DHL vat invoice

fro9etb8j5qsl2

Ordered an item before Christmas from china. Hadn't received it after 2 weeks so I checked the tracking number to discover that it had been held by customs for the last 7 days. I rang DHL to be told that they had rang me the week before and I had agreed to send them on the receipt for the item so that they could assess whether duty was due on it. I told them that I had gotten no such call. The girl reeled off a mobile number (not mine) and said 'we spoke to someone called sinead (not my name) and she said she would send us on the receipt'. I asked her to read the name that the package was addressed to and asked her whereabouts on the parcel there was any mention of a sinead or the mobile number that they had contacted. Of course there wasn't.

Anyway, long story short, I emailed their customs dept expressing my extreme displeasure at their mistake. I attached my receipt and demanded that they dispatch the item asap (seeing as I had ordered in plenty of time for xmas and it was a present that I needed). I got an email back saying that my item had been cleared and would be dispatched the next day. Happy days, I got my parcel and all was good in the world :pac:

Until this morning. When I got a letter in the post from DHL demanding that vat be paid on an item that was delivered to me almost 3 weeks ago. Tried to ring their vat dept but it's been ringing out all morning. Ended up ringing customer service, asked yer man why they were looking for the vat now (they're supposed to collect it at the point of delivery), he got all flustered and stuttered out an explanation that they were so busy before christmas that they just sent all the items out without calculating duty and that they are only getting around to it now :rolleyes: He tried to put me through to the vat dept but the line was busy. So he took my phone number and said that someone would be calling me back within the next 10 minutes. That was an hour ago.

Has anyone else suffered at the hands of the ridiculously frustrating DHL??? Can they actually chase me for the vat or is it a case of tough luck, ye snooze ye lose? :P

MagicMarker

Of course they can, you owe vat so you must pay the vat. They don't always collect on delivery if I recall.

Whether you pay it is up to you, I'm not sure what action they would take in that case, if it's a very small amount then they might not pursue you for it.

wmpdd3

I always got the bill for VAT after delivery, sometimes even a month after delivery, but I haven't ordered anything form outside the EU since 2009 so it may have changed.

fro9etb8j5qsl2

MagicMarker wrote: »

Of course they can, you owe vat so you must pay the vat. They don't always collect on delivery if I recall.

Whether you pay it is up to you, I'm not sure what action they would take in that case, if it's a very small amount then they might not pursue you for it.

It's not a very large amount. I just can't see how customs would receive the receipt, clear the item for dispatch, notify me of this without any mention of duty and then 3 weeks later, decide that they want money off me.

TBH I would have had no problem paying it at the time and I know the duty is owed to the government, not DHL, but it's just another bad twist in what turned out to be a very bad and stressful customer experience

whippet

Sunny Huge Stomachache wrote: »

I just can't see how customs would receive the receipt, clear the item for dispatch, notify me of this without any mention of duty and then 3 weeks later, decide that they want money off me.

TBH I would have had no problem paying it at the time and I know the duty is owed to the government, not DHL, but it's just another bad twist in what turned out to be a very bad and stressful customer experience

DHL would have already paid the VAT and Duty due to customs for you. So in essence the revenue have what they need (or else they wouldn't have released the package)

DHL are now looking for you to reimburse them for what they paid on your behalf.

jor el

Sunny Huge Stomachache wrote: »

Can they actually chase me for the vat or is it a case of tough luck, ye snooze ye lose? :P

Not paying it would be tax evasion, which is a criminal offence punishable by law.

Sunny Huge Stomachache wrote: »

It's not a very large amount. I just can't see how customs would receive the receipt, clear the item for dispatch, notify me of this without any mention of duty and then 3 weeks later, decide that they want money off me.

DHL notified you, not customs. DHL deliver the package and pay the VAT in advance, in order to save you further delay. They then collect the VAT from you later.

The issue you had was with them not contacting you properly in the first place, direct any complaint towards that issue. The issue of VAT is not something you can contest or complain about.

deandean

DHL = bunch of efficient thugs when it comes to VAT. I have suffered 100% capture rate for VAT with them.

They screw you for another tenner or so because they 'provide a service that allows you to pay VAT' or whatever.

Non-payment leads to lots of letters from a debt recovery service.

If you are caught for VAT, you need to pay it.

I won't order from any overseas company that ships DHL. Use standard post and wait a bit longer.

mathepac

deandean wrote: »

DHL = bunch of efficient thugs when it comes to VAT. I have suffered 100% capture rate for VAT with them.

They screw you for another tenner or so because they 'provide a service that allows you to pay VAT' or whatever...

DHL are Revenue-approved customs clearance agents and as such make the entries for goods and calculate duty and VAT and charge the recipient a fee for their services. They must pay VAT and duty on your goods to Revenue and they expect to get paid by you. If you don't want to pay, don't import goods from outside the EU.

deandean wrote: »

... Non-payment leads to lots of letters from a debt recovery service.

If you are caught for VAT, you need to pay it.

I won't order from any overseas company that ships DHL. Use standard post and wait a bit longer.

DHL is wholly-owned subsidiary of Deutsche Poste and "haff vays off making you pay" as Jeremy Clarkson might say.

Other carriers, including An Post, charge almost identical fees and also collect VAT and duty as Revenue-approved customs clearance agents.

fro9etb8j5qsl2

Still waiting on my call back

deandean wrote: »

If you are caught for VAT, you need to pay it.

I won't order from any overseas company that ships DHL. Use standard post and wait a bit longer.

I asked the lad in customer service how to pay (there was absolutely no instructions of how to do this on the invoice I received) but he didn't have a baldy notion

mathepac wrote: »

Other carriers, including An Post, charge almost identical fees and also collect VAT and duty as Revenue-approved customs clearance agents.

An post collect the duty at point of delivery, ie, you won't get your goods until you have the duty paid. I reckon this is a much more efficient system. The DHL invoice doesn't give any information on the item at all so if you had gotten a few parcels from them you'd want to be sherlock holmes to deduce what you are actually being charged for.

I will pay the the vat (I am legally obliged to) provided DHL get back to me and explain how I should pay it. I won't be using DHL again

listermint

Just a quick on on this,

If i buy something in the UK for example (electronics) do i pay import duty on this ?

and do i pay VAT on this ?

fro9etb8j5qsl2

listermint wrote: »

Just a quick on on this,

If i buy something in the UK for example (electronics) do i pay import duty on this ?

and do i pay VAT on this ?

No, only if you buy it from outside the eu.

slimjimmc

listermint wrote: »

Just a quick on on this,

If i buy something in the UK for example (electronics) do i pay import duty on this ?

and do i pay VAT on this ?

There is no import duty for items purchased in the EU.
You still pay VAT but it's already factored into the price. Don't ask which country's VAT you pay because that's a whole different thread.

dudara

I've received VAT invoices afer the fact from DHL, so it can happen. I've rang their collections department and paid by credit card over the phone.

skippy2

Similar issue but this time with Fed ex
Friend got delivered a present from her parents who live outside EU
Now she is getting letters demanding VAT is due
She did not accept the parcel someone else in the house did
Can she refuse to pay this or at least tell them to come and take it and send the parcel back and refuse to accept it as they are looking for €40. She has been getting warning letters.
Surely it is up to her to accept the package or refuse it but in this case was not given this opportunity

Paulw

The package was accepted, so she is liable for the vat.

She must pay up.

Even if the package is sent back now, the item was imported, so she would still be liable.

skippy2

Thanks Paulw

I get and accept that if you order something from US or elsewhere etc and import it to Ireland you have to pay VAT and ave done so myself regularly

What i dont get is that you have to pay for something such as a present if you dont want to accept it. Why should anyone have to pay VAT for something they did not order and do not want if its a gift. Surely they can refuse to accept it. You cant be made accept and pay for something you do not want, did not order

MagicMarker

It's already been accepted and more than likely wasn't even marked as a gift (not that that matters).

Tell your friend to give the VAT bill to her parents.

Dodge

Or whoever in the house accepted the package (assuming you allow them accept the present too)