Vat Rates on items purchased online from UK

camroc76

Hi all,

Quick question, recent purchase (arrived today) from Wiggle noted VAT @ 21.5%...is this right ? I though the English rate of VAT had dropped..

Full Correction and link to previous thread discussing same expected !!

Cam.

blorg

Any company that does over a threshold level of sales to another EU state is obliged to register for VAT in the state they are selling to and charge the VAT applicable there- so you are being charged the Irish VAT rate of 21.5% rather than the UK one of 15%. You would find the same buying for example from amazon.co.uk.

Many UK companies ignore this regulation and just charge UK VAT. Some are small enough that they wouldn't sell over the threshold but many others surely do and just ignore it.

rughdh

UK VAT is 15%, but Wiggle charge the Irish VAT rate when shipping to Ireland.

Edit: blorg beat me to it :-)

camroc76

Thanks for the clarification people !

Cam.

victorcarrera

And while we're at it. Anybody know if vat rates are different depending on item type. For example replacement parts, cycle clothing/shoes etc.

cgf

Nope, unless you can eat it !!!!

blorg

Not in Ireland AFAIK but helmets are zero-rated in the UK, so if you buy a helmet from CRC (but not Wiggle) you are not charged any VAT on it.

Lumen

victorcarrera wrote: »

And while we're at it. Anybody know if vat rates are different depending on item type. For example replacement parts, cycle clothing/shoes etc.

Perhaps if you're really small, you can wear childrens clothing, which is zero-rated.

colblimp

Books are at a reduced VAT rate as well as food and kids clothes...

rottenhat

There's no VAT on books. I guess that's reduced about as far as you can go.

colblimp

rottenhat wrote: »

There's no VAT on books. I guess that's reduced about as far as you can go.

You're right, I knew the VAT on books was low - I'd just forgotten how low!:o

Victor

rottenhat wrote: »

There's no VAT on books. I guess that's reduced about as far as you can go.

Its more complicated than that.

znv6i3h7kqf9ys

I used to work for a company based in the uk with an office in Dublin. We sold and shipped everything from uk to Eire with 0% vat. Not sure how legal that was. Any ideas?

zzzzzzzz

Ayla Tight Wasteland wrote: »

I used to work for a company based in the uk with an office in Dublin. We sold and shipped everything from uk to Eire with 0% vat. Not sure how legal that was. Any ideas?

If your company is registered for VAT in Ireland and you're buying something from the UK or any other country, you should pay 0% VAT as you won't be able to claim it back as you would if you were buying from an Irish company

rubadub

Lumen wrote: »

Perhaps if you're really small, you can wear childrens clothing, which is zero-rated.

Thanks to all the fat kids I do fit in some kids clothes & save a fair bit for very similar items in the same shop.

If the item is expensive enough then it could be worthwhile getting it sent to a couriers in NI, then the delivery to down here might be less than the VAT differences, so you save. People in bargain alerts are doing this, but usually just for places that only deliver to UK.

Many UK places charge the same to send to mainland UK or NI, yet a NI courier to here is usually cheaper than UK.

sy

Which government gets the xss 6.5% vat? Wiggle have only started charging Irish rate in the last few months.

rubadub

sy wrote: »

Which government gets the xss 6.5% vat? Wiggle have only started charging Irish rate in the last few months.

I would guess Ireland gets the full 21.5%.