To think I shoudn’t have paid a whopping I port city on item from Germany

[Easipeelerie]

DHL Express just charged me £63.80 import duty on an item sent from Germany. When I ordered the item, I saw no reference to import duty anywhere. I expect if I look harder, I’ll see it in the small print.
I rang DHL who said this is correct. Should I have paid and how do I avoid it in the future?

It’s not the responsibility of the seller to inform buyers of the consequences of Brexit. Get campaigning the new government to rejoin the single market.

I had my eye on a pair of boots I really wanted but they were too expensive to justify. Then they came down a bit in price and I ordered them.

Didn't realise it was a french site because it was all in £

Anyway they got pulled by customs and I had to pay an import charge which meant they cost more than the original price before they were reduced 😭

It gives you an idea of how it's hit Uk businesses since we got "are" country back, eh?

Lobby your local politician to see if there is any appetite to re-enter the single market.
That's the only way that these import duties are going to disappear for people in the UK.

Did they tell you it was shipping from outside the UK?

Yes, it’s a consequence of Brexit but one that encourages shopping with UK businesses and one that increases the tax take in the UK (which is desperately needed). So it seems like an upside of Brexit to me…

But I’ll bet a sizeable proportion was an admin fee to DHL for completing the forms.

I remember looking into it when I wanted to buy some Christmas ornaments last year. I had to keep the total under £135.

https://www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad/tax-and-duty

Another gift from the Brexit muppets

You realise this works the opposite way too right?

I used to order a lot from the UK (like all clothes for DD). In-laws used to send presents regularly, now they order them from a European site.

Yep. It's a pain in the arse but you have to factor these costs in when buying from abroad and decide if the total cost all fees included is a price you are willing to pay. Then if it slips through, it's a nice surprise.

I think she meant uk based people sticking to uk based shops.

Yes and I am just saying that if you count that as an upside, the downside is that UK shops have lost loads of business too.

I think she meant local shops for local people.

If you buy from company with bases in UK and Europe it seems tax is avoided. eg I (in UK) bought some children's clothes from uk Boden to send to France - when I paid online and put French delivery address they charged in Euros automatically from Sterling account and person getting items in France did not pay any tax. Previously when sending anything in ordinary way they were charged tax.

Import duty or import VAT?
They are different things

Theres also a coincidental change that took place at the same time as Brexit but is not a Brexit change. This introduced a method by which a company registers for VAT in other countries, this costs the company money and they then account and pay VAT to different countries

Clearly it’s not worth it for most overseas companies to register with HMRC for UK VAT, but if they did then they would have charged you UK VAT and declared with their registration details on the customs form

Import duty is applied to certain commodities
Import VAT is equal to the local VAT rate
Local VAT is handled by an overseas registered company as if they were local to the UK

Your £63.80 charge should be itemised with the valuation used (which should relate to the paperwork but may be recalculated at point of entry

They then assess whether import VAT and/or import duty are due
The handling agent (in this case - DHL) charge a handling / admin fee

The importer (addressee) gets a bill

Some retailers flag these up for overseas sales, or have them in their terms, but they have no responsibility over them nor a responsibility to notify you

I order from Boden regularly, they prepay the tax for you. It's a lot quicker as it doesn't get stuck at customs.

Ahh right, I thought you were making the point people ordering from outside the UK also pay duties when they buy from UK. Apologies.

It's not true that customs duty must be paid on eveything with a value over £135 imported from the EU.

You just need to ask the seller certain questions before buying an item. If the item was wholly produced in the EU or if not was sufficiently processed/ manufactured there, then under the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement, preferential duty rates are available. Meaning on most items no customs duty is payable, only import VAT on the value of the goods.

All that's needed is for the seller of the goods is to place a specifically worded declaration on the invoice or packing slip if the goods qualify. A little more work needed than pre-Brexit, but all is not lost!

Many things aren't actually available in the UK or from UK businesses, partially because it's so hard to import them since Brexit, but also because growth has been killed off for a lot.

I've just been clobbered by a £77 bill from DHL for a Guibert handbag .from France

To say I'm not happy is an understatement, as there was no warning on the website. In fact the price stated delivery and taxes included. Obviously in hindsight that just meant French taxes...

Same if people in Europe order from UK...

Well as long as there is a big enough market in the UK then that's fine isn't it ?

If not, then some businesses will go bust.

Did you know you were buying from Germany?

when you said I saw no reference to import duty anywhere did you think you were buying from the Uk?

And UK business losing custom from Europe because they too now have to pay duty. So not a net win for UK businesses.

It's another Brexit benefit. The only way to avoid is to not buy from outside the UK.

Except that the UK government used to have a nice tax ticket from my business with a large customer base in the EU. And now they get almost nothing as my EU orders declined after Brexit. False economy, me thinks