VAT & Duty Guide

mcaul

There are so many questions about VAT & duty here's a quick guide.

If the item is sent from outside the EU Incl Chanel islands VAT & Duty is payable.

VAT & Duty is payable on the full landed cost incluidng delivery charges. Customs will estimate a value if a false value is placed on the goods.

If an item is sent by a company and is marked as a gift. VAT & Duty is payable. - Its the oldes trick in the book and the customs are well aware of it

Duty is only payable if the item is over €150 EXCEPT in cases of certain dutiable items such as Tobacco products, Alcohol Products & Perfumes - on these items duty is payable no matetr what the cost is!

VAT is payable on all items over €22 (including delivery charge_

Duty but not VAT is payable on Tobacco, Alcohol & Perfumes even when they are sent from another EU country - be VERY aware of this when buying perfumes from UK sites.

rubadub

I think there should be a sticky link about this, but I would like to see further contributions added to the original post, once others are agreed on it.

If an item is sent by a company and is marked as a gift. VAT & Duty is payable. - Its the oldes trick in the book and the customs are well aware of it

Legitimate gifts limit is up to €45. In the past years customs spokesmen on RTE news said the limit for ALL goods was €45, in recent times with the upsurge in online sales they seem to be cracking down on the €22 rule.

all items over €22 (including delivery charge

Just to be extra clear If you buy a pen for €2 and shipping is €21 then you are technically liable to pay VAT.

a .co.uk or .ie etc web address on a site does not mean it is sent from that country. www.hmv.co.uk send from jersey so you are liable for VAT.

pitrn

Hi,

"Consignments not exceeding an intrinsic value of €150 may be imported without payment of Customs Duty, while consignments not exceeding a total value of €22 may be imported without payment of VAT. (Intrinsic value is the value of the goods alone, and does not include insurance and freight.) "

I want to start a small business by importing handicraft products from india and selling them in Ireland on different websites.

My question to you is, can I regularly import products from India making sure the products do not exceed 22 euro each time I import and this way get exempted from VAT every time.

Can a import business be done this way, avoiding VAT and custom duty every time by buying small packages every time and just pay for postage and packaging?

Thanks
Piter

rubadub

"Consignments" is the key word there, I think if you get 20 packages delivered in a single day they can call that a single consignment and total up all the values. Possibly not even just in a single day, I'm not sure.


There was a clever Spanish company selling cigarettes, you subscribed to them with a single payment and they would send you 20 cigarettes every day or couple of days. This way it was not worthwhile for customs to collect the vat & duty on them.

Some people think customs destroy cigarettes if they find them, this is not the case, they usually tell you they seized them and ask you to pay the duty which is very high, so most people opt for them to be destroyed. Counterfeit ones can be destroyed though.

VEN

what happens if a postman forgets to collect custom charges upon delivery and not even signed for?

Does that mean you're off the hook?

rubadub

VEN wrote: »

what happens if a postman forgets to collect custom charges upon delivery and not even signed for?

not exactly sure what you mean there.

If you got an item through an post and there were no customs slips or dockets then you will probably not be charged at a later date, I never heard of it happening anyway. Lots of stuff just slips through the net. I have only heard of couriers billing you at a later date.

I prefer to order from the US using regular US mail services, they tend to slip through more, and the postage is usually cheaper so less charges if you are caught, as VAT is on shipping costs too. I reckon the couriers go out of their way to find if you are liable to pay VAT, since they can then slap on their high admin charges.

VEN

ah something happened last year there with a mate coming up to xmas, busy i guess. they got a package from abroad, it had a customs thing on it with a charge but their friendly postman didn't bother looking at it, just dropped it off.

theyve emigrated now this month so...