Buying lenses from another EU country..VAT?

tomhongkong · May 18, 2017

Although I live in Hong Kong I may buy a lens from France or Ireland, for shipping to me in UK next month. I could buy it in the USA later in the summer, but would then not have the use of it while I am in UK

So the question is,

If I buy from France or Ireland via ebay, am I going to be charged VAT when it arrives in UK?

What is your experience?

thanks

tom

Danielvr · May 18, 2017

tomhongkong said:
If I buy from France or Ireland via ebay, am I going to be charged VAT when it arrives in UK?

Most likely yes - by regulations you should be paying the French or Irish rate. Unless the seller has a high turnover to UK customers (more than € 100.000/annum), in which case he would have to charge the British rate

Okapi001 · May 18, 2017

Danielvr said:
Danielvr said:

If I buy from France or Ireland via ebay, am I going to be charged VAT when it arrives in UK?

Click to expand...

Most likely yes - by regulations you should be paying the French or Irish rate. Unless the seller has a high turnover to UK customers (more than € 100.000/annum), in which case he would have to charge the British rate

Within EU there is no additional VAT on import. You pay the VAT in the country where you buy the stuff. The rate is as stated above.

Marco Zima · May 18, 2017

tomhongkong said:
Although I live in Hong Kong I may buy a lens from France or Ireland, for shipping to me in UK next month. I could buy it in the USA later in the summer, but would then not have the use of it while I am in UK

So the question is,

If I buy from France or Ireland via ebay, am I going to be charged VAT when it arrives in UK?

What is your experience?

thanks

tom

Until UK is in the European Union, you will pay only VAT of the country where you buy the goods. It's the Free Movements of Goods European law, there is no additional VAT on intra-community movements of goods.

Astrotripper · May 18, 2017

All the answers you got so far are incorrect.

Here's how it works:

You pay VAT as part of the price of the item. And the VAT rate will be that of the country of destination. So, if you buy on German Amazon but ship to UK, you will pay VAT according to UK rate (and vice versa). If that is not the case for the store you will be buying from, than that just means they are breaking the law by operating "the old way".

Basically, the rules have changed so that VAT follows the buyer, not the seller. In short, it does not matter in which EU country you will be buying, it's all the same now.

Robiro · May 18, 2017

tomhongkong said:
Although I live in Hong Kong I may buy a lens from France or Ireland, for shipping to me in UK next month. I could buy it in the USA later in the summer, but would then not have the use of it while I am in UK

So the question is,

If I buy from France or Ireland via ebay, am I going to be charged VAT when it arrives in UK?

No.

The parcel will just arrive.

Nothing, no additional charges.

PeteGeordie · May 18, 2017

Astrotripper said:
All the answers you got so far are incorrect.

Here's how it works:

You pay VAT as part of the price of the item. And the VAT rate will be that of the country of destination. So, if you buy on German Amazon but ship to UK, you will pay VAT according to UK rate (and vice versa). If that is not the case for the store you will be buying from, than that just means they are breaking the law by operating "the old way".

Basically, the rules have changed so that VAT follows the buyer, not the seller. In short, it does not matter in which EU country you will be buying, it's all the same now.

This is very wrong.

VAT is charged and collected by the country selling the goods. No additional import duties or taxes on shipments within the EU.

Pete

Marco Zima · May 18, 2017

Astrotripper said:
All the answers you got so far are incorrect.

They are correct regardong the fact that you won't pay additional VAT

Astrotripper said:
Here's how it works:

Basically, the rules have changed so that VAT follows the buyer, not the seller. In short, it does not matter in which EU country you will be buying, it's all the same now.

If you want to be precise, it depends on how much the seller sells in the specific country.

"If you sell goods and send them to consumers in another EU country, you need to register there and charge VAT at the rate applicable in that country - unless the total value of your sales to that country in the year falls below the limit set by the country (EUR 35 000 or EUR 100 000)."

Source http://europa.eu/youreurope/business/vat-customs/cross-border/index_en.htm

Not so relevant for the OP, he will pay the price he sees, no additional VAT charged cross-border.

PeteGeordie · May 18, 2017

This is the correct answer

Astrotripper · May 18, 2017

PeteGeordie said:
Astrotripper said:

In short, it does not matter in which EU country you will be buying, it's all the same now.

Click to expand...

This is very wrong.

No it's not. It's really simple now. Let's say I'm in UK where VAT in 20% and I buy from a store in Germany, where VAT is 19%. I go to checkout, see the base price and VAT at 20% rate. I pay that and few days later a package is at my doorstep. Which is exactly the same as if I were buying from a store in UK.

Unless I buy from a very small seller, as noted in other reply.

PeteGeordie · May 19, 2017

Astrotripper said:
PeteGeordie said:

Astrotripper said:

In short, it does not matter in which EU country you will be buying, it's all the same now.

Click to expand...

This is very wrong.

Click to expand...

No it's not. It's really simple now. Let's say I'm in UK where VAT in 20% and I buy from a store in Germany, where VAT is 19%. I go to checkout, see the base price and VAT at 20% rate. I pay that and few days later a package is at my doorstep. Which is exactly the same as if I were buying from a store in UK.

Unless I buy from a very small seller, as noted in other reply.

Apologies I mis-read your reply. In my defence I did reply before putting in my contact lenses :-(

yonsito · May 19, 2017

20% VAT for electronics delivered to the UK.

Unlike the sales tax in the States, VAT is already included in the price (except for the small differences between countries).

If you are visiting the EU, it is possible to apply for a refund of the VAT. Your seller has to provide this service, though. Details here:

Loading…

ec.europa.eu

Paul De Bra · May 19, 2017

Finally the right answer posted. When I buy something from say Amazon Germany and have it shipped to my home address in the Netherlands Amazon charges the VAT rate of the Netherlands. So you pay the VAT to the seller in the country of the seller but that VAT is at the rate of the VAT in the country you have them ship it to.

I have done this several times. This is really the correct answer.

maggiemole · May 19, 2017

tomhongkong said:
Although I live in Hong Kong I may buy a lens from France or Ireland, for shipping to me in UK next month. I could buy it in the USA later in the summer, but would then not have the use of it while I am in UK

So the question is,

If I buy from France or Ireland via ebay, am I going to be charged VAT when it arrives in UK?

What is your experience?

thanks

tom

I bought the Samyang 7.5mm lens from a Netherlands company for delivery to my home in the UK. The process is fully transparent: you've paid the VAT as part of your purchase price and no-one in the UK is going to even think about charging you any more. I paid on a credit card in Euros and I suspect the variation in exchange rates would account for more than any variation in VAT between EU countries. Don't worry.

Maggie

Sranang Boi · May 19, 2017

I have a fair idea who those sellers are that you mentioned. I asked them for their VAT number once and neither could supply it. So I do not believe that they are in fact VAT registered in the EU.

Sranang Boi · May 19, 2017

Amazon is a law onto itself, and will try to reduce its cost no matter which of their websites you use.
The reality is that the EU VAT is calculated based on the country where the seller is based and where he files his VAT accounts. It is not based on the EU country where the goods are being shipped from. Amazon do a lot of creative accounting so they use local VAT rules for the customers, and the super low VAT rules of Luxembourg to file their corporate VAT accounts. The difference is then pocketed. I run an online business myself and had to quickly get up to speed with this process in order to stay competitive.

Bigbob Irwin · May 19, 2017

Well I bought a Gibson Les Paul from Germany and it had the vat in the price and was delivered with no extra charge to me in Scotland I would think the same applies to anything else in the EU.

shibbs · May 19, 2017

tomhongkong said:
Although I live in Hong Kong I may buy a lens from France or Ireland, for shipping to me in UK next month. I could buy it in the USA later in the summer, but would then not have the use of it while I am in UK

So the question is,

If I buy from France or Ireland via ebay, am I going to be charged VAT when it arrives in UK?

What is your experience?

thanks

tom

I live in Southampton UK and brought my 12-100 f4 from France and I did not have to pay any additional costs. It came straight to my front door. This is not the first time I've brought from this seller and I have never been charged. PS I brought the lens 2wks ago.

Yxa · May 19, 2017

tomhongkong said:
Although I live in Hong Kong I may buy a lens from France or Ireland, for shipping to me in UK next month. I could buy it in the USA later in the summer, but would then not have the use of it while I am in UK

So the question is,

If I buy from France or Ireland via ebay, am I going to be charged VAT when it arrives in UK?

What is your experience?

thanks

tom

Loading…

europa.eu

Le Frog · May 19, 2017

Sranang Boi said:
Amazon is a law onto itself, and will try to reduce its cost no matter which of their websites you use.
The reality is that the EU VAT is calculated based on the country where the seller is based and where he files his VAT accounts. It is not based on the EU country where the goods are being shipped from. Amazon do a lot of creative accounting so they use local VAT rules for the customers, and the super low VAT rules of Luxembourg to file their corporate VAT accounts. The difference is then pocketed. I run an online business myself and had to quickly get up to speed with this process in order to stay competitive.

I think you are mixing up VAT with income tax. What you probably mean is that VAT on inputs is calculated at the rate of the country of their corporate seat (and paid in that country), rather than the rate of the country where the warehouse is located. VAT on outputs is calculated at the rate of the destination country and paid to the treasury of that country. Of course, if they have no outputs in the country of their VAT inputs (it is irrelevant whether that country is the country of the corporate seat or the country of the warehouse), that country must pay back to amazon the input VAT. This is not cheating, it is normal, and overall tax neutral. Tax avoidance is an income tax game, not a VAT game.

Buying lenses from another EU country..VAT?

Veteran Member

Veteran Member

Veteran Member

Forum Enthusiast

Veteran Member

Veteran Member

Forum Enthusiast

Forum Enthusiast

Forum Enthusiast

Veteran Member

Forum Enthusiast

Forum Enthusiast

Forum Pro

Senior Member

Senior Member

Senior Member

Leading Member

Forum Enthusiast

Senior Member

Leading Member

Similar threads

Keyboard shortcuts