Buying machine in UK, can i claim back VAT?

moggie4000

Hey,

I'm thinking of buying a cuple of machines in the uk, what is the situation as regards claiming back the vat on them?

Can it be done or is it a little more complicated than that?

Cheers
Moggie

michael m

If you are vat registered here & the company you are buying the machine of in the UK has a UK vat number then you do not pay the vat in the first place i.e. say the machine cost €1000 + vat you only pay €1000

hope this helps

moggie4000

michael m wrote: »

If you are vat registered here & the company you are buying the machine of in the UK has a UK vat number then you do not pay the vat in the first place i.e. say the machine cost €1000 + vat you only pay €1000

hope this helps

Oh ok. Great stuff, thanks for that.

AndyJB

moggie4000 wrote: »

Hey,

I'm thinking of buying a cuple of machines in the uk, what is the situation as regards claiming back the vat on them?

Can it be done or is it a little more complicated than that?

Cheers
Moggie

As other poster said if you're VAT registered and UK seller is VAT registered they won't charge you UK VAT, but, you'd better check out if the Irish Revenue/Customs will charge you Irish VAT on the Irish side when you collect.

Give your local Customs office a bell and see what they have to say. On imports at Irish side Customs usually charge VAT on everything you pay eg (Cost of item + Insurance + Transport) @ 21%

Even if you're VAT registered you'll have to pay the VAT on importing so be mindful of your cash flow needs.

It's best to phone or even better to call into the Customs people.

Best of luck.

wellboy76

Not trying to be Anal but can you buy them here?

mathepac

AndyJB wrote: »

... On imports at Irish side Customs usually charge VAT on everything you pay eg (Cost of item + Insurance + Transport) @ 21% ...

That doesn't sound right for intra EU movements of goods. Have you a source for your information?

AndyJB

mathepac wrote: »

That doesn't sound right for intra EU movements of goods. Have you a source for your information?

Hi,
I have personal experience of importing none EU goods, but have friends that have been hit with vat/excise on importing xray and other specialist machines from the UK.

Granted it may have been the type of equipment my buddies brought in, but I did state the following...

andyjb wrote:

It's best to phone or even better to call into the Customs people.

Cheers.

moggie4000

wellboy76 wrote: »

Not trying to be Anal but can you buy them here?

I can but will save thousands buying them in the uk.

spyderski

Don't mind most of the above. There IS NO CUSTOMS between here & the UK - buy it, give your VAT no., get it delivered, end of story.
PS. I bring in several shipments a week from the UK like this. Its not even an issue.

moonshadow

spyderski wrote: »

Don't mind most of the above. There IS NO CUSTOMS between here & the UK - buy it, give your VAT no., get it delivered, end of story.
PS. I bring in several shipments a week from the UK like this. Its not even an issue.

+1.

mathepac

spyderski wrote: »

Don't mind most of the above. There IS NO CUSTOMS between here & the UK - buy it, give your VAT no., get it delivered, end of story...

+1 That's what I thought, otherwise it defeats the entire purpose of being in the EU.

moggie4000

Thanks guys for all the replies - great help!

Aureli

+1 On the No Vat, If the company you are buying from often supplies Irish companies they should know automatically not to charge you vat. However if the uk company has a base here in ireland, they can dispatch it from their irish warehouse and charge you vat (they can be irish vat reg too). happened to me before. Either way though, unless your purchases are higher than sales you claim back the vat.

DubTony

Aureli wrote: »

Either way though, unless your purchases are higher than sales you claim back the vat.

Irrespective of what your sales or purchases are, a vat registered business ALWAYS reclaims any vat on purchases.

91011

AndyJB wrote: »

Hi,
I have personal experience of importing none EU goods, but have friends that have been hit with vat/excise on importing xray and other specialist machines from the UK.

Granted it may have been the type of equipment my buddies brought in, but I did state the following...


Cheers.

This is possible, but only for certain registered entities such as universities, insurance companies, building societies county councils (though county council are fully vat regd now).

But it is a very specialist area, and a normal everyday business would not encounter the specialist rules.

James_R

Not had a problem with UK VAT charges until today. I'm registered for VAT over here and looking at buying a Camera from an online UK store. The guy in store informed me that the law has changed and that I would have to pay the VAT then claim it back from this end?!

I've never had this problem before, is he chancing his arm?

91011

James_R wrote: »

Not had a problem with UK VAT charges until today. I'm registered for VAT over here and looking at buying a Camera from an online UK store. The guy in store informed me that the law has changed and that I would have to pay the VAT then claim it back from this end?!

I've never had this problem before, is he chancing his arm?

They have become very strict on the inter eu non vat sales. Your business must be related to cameras in some way in order for the zero vat to go through, otherwise the supplier is at a loss.

Also, the paperwork has become a lot more onerous and a monthly form has to be filled out with names, addresses, vat numbers and purchases - an absolute pain in the arse if you are only doing a few non uk sales.

James_R

Your business must be related to cameras in some way in order for the zero vat to go through, otherwise the supplier is at a loss.

Thanks for the reply, hmm as in I use cameras for my business? That's true so I wonder would this little piece of information allow me to avail of the zero vat.

91011

James_R wrote: »

Thanks for the reply, hmm as in I use cameras for my business? That's true so I wonder would this little piece of information allow me to avail of the zero vat.

not too sure - in general they want each business to be similar and when there's a difference more info is required.

Its this extra info that puts off many companies from allowing non vat sales as its not worth the hassle especially if they are not a B2B site.

I have a couple of businesses - bot b2b & consurmer. On the consumer side we sell into NI quite regularly but would not do a non vat sale due to the extra paperwork involved. On the b2b side, there's no issue, but sales in this business are £1000+ and its well worth the paperwork.

James_R

Ah ok I understand, so it's really up to the business and if they are willing to fill out the new additional paperwork required for a cross border consumer VAT free purchase.

I wonder how much hassle is involved to then try claim it back from this end through HM Revenue & Customs.

James_R

Some details claiming back UK VAT from here in Ireland:

http://www.ronanskehill.com/2010/01/18/paying-uk-vat-and-claiming-it-back/