Buying second hand bike from UK

mh_cork

I would like to buy a second hand bike from UK. Its a specific small manufacturer, so only interested in this specific bike, and its unavailable to buy in Ireland new.

The only thing stopping me from buying it is the question about VAT / duty. If its second hand, would tax be applied?

If anyone has direct experience of buying a bike second hand from the UK in the past 2 months, I'd love to know your experience.

nicksnikita

mh_cork wrote: »

I would like to buy a second hand bike from UK. Its a specific small manufacturer, so only interested in this specific bike, and its unavailable to buy in Ireland new.

The only thing stopping me from buying it is the question about VAT / duty. If its second hand, would tax be applied?

If anyone has direct experience of buying a bike second hand from the UK in the past 2 months, I'd love to know your experience.

Hey...
I’ve imported some kit recently from the UK. If I were you, I’d take control of the shipping process. DPD via Parcel2Go.co.uk will be your best courier option.

The only difference in the booking process versus pre Brexit is that you will need to provide a tariff code while booking the courier online. To find the correct tariff code, you will have to browse the list provided at the time of booking the courier (this took me around an hour the first time I did it as it’s not laid out in the most user friendly way).

Then when the item reaches Ireland, you will get a message with the amount of duty you owe (plan to pay 20% of total value)
There are ways to avoid paying duty but it’s up to you to fiddle the system if you’re comfortable with doing that.

Only concern I’d have is the size of the box. If it’s a full bike, the box will be bigger than the size allowed by the courier. If it’s a frameset, it should be within the size limits. Having said that, I’ve used this service to transport full bikes in over size boxes UK > Ireland in the past without any hassle but that was pre-Brexit. Again, that’s your risk.....

MojoMaker

Doesn't really matter if it's a full bike, frameset, groupset, second hand guitar, rims for a car - whatever - if it's over €22 in value VAT is technically liable entering the EU, and once over €150 declared value then add customs too. No getting away from it unless you're prepared to risk non-disclosure, collect it yourself, or are just plan lucky with the inbound process.

If anything, a larger item like a bike is probably more likely to attract attention?

triggermortis

Is this bike available anywhere else inside the EU? A second hand bike from within the EU would not have any VAT payable on it.

https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/money_and_tax/tax/duties_and_vat/value_added_tax.html#

mh_cork

Thanks for the replies. As I had feared, VAT and excise would be due.

Stupid Brexit :):)

Seth Brundle

MojoMaker wrote: »

Doesn't really matter if it's a full bike, frameset, groupset, second hand guitar, rims for a car - whatever - if it's over €22 in value VAT is technically liable entering the EU, and once over €150 declared value then add customs too. No getting away from it unless you're prepared to risk non-disclosure, collect it yourself, or are just plan lucky with the inbound process.

If anything, a larger item like a bike is probably more likely to attract attention?

Has it been confirmed by Revenue that VAT is payable on an item upon its entry to the EU when that item previously had VAT paid on it in the EU?

MojoMaker

As far as I know no exemption unfortunately.

From July 2021 the €22 threshold goes away too - not Brexit-related but a new EU import directive, aimed at low-0cost e-commerce operations I suspect. So customs charges on any package coming into the EU from anywhere, regardless of value.