What recourse - charged Irish VAT on top of British Vat inclusive price

wait4me

What are my options?

I just ordered on a UK site which up to now, and continue to, quote prices which are inclusive of (British) VAT. Imagine my shock when I got my final invoice to see Estimated Tax turn up on the invoice. On examination, and subsequent telephone conversation it seems that the site now charges Irish VAT (23 percent) on sales to Ireland. So I have been hit twice.

So far no response (positive or negative) from the retailer whom I think will push to touch. What are my options after that?

ElNino

Amazon.co.uk shows sterling prices with UK VAT but if you are purchasing from Ireland then the UK VAT is stripped off and Irish VAT @23% is added. This only happens when you are checking out near the end.

Any UK site which supplies goods to Ireland is obliged to similarly charge Irish VAT once their exports to Ireland go over a certain figure annually. What was the site?

wait4me

ElNino wrote: »

Amazon.co.uk ....the UK VAT is stripped off and Irish VAT @23% is added.

Any UK site .....is obliged to similarly charge Irish VAT once their exports to Ireland go over a certain figure annually. ?

Unlike amazon.co.uk they do not strip off the UK VAT and then apply the Irish 23 percent rate. I am now paying whatever the UK rate is (21 percent?) and 23 percent again on top. I am still engaging with them on this to find a solution. The site BTW is frangrancediect.co.uk.

sandin

I think its as simple as you not doing your math properly.

Test purchase of £79.98 + delivery 4.48 = £86.99

Now 79.98 + 4.48 actually equates to 84.46

BUT, deduct UK vat at 20% you get 70.38, add 23% Irish vat to that and you get 86.57 which is the 100% correct way of doing the transaction.

However their system probably can't calculate it that way, so they've gone for a simpler 3% surcharge as Irish vat is 3% higher. - Their error is they are charging the 3% EXTRA vat on top of the UK vat.

It makes a difference of about 50p on a £100 transaction. - not worth even the hassle of an email.

wait4me

My Bill reads as follows:

SUBTOTAL: £27.49
POSTAGE & PACKAGING: £4.48
ESTIMATED TAX: £7.35
TOTAL: £39.32

The 27.49 subtotal is the cost of my two items (UK VAT included) on their website ie 12.50 and 14.99 = 27.49.
Reduce this for UK VAT = 22.91 (UK VAT - 20 percent = 4.58.
Add on P&P at 4.48 and apply Irish VAT 23 percent to (22.91 + 4.48) = 6.30 Total cost 33.69
My Invoice 39.32 difference 5.63.
When I do the math, the site has charged me GBP 5.63 too much. It charged me UK VAT, appilied P&P charge and then charged 23 percent VAT on that total.

sandin

Dunno - I tried 2 more purchases and its working fine for me. Maybe log out, clear cookies and try again - possibly they updated the site since you brought it to their attention?

wait4me

They may have fixed their VAT calculation problem but unfortunately my invoice/bill remains the same.

rubadub

The limit is €35,000 per year where other EU countries are obliged to pay Irish VAT

You are also liable for excise duty if buying excisable perfumes, even if under the €22 limit and buying within the EU. Though it might not be worth their while collecting.

sandin

wait4me wrote: »

They may have fixed their VAT calculation problem but unfortunately my invoice/bill remains the same.

cancel & re-order

wait4me

sandin wrote: »

cancel & re-order

That was the first thing that I tried before I started this thread and they wouldn't let me make any changes or indeed cancel - one to watch for future purchases (if any).
A bit of an update. I got notice that the items were dispatched and the new invoice more correctly reflects Irish VAT. The ESTIMATED TAX: £7.35 that I mentioned above came down to 3 percent of the total order (sorry don't have access to the dispatch notice at the moment). So they did correct it - I bet I was one of the first Irish buyers after they changed their VAT rules :rolleyes:.

In case fragrancedirect.co.uk are reading this thread - you might want to detail on your site that Irish buyers are subjected to Irish VAT. Thanks for your help on this thread guys (and girls?).