After quite a few orders from scubastore I started to wonder about the VAT I had to pay afterwards. In Norway this is 25%. I just had an order sent to me. And the amount paid was about 120 Euros. I had to pay 38% instead of the normal 25%. The reason for this is that in the papers that the customs get it is not specified that the amount paid for the order is goods AND shipping. Because of this the customs estimate shippingcosts and takes 25% of this. Anyone else notice this?
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Paying VAT??
- Thread starter B-J
- Start date
Thread Status: Hello
, There was no answer in this thread for more than 90 days.
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It can take a long time to get an up-to-date response or contact with relevant users.
i ve not had a vat bill
can you not get a uk based friend to take delivery then send the stuff on
can you not get a uk based friend to take delivery then send the stuff on
Scubastore should be able to send you a breakdown of what's what for customs purposes in their bills. Have you tried contacting them? I wonder if it's too late now but for future orders it would be helpful for others as well. I'm lucky enough to be able to drop by their warehouse, no shipping charges!
Guernsey in the Channel Islands has a zero VAT rate and is outside of the EU although sort of affiliated to it via the UK. I have found it increasingly difficult to get VAT free prices on goods sent to me here in Guernsey.
Scubastore is one of the good guys and so far all my purchases from them have been VAT free. Not so other companies. Just got some non diving goods from Amazon and they charged me UK VAT at 17%. I have had zero VAT prices from them in the past and I can't get them to reply to my emails. They got my money and now they don't care.
Typical seems to be the statement that no "extra" VAT is payable when shipping to Guernsey. Both Elios and Diveskin said this but both seemed to be quoting prices that include their local VAT rate not my zero VAT rate.
As I understand VAT is chargable at the rate of the country wher the goods are sent to within the EU. When you're not in the EU there doesn't seem to be a hard and fast rule. Companies that are exporting their goods should be able to adjust their VAT rates but many don't seem to bother.
Not exactly an answer to your point but you are not alone in feeling hard done by courtesy of the VAT man.
Dave
Scubastore is one of the good guys and so far all my purchases from them have been VAT free. Not so other companies. Just got some non diving goods from Amazon and they charged me UK VAT at 17%. I have had zero VAT prices from them in the past and I can't get them to reply to my emails. They got my money and now they don't care.
Typical seems to be the statement that no "extra" VAT is payable when shipping to Guernsey. Both Elios and Diveskin said this but both seemed to be quoting prices that include their local VAT rate not my zero VAT rate.
As I understand VAT is chargable at the rate of the country wher the goods are sent to within the EU. When you're not in the EU there doesn't seem to be a hard and fast rule. Companies that are exporting their goods should be able to adjust their VAT rates but many don't seem to bother.
Not exactly an answer to your point but you are not alone in feeling hard done by courtesy of the VAT man.
Dave
I`m pretty sure that if you buy something from a foreign country you should not pay VAT to the country where they sell it from but to the buyers country. There should be no reason to pay VAT to both countries. I bought a monofin from www.sportsbutikken.dk and they "took away" the VAT from the prize. I then paid my 25% to norwegian customs.
If your a business exporting to another business that has a vat number then you can sell it ex vat as long as you have the other persons number on a headed paper or fax etc for audit purposes. The recieving business would then pay vat if they were selling on to a third party. if you are joe citizen ( no business no vat number) then you need to pay vat at country of origin and only dutiers if applicable. The vat number for my company should not be used to purchase diving equip ex vat in another country but only to buy products relative to my business ie fireplaces hence it may be worthwhile to set up a second "business" using the same premises etc but you are now into the fameous grey area.
General rule - use only regular post service. All express mail services put everything through custom. In case of custom taxes they take extra money for unwanted "service".
And always ask from a shop to provide shipment with low price declaration.
Of course it doesn't matter inside Europe only overseas.
And always ask from a shop to provide shipment with low price declaration.
Of course it doesn't matter inside Europe only overseas.
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Generally - no matter if you are a private person or have a business with a VAT number - you do NOT have to pay the VAT of the country where the store is located. This is true if the goods go through the customs - e.g. shipment from USA to Europe. The custom charges you your local VAT (e.g. 19% in Germany). IF the store gives you an invoice with a lower value, you are lucky - normally they don´t.
NEVER tell them to declare it as present!!! Presents may be for free, but if there value exceeds roughly 40$, you will have to pay VAT anyway - and in this case, you are on the loser´s side, since custom "guesses" the calue of the goods - normally they "guess" quite high
If you receive a shipment from a store in Europe, there are two possibilities:
1. you have a valid EU VAT number. Then you receive an invoice without the store´s local VAT, and you have to pay your local VAT afterwards. Usually, this is only relevant for companies.
2. you do not have a VAT number (private persons usually have none) - in this case you pay the same prize as if you visited the store and bought there. Explicit: you pay the store´s local VAT.
NEVER tell them to declare it as present!!! Presents may be for free, but if there value exceeds roughly 40$, you will have to pay VAT anyway - and in this case, you are on the loser´s side, since custom "guesses" the calue of the goods - normally they "guess" quite high
If you receive a shipment from a store in Europe, there are two possibilities:
1. you have a valid EU VAT number. Then you receive an invoice without the store´s local VAT, and you have to pay your local VAT afterwards. Usually, this is only relevant for companies.
2. you do not have a VAT number (private persons usually have none) - in this case you pay the same prize as if you visited the store and bought there. Explicit: you pay the store´s local VAT.
Finally resolved my VAT issue with Amazon. Goods directly sold by Amazon are sent at the Channel Islands at the Channel Islands VAT rate ie zero VAT (VAT free) and this is done automatically. However goods supplied by a third party through Amazon Market Place are charged at English VAT rate ie 17.5%. Amazon claim that I can claim back my VAT from the third party. The third party say it's up to Amazon. I think I'm on a no-win situation there. Still next time I will know better. Aparently you can claim VAT back from customs. Anyone know how to do that?
Dave
PS the third party say they would have supplied me directly VAT free if I hadn't gone through Amazon.
Dave
PS the third party say they would have supplied me directly VAT free if I hadn't gone through Amazon.