issue with excise duty on groupon deal

judeboy101

Hey all. Wife ordered 12 bottles cheap plonk €70 on Groupon. It was seized by customs for not paying excise. The drink is from inside the EU. Should she pay or appeal (seems to me if I drive up to newry and buy same amount of drink I should also be liable?)

Thanks

nava

judeboy101 wrote: »

Hey all. Wife ordered 12 bottles cheap plonk €70 on Groupon. It was seized by customs for not paying excise. The drink is from inside the EU. Should she pay or appeal (seems to me if I drive up to newry and buy same amount of drink I should also be liable?)

Thanks

Alcohol, cigarettes and I think perfume are some of the items you cannot import even from the EU, you will need to pay taxes on them.

But if she purchased in a Groupon.ie deal I thought it would be coming with all the taxes paid as if it was purchased in Ireland, any warning on the website about where the wine was going to come from? Maybe contact groupon also to enquire about it.

VincePP

judeboy101 wrote: »

Hey all. Wife ordered 12 bottles cheap plonk €70 on Groupon. It was seized by customs for not paying excise. The drink is from inside the EU. Should she pay or appeal (seems to me if I drive up to newry and buy same amount of drink I should also be liable?)

Thanks

You'd probably get better wine in Aldi/lidl cheaper.

When you take into account groupons commission + shipping cost + UK duty which is not far off Irish duty, the chances are the wine is utter muck.

Never ever believe the "rrp" prices groupon quote - they are always inflated and bear no resemblance to the real market.

As for the duty - yes, you have to pay it. Ideally it should be sold free of UK duty, but I doubt if it was and you cannot claim the UK duty back.

judeboy101

Thanks. I think what's annoying her is its Groupon.ie she bought from and no warning when buying as to where it was coming from / excise duty.

Caliden

Probably quicker and less hassle to try and sort it with groupon.

VincePP

If it groupon.ie and charge in euro and no mention of extra for duty, then get groupon to sort it out as then there should not be any extra charges.

fred252

My mother just had her groupon plonk seized as well. have you contacted them yet?

foggy_lad

The issue with alcohol and cigarettes/tobacco is that you must bring them in yourself as in accompanying the bottles or packs of cigarettes.

L1011

You can't even pay the excise without an import licence.

Will have to pursue Groupon for a refund.

dimo

Mine was seized as well. What I've done so far (still haven't given up):
1. Contacted groupon customer service. Received an letter with offer to send the supplier an affidavit that I haven't received it, and they will resend new box. Sorry, couldn't do this- the parcel didn't disappear, I know where it is.

2. Contacted customs/revenue. Received their reply, that I must pay excise duty €38.23 and VAT... sorry, the VAT was paid by the supplier, I don't want to pay double VAT.

3. Never received any reply from groupon customer service, sorry guys, this is not the way to do business.

And now my main problem... Well, will ask for refund and eventually will get it. But, then... can I rely on groupon and continue buying from them?

judeboy101

dimo wrote: »

Mine was seized as well. What I've done so far (still haven't given up):
1. Contacted groupon customer service. Received an letter with offer to send the supplier an affidavit that I haven't received it, and they will resend new box. Sorry, couldn't do this- the parcel didn't disappear, I know where it is.

2. Contacted customs/revenue. Received their reply, that I must pay excise duty €38.23 and VAT... sorry, the VAT was paid by the supplier, I don't want to pay double VAT.

3. Never received any reply from groupon customer service, sorry guys, this is not the way to do business.

And now my main problem... Well, will ask for refund and eventually will get it. But, then... can I rely on groupon and continue buying from them?

Interesting. Groupon offered to resend order or refund my missus. She opted for resend but no sign yet (customs probably caught it again). What I don't understand is why buying from an Irish website incurs both excise AND VAT??

Walter2016

judeboy101 wrote: »

Interesting. Groupon offered to resend order or refund my missus. She opted for resend but no sign yet (customs probably caught it again). What I don't understand is why buying from an Irish website incurs both excise AND VAT??

Excise duty and vat on that excise duty. Groupon should not be selling alcohol unless it is supplied from within the Republic of Ireland as otherwise it attracts excise duty and vat on the duty even if duty and vat have already been paid in the UK.

judeboy101

Walter2016 wrote: »

Excise duty and vat on that excise duty. Groupon should not be selling alcohol unless it is supplied from within the Republic of Ireland as otherwise it attracts excise duty and vat on the duty even if duty and vat have already been paid in the UK.

Is there a reason excise is due on a bottle of wine from online uk but not on a crate bought in newry and driven south?

ED E

judeboy101 wrote: »

Is there a reason excise is due on a bottle of wine from online uk but not on a crate bought in newry and driven south?

If the crate is big enough you should be declaring it and paying too. Same way you can bring 200 smokes with you on the way back from holiday but 201 and you're liable.

judeboy101

ED E wrote: »

If the crate is big enough you should be declaring it and paying too. Same way you can bring 200 smokes with you on the way back from holiday but 201 and you're liable.

I thought there was no limit to the amount you could bring in from EU so long as you could prove it for personal use?

Walter2016

judeboy101 wrote: »

I thought there was no limit to the amount you could bring in from EU so long as you could prove it for personal use?

That is correct. It must be with you too.

dimo

Walter2016 wrote: »

Excise duty and vat on that excise duty. Groupon should not be selling alcohol unless it is supplied from within the Republic of Ireland as otherwise it attracts excise duty and vat on the duty even if duty and vat have already been paid in the UK.

Sorry, the numbers are:
€38.23 Excise duty and €25.55 VAT.. sounds to high VAT?
And, my point is: groupon must worn that the recipient is responsible for any local taxes and so on.

uck51js9zml2yt

judeboy101 wrote: »

Interesting. Groupon offered to resend order or refund my missus. She opted for resend but no sign yet (customs probably caught it again). What I don't understand is why buying from an Irish website incurs both excise AND VAT??

Am I right in reading that she opted for them to resend after having the first case seized.
The saying about doing the same thing again and expecting a different result springs to mind

Product was missold by Groupon if there was no warning about duty. If Groupon won't refund just do a charge back.

judeboy101

June Tasty Question wrote: »

Am I right in reading that she opted for them to resend after having the first case seized.
The saying about doing the same thing again and expecting a different result springs to mind

Product was missold by Groupon if there was no warning about duty. If Groupon won't refund just do a charge back.

She really wanted that feckin prosecco lol. I wonder do customs flag you as dodgy if they seize your goods?

Padraig Mor

judeboy101 wrote: »

I thought there was no limit to the amount you could bring in from EU so long as you could prove it for personal use?

True, but you must personally accompany the goods.

L1011

Padraig Mor wrote: »

True, but you must personally accompany the goods.

And the goods not be smokes from a list of countries where we're allowed limit the personal use heavily.

rubadub

dimo wrote: »

can I rely on groupon and continue buying from them?

It is usually not groupon you are buying from, they are a middle man taking a huge cut.

judeboy101 wrote: »

What I don't understand is why buying from an Irish website incurs both excise AND VAT??

were you buying from an irish company?

I can see an old 12 bottle €70 groupon deal
https://www.groupon.ie/deals/gg-vineyard-club-co-uk-35?p=1&nlp=&CID=IE&utm_source=channel_goods&utm_medium=email&sid=a6c7a00e-e8f8-48a9-a226-fb1af8d260d0_0_20160628&division=dublin-special&eh=50bf3614b30960a4e3ec24311ddac6679002b06edecd4790efc82c743e4fd682&date=20162806&sender=rm&s=body&c=title&d=deal-page&utm_campaign=gg-vineyard-club-co-uk-35-97705962

The order will be fulfilled by The Vineyard Club

Seems to be a UK company and on their site I cannot see where it is sent from.

dimo

The actual supplier is from Spain, and yes, the UK middle company is Vineyard Club.
And yes, this offer you'll not find on their site, the original advertised price will be much higher.

And all this doesn't help me to resolve the main issue: WHO IS DRINKING MY WINE :-(

And the second, but more important question: Can I still buy wine from Groupon, as I've done for years?

clappyhappy

I first used the groupon offer about 3 years ago, since then I have bought direct from vineyard club.co.uk. I have tried to order from them for the past few months but when you choose a wine say €47 for a case when you go to check out it has almost tripled in price. I have contacted them and they say if you are registered you should get the discounted price. Doesn't work!!!! Thinking now if the euro/sterling is more in our favour might be easier buying from up north. Anyone experience this?

dimo

And that's it :-( :

I have now cancelled your Groupon for 12 Bottles of Red Wines Collection from The Vineyard Club and refunded the amount of £62.99 back to your method of payment. Our partner business has already been informed that this Groupon is no longer valid.

Unfortunately we leave in a so stupid country!!!!

rubadub

dimo wrote: »

Unfortunately we leave in a so stupid country!!!!

I think most countries would/could have the same issue. The vineyard place are trying to pull a fast one by not paying the excise, its really attempted smuggling.

It would seem customs do turn a blind eye in many cases. I said in other threads I reckon these high selling groupon deals are more likely to be caught as customs will probably see a pallet of stuff arriving, or loads of boxes around the same date and its easier to process the paperwork.

Just like play.com stuff was caught but I never had dvds from obscure canadian companies being caught.

dimo

BUT we are part of the big country named Europe? And this happen only here, I bet.

rubadub

dimo wrote: »

And this happen only here, I bet.

applies in the states.
https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/212/~/requirements-for-importing-alcohol-for-personal-use

I imagine the vast majority of places with excise duty would have it. They would be leaving themselves open to very easy tax evasion by dodgy off licences if they didn't.

Shipping alcoholic beverages through a courier is permitted, however, duty will be collected on the entire shipment (there is no duty exemption for alcohol not accompanying a traveler), and the courier will probably charge handling and Customs Broker fees that could significantly raise the cost of the shipment.

dimo

Sorry, I wanted to end the conversation, but this sounds not quite correct:
The link you sent is for US regulations and is for "... bring alcoholic beverages into the United States..."

I'm talking about trade within EU, where supposed to be a free trade???

L1011

dimo wrote: »

Sorry, I wanted to end the conversation, but this sounds not quite correct:
The link you sent is for US regulations and is for "... bring alcoholic beverages into the United States..."

I'm talking about trade within EU, where supposed to be a free trade???

Free trade does remove excise duty from items with excise duty on them, e.g. booze.

Every country within the EU enforces its excise duty to greater or lesser extents. Spain (where its very low) is VERY strict for instance.