THANKS A LOT BREXITEERS (and good luck when you order items from abroad)!

[customchaos]

I recently bought some art through an online website (think, a bit like Etsy, but not that one). So the item was £400, plus £140 delivery, which I did think it was a lot, but it was being shipped from Russia. Anyway, two weeks later, I get an email from the website company, to tell me the item is being held at the depot and I am required to contact Parcelforce to pay a customs tax. I phoned up and the tax is to the tune of £140. For an item costing £400! Apparently this is the new post-Brexit norm. Just to get what you have ordered over the border!

I’ve also ordered more art from Bulgaria which is apparently in its way now and I’m really worried as this was more expensive (just under £3000). Does this mean I going to be charged another ridiculous amount as customs tax?

I’ve been on to HMRC today and they are no help, beyond saying “yes this is because of Brexit,” “No we’re not sure if you’ve been charged the right amount or why,” and “You will need to pay first and them make a claim if you think you’ve been overcharged.”

So basically, is this the end of ordering from abroad? What madness is this?

:(

babyyodaxmas It is bad, lots of UK sellers not shipping to Ireland either.
I know many pp's think it'll be fine to buy at home, I'd bet many suppliers will leave the UK keeping a smaller base with less jobs on the ground.

Brexiters will brush off any pain saying it’s necessary so we can cut migration. But they don’t mention that half our migration comes from outside the EU and will be unaffected by Brexit. And they are only just beginning to acknowledge, as David Davis did on BBC Question Time this week, that we need migrants to staff the NHS, look after our old people and do countless other vital jobs.

The Leave brigade also forgets how EU free movement is a two-way street. We have the right to live, work and retire in 27 of the most civilised and prosperous countries on the planet.

During the euro crisis, this right may not have seemed so valuable. But think about a 20-year old today. In the course of her probable 50-year working life, the opportunity to roam freely across Europe could be immensely attractive. Quitting the EU shuts that off – and don’t think there will be equivalent opportunities in America or the old Empire.

And it's not just ordering stuff from abroad, it applies when you go on a holiday and bring back something too. You need to declare it and pay tax/duty if the value is over the limit.
This has always been the case when travelling back from the rest of world as well like usa.
Hence why we also have duty free from outside eu

@UnshakenNeedsStirring

"We have the right to live, work and retire in 27 of the most civilised and prosperous countries on the planet"

As I understnd it, when you retire to an EU country your pension from UK isn't index-linked (except for Switzerland or Gibraltar) so unless you have a heck of a lot of savings you could end up in a dodgy financial situation.

@customchaos

Almost certainly VAT at 20% [which is payable on practically everything from abroad] + some duty from non-EU countries.

@AnitaB888 I have a few friends who retired abroad. Now they cant stay there more than 180daysatastretch. Some of my friends parents retired there for decades had to come back to UK post Brexit as they couldn't afford to live there anymore. Funnily enough, they voted for leave, so no sympathy. 1 went on to rent a flat in Clacton on Sea, mile away from the kids, as they couldn't afford anywhere else. And another friends mum cant afford to live on her pension in the UK, so all the kids pay her 200 quid a month so she can pay bills and eat

@UnshakenNeedsStirring,

I really don't get what Brexit has to do with people not being able to budget effectively.
I know a couple who have just retired to Portugal and they are doing fine.

@XingMing

Can you not find local art that you like as much? Unless you are buying Orthodox icons, surely there are talented artists to support closer to home?

Yes of course, i forgot, all those UK artists and art i could buy FFS.

Next you'll be suggesting we go and buy a Brexit Allegro.

@AnitaB888 You know 1, I know 6.
Its not about budgeting is it? They were fine for decades before Brexit happened.

@UnshakenNeedsStirring

"Its not about budgeting is it? They were fine for decades before Brexit happened."

Without knowing what countries they retired to and what the mitigating factors were I can't really comment.
However, I think one of the the underlying issue maybe healthcare and the EHIC Card?

[quote Thelittleweasel]@customchaos

Almost certainly VAT at 20% [which is payable on practically everything from abroad] + some duty from non-EU countries.[/quote]
Indeed. There'd have been 20% vat and a handling fee on imports from Russia before Brexit. (Well there should have been, but things were pretty lax and a lot of imports got through "duty free").

@donewithitalltodayandxmas

And it's not just ordering stuff from abroad, it applies when you go on a holiday and bring back something too. You need to declare it and pay tax/duty if the value is over the limit. This has always been the case when travelling back from the rest of world as well like usa. Hence why we also have duty free from outside eu

Its quite difficult to bring back a few cases of California's finest in the back of the VW Passat though isn't it?

The beauty of the SM is that an exporter can send stuff to Lisbon as easily as Luton and vice versa.

We have now made it as hard as exporting to Lima.

Brexit just means less trade with our nearest and richest neighbours and at a time when regions are getting together to trade more effectively.

Hence the UK trying to join a Pacific rim trading bloc..... do brexitiers think this a little odd?

@AnitaB888 Spain, France And Austria
Some people who live in Spain and receive their pension into a UK bank account may have recently been informed that their UK account will be closing due to Brexit.
Some of us dreamed of retiring, living a few months here in UK and few abroad, Brexit has ruined that. Britons travelling to the EU will now need a visa if they intend to spend more than 90 days in an EU country over the course of a year. That’s not to say you won’t be able to secure permission to live in France, Spain or another EU state, but there are no automatic rights to do so.

@UnshakenNeedsStirring

"Some people who live in Spain and receive their pension into a UK bank account may have recently been informed that their UK account will be closing due to Brexit."
So why not open an account with Santander? Isn't that what they have been told to do - choose a local bank?

"Some of us dreamed of retiring, living a few months here in UK and few abroad,"

but that's not retiring abroad is it? It's flitting between 2 or more countries and must be a taxation nightmare apart from anything else.

Little Britain is here in force today I see. Seething jealousy, dumbfuck comments, utter ignorance of Rules and Taxes.
Then they give us a pathetic sob story about people losing their houses and jobs whereas they are the ones that voted for this shit. It's like they are digging a hole that is constantly collapsing on them but as long as they can drag other people with them they will be fine.
Enjoy eating spuds and baked beans people!

@OfaFrenchmind2

Pourquoi ne vas-tu pas sucer un citron, ignorant?
On a gagné, tu as perdu, suce ta tête d'épingle

For many, reclaiming UK national sovereignty and the ability to be in control of our own destiny takes precedence over enabling some to purchase goods (in this case highly priced artwork) from abroad with low import tax.

This preference has driven the result of the Brexit referendum (a democratic process)

Brexit will bring economic opportunities that the UK will identify and seize. It's important not to focus only on the negatives

I hear your upset and concern. I think most people voted brexit because of immigration. Some people could see themselves retiring to Spain or France or their children spending a year in Greece or Germany. But the level of immigration from other countries concerned them and it seemed as if there was nothing we could do. Tv programmes seemed to play on these fears as well ( I can think of two where Romanian and Bulgarian families arrived in the UK, one was given accommodation immediately and the other family were boasting about the amount of benefit they received, of course no one worked). There were also high profile EU criminals who appeared to walk into the country commit horrendous crimes and it was portrayed as though they had a right to enter the country by virtue of the fact that they were European. There were also large of amounts of immigration to certain areas of the country. Where I lived previously they were high numbers of Romanians. And it’s easy to look up that approx 500,000 Romanians live in the UK and less the 8,000 brits live in Romania, I often heard British people having that conversation! This only added to the frustration. As a black person I’m NEVER going to move myself or my family to Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia etc I’d be happier (and safer in Canada or a commonwealth countries) so FOM within the EU wasn’t important for me or others close to me but I understand your situation and frustration. But I think it’s important to understand why people voted the way they did. And be angry with the politicians who never addressed these concerns and didn’t use the powers they already had to curb migration.

Anita, je n'ai rien perdu
I am a permanent resident, with a well paying full time job in London. But I also have the possibility to move in and out of the EU, to retire there when the time comes with my British stash, to send my kids to EU or UK Universities, etc...
My life will not be impacted too much by Brexit, maybe some bills are going to be higher, like for all of UK residents. But if Brexit becomes a total shitshow, I can just move away in many, many countries, pick up a new job and get on. Can you?

I used to buy potato fibre (for making low carb bread) from Amazon.de, as it's not available in the UK. There was also a German online shop that sold it.
I cannot now order it from either, as they no longer ship to the UK.
That is as a result of Brexit, apparently.

I really don't understand why people buy mid range art 🙄 it's really no better than what you'd get at a local gallery or art student fair.

On the other hand OP if you can afford 3.5ks worth of over marketed art you really should cough up some extra tax....

First world problem, lol.

@OfaFrenchmind2

"But if Brexit becomes a total shitshow, I can just move away in many, many countries, pick up a new job and get on. Can you?"

So if it's a case of 'I'm alright Jack' why hurl abuse at Brexiteers?

This 'Little Englander ' is happy to stay here and eat spuds and baked beans.