VAT so should not be any issue hopefully.  If not the modelling is going to be a lot more expensive! 

Maybe a chance for local modeling shops to make a comeback?

[jhb171achill]

49 minutes ago, DiveController said:

Maybe a chance for local modeling shops to make a comeback?

Hopefully! Good thinking.......

[DJ Dangerous]

On 30/6/2021 at 2:13 PM, skinner75 said:

Brexit has hit UK trade big time. Apparently, Ireland are now a net exporter to the UK, instead of being a net importer as they were a couple of years ago, so well done Brexit!

I was never in favour of BrExit, always struck me as a colonial divide-and-conquer ploy by the politicians, divide the people and keep the msquabbling so that they don't notice what the powerful are doing...

But I have to say, I was wrong.

Iceland here in Las Canarias can no longer get their British stuff, so they've been stocking Irish products since Christmas instead.

Every pack of SuperQuinn sausages that I open, I thank the 52% who voted British products out of Europe.

[Arran]

On 3/7/2021 at 8:30 PM, DJ Dangerous said:

I was never in favour of BrExit, always struck me as a colonial divide-and-conquer ploy by the politicians, divide the people and keep the msquabbling so that they don't notice what the powerful are doing...

But I have to say, I was wrong.

Iceland here in Las Canarias can no longer get their British stuff, so they've been stocking Irish products since Christmas instead.

Every pack of SuperQuinn sausages that I open, I thank the 52% who voted British products out of Europe.

So how come Way before Brexit you still had to do full customs and you still got charged VAT in those Isles on parcels sent ? or am i wrong 

 

Regards Arran 

[murphaph]

49 minutes ago, Arran said:

So how come Way before Brexit you still had to do full customs and you still got charged VAT in those Isles on parcels sent ? or am i wrong 

 

Regards Arran 

VAT yes because the Canaries are outside the EU VAT area but now a parcel going from GB to the Canaries is also subject to tariffs. In the model railway world these are often 0% but most products do attract tariffs at something other than 0%.

 

[DJ Dangerous]

44 minutes ago, Arran said:

So how come Way before Brexit you still had to do full customs and you still got charged VAT in those Isles on parcels sent ? or am i wrong 

 

Regards Arran 

 

Private buyers like me? We don't pay VAT, never have. We pay IGIC locally instead.

Most online retailers have recognised this, like IRM, Marks Models, Hattons, Rails etc, and they were not charging VAT here prior to BrExit.

No change there, but a lot less slips under the radar since BrExit. Checks are far more thorough.

I'm personally making out like a bandit because of Iceland supermarkets since BrExit.

I doubt that the Iceland supermarket chain have lost so many British products due to VAT changes. I'd say that they've lost them due to having to import from a non-EU country. Extra standards to meet, extra rules to comply with, and extra red tape to fumble through.

Plus the risk factor. A lot of their fresh foods have a very very short shelf life due to the time lost in transit. Some products arrive with only two days shelf life. If there is a delay for whatever reason, and the product can't be delivered and sold, it is lost.

Less risky to buy EU products than British products, from their perspective.

[irishmail]

I have just had an email and text message from An post (Irish post office) to say that I have to pay VAT + handling charges on two parcels from Hatton's!!!  They are both well below the £135/€150 limit.  

Email sent to An post explaining that Hatton's are registered for Irish VAT, now awaiting their response.   

[murphaph]

Hattons regularly make this mistake when shipping to Germany (they are vat registered here also). Happened to me too. If you contact Hattons they will reimburse you your unexpected costs including the handling charges.

I'd imagine this is the path of least resistance.

[Liam_Murph]

Seems though that since we passed some other form of grace period in June/July for this season of Brexit, there have been greater checks and controls on anything coming over from UK into the Nordic countries at least, regardless of its price tag.

[murphaph]

Yeah not just the UK but any third country. The old €22 minimum value threshold is gone. Every tiny parcel coming into the EU is now liable to be stopped and taxed.

 

[skinner75]

Details on the Revenue site, with a few examples given:

https://revenue.ie/en/importing-vehicles-duty-free-allowances/buying-of-goods-online-for-personal-use/buying-goods-from-outside-the-eu.aspx

Edited August 5, 2021 by skinner75

[Georgeconna]

2 hours ago, irishmail said:

I have just had an email and text message from An post (Irish post office) to say that I have to pay VAT + handling charges on two parcels from Hatton's!!!  They are both well below the £135/€150 limit.  

Email sent to An post explaining that Hatton's are registered for Irish VAT, now awaiting their response.   

Hello IM,

can you please advise how Much is the Handling charge? do they separate this figure out?

[irishmail]

47 minutes ago, Georgeconna said:

Hello IM,

can you please advise how Much is the Handling charge? do they separate this figure out?

Hi George,  An Post charge €3.50 fee on top of the VAT.  Spoke to An post customer service, waste of time, phoned customs only to get recoded message to email them!  Phone call to Hatton's and hopefully they are going to sort it. I have copied the  breakdown of charges from one of the emails but deleted the customs and tracking No's.

Regards. John

Customs Value: Customs Reference Number: Tracking ID Number: Date: Import Duty: Excise Duty: VAT: An Post Fee: Total to be Paid: Pay by Date:

€ 52.11 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxx 05/08/2021 € 0.00 € 0.00 € 13.31 € 3.50 € 16.81 29/08/2021

Had reply from  customs,  they say its An post applying the charges!!

"Good morning John

I have forwarded your query to ecommchargequery@anpost.ie as an Post are now putting charges on the packets.

 Regards

M Burke

Customs Officer, Dublin Mail Centre, Oak Road, Knockmitten, Dublin 22"

[amdaley]

 

UK companies are using different ways when shipping items to Ireland.
I asked both Hatton’s & Rails on this & they have different ways of doing things.
Hattons take off the UK Vat & charge Irish Vat instead.
Hattons are registered in several EU countries for Vat.
Here is the relevant link to the Hattons information.
https://www.hattons.co.uk/list/eventdetails.aspx?eventid=113

Rail on the other hand use a different method.
They remove the UK Vat but do NOT charge the Irish Vat rate so the customer has to pay Vat & An Post fee before the order is delivered here.

Amazon is also registered for Vat in EU countries so parcels should go straight through.
However I had an Amazon parcel which had to go through DPD because of its weight stopped by Customs in the DPD depot in Athlone on the 25th July.
My local DPD depot was able to tell me that the box went back & forth three times between DPD & the Customs office at the DPD depot in Athlone before being finally released.
It took so long that Amazon actually gave me a refund.
It was finally delivered today plastered with Released from Customs stickers.

So to sum up.
We’re back to the way it used to be back in the 70’s where packages might or might not get stopped by Customs. Purely random.
I bought something on E Bay for £200 the week before last which was sent by Royal Mail registered & signed for. It was delivered to me in two days with no  stoppages or charges.

Tony

Edited August 5, 2021 by amdaley

[jhb171achill]

amdaley, yes - exactly!! 

A retrograde step. Thank you, Brexit…..!

Well, at least the Rails and Hattons staff (not their fault!) have bloooo passports……

Serious point; some of us are fortunate enough to have relatives or friends in the north or Britain. We would do well to research costs depending on where we’re ordering stuff, or the policy of the supplier.

I will be tormenting Relative In Wales, who can bring things over when visiting.

[murphaph]

A €3.50 handling fee is actually very cheap. I thought Germany was reasonable with €6. 

[amdaley]

12 minutes ago, jhb171achill said:

amdaley, yes - exactly!! 

A retrograde step. Thank you, Brexit…..!

Well, at least the Rails and Hattons staff (not their fault!) have bloooo passports……

Serious point; some of us are fortunate enough to have relatives or friends in the north or Britain. We would do well to research costs depending on where we’re ordering stuff, or the policy of the supplier.

I will be tormenting Relative In Wales, who can bring things over when visiting.

Lucky you.

I wonder would they bring stuff over for the rest of us for a small consideration 

Tony.

[jhb171achill]

1 hour ago, amdaley said:

Lucky you.

I wonder would they bring stuff over for the rest of us for a small consideration 

Tony.

PM sent

2 hours ago, murphaph said:

A €3.50 handling fee is actually very cheap. I thought Germany was reasonable with €6. 

Thats Germany…..

I got a package here, the contents of which had cost me about €500 or €600. I had to pay €130-odd to the post office…..

[amdaley]

I contacted Hatton's about Vat being charged twice etc & here is the reply I received.

"We're unaware of this sort of issue with orders to Ireland/Southern Ireland being charged for VAT twice but whilst places are still adjusting to the new systems that have been put into place, so sometimes issues may occur and orders can slip through the cracks.

If you place an order with us and this does happen, if you get back in touch with us we will sort this out for you straight away.

I hope this puts you at ease a little and if you have any questions please do not hesitate to get back in touch with us."

Tony.

[irishmail]

I had a reply from Hatton's earlier, they said that they are having a few problems with shipment caused by Royal mail to the EU, despite Hatton's using all the correct labelling on parcels,  however they said that I should pay the VAT/Customs charge and email the receipts to Hatton's and they will refund me.  

Fair play to Hatton's for sorting it out.