Incorrect clearance/VAT charges/Missing IOSS number with An Post/Addresspal ***See First Post***

whiterebel

Keep threads regarding the above clearance problems to this thread, for An Post/Addresspal only. There are separate threads for the courier companies in the courier forum.

IOSS numbers need to be on the parcel and in the electronic declaration. If An Post clear it and pay VAT, the customs entry will need to be amended, and as they won't get paid to do it, An Post won't be keen. This is for eBay and Aliexpress traffic. They all know about this for a long time, so they should be your first point for complaint.

The An Post/Customs system seems to have a blind spot for books. SOME are zero rated, but not all. They need to have the proper taric and correct description.

Anyone clearing goods has work to do, and it isn't included in the postal price. It's a fact of life, do not come on here to moan about it.

The email address to query VAT/Duty payments with An Post is: ecommchargequery@anpost.ie

MrCouperin

Just an update on my package problems, in case it might be relevant to anyone. I've got the customs charge in the post this morning on the one that had VAT paid already. It seems they've charged me 23% VAT on a figure at the bottom of the invoice which is the amount of VAT I paid by IOSS. So I have to pay VAT on VAT, which is just crazy. Has this happened to anyone else recently?

MrCouperin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118628641#Comment_118628641

I did mention that to them on Friday, and they insisted that the IOSS number was left off the customs information. The supplier told me that was all sent by their (automated) system - which I believe, considering it's been given every other time I've got a package from them.

This same package was returned to the sender before. An Post told me that the TARIC codes were completely missing - yet I found out the reason it was rejected was that some of the TARIC codes (which An Post told me were missing) were wrongly identified as a restricted substance. That's happened to me with another package too recently. I just can't believe a word they say. And how the feck did they manage to pull a number out of the middle of one of two invoices in the parcel (which was just the amount of VAT I paid) and charge me VAT only on that?

deezell

Unbelievable. They're treating the prepaid VAT as VAT paid to another jurisdiction, like if you had paid UK VAT on a pre brexit UK website. What they seem to be saying is you've already paid Irish VAT on the gross price, but not on the VAT then added, as if was an additional import cost. But they're not charging VAT on the gross price because they KNOW they've already got that via IOSS! What Idiots!

MrCouperin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118631688#Comment_118631688

That's pretty much the size of it. Although, what they seemed to be telling me on Twitter DM was that the IOSS number was apparently missing, so it was as if I hadn't paid any VAT at all. The package arrived yesterday with the customs documentation ripped off. I guess if you remove the evidence, they can't be held accountable right? I've sent 3 separate emails to the ecomm email address since last Friday and I've got nothing back yet.

Not just that but another order from the same company has been sent back now too!! They just won't quit.

houseshare naas

How long does it take for customs to send out the reference number to pay the duty on a parcel ? I’ve been waiting over a week and no sign of it

deezell

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118640334#Comment_118640334

Your parcel could well be on its way back, they won't tell you that until it's too late.

Cookiee

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118640334#Comment_118640334

Contact an post on Twitter, give them your tracking number and they'll find the customs reference for you

houseshare naas

Your joking ?? The tracker said letter sent out to pay customs and then it’s just been in a sorting office.

houseshare naas

I have never used twitter is there a private chat function on it ? Or would the y be able to do the same with the chat help place on the an post website ?

Cookiee

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118643092#Comment_118643092

Yep you can private message them on Twitter! And yeah you can message them on their own website but usually wait ages in a queue so I always found Twitter fast, their Twitter is: https://twitter.com/Postvox?t=xpEqsXopuXGnoPeprrb-gg&s=09

whiterebel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118640334#Comment_118640334

Mod - you have the exact same question in Consumer issues. Do not post the same thing across different forums, thanks.

houseshare naas

Thanks for your help, If it doesn’t show up tomorrow I’ll message them on twitter.

MrCouperin

So, I got a response from An Post about my VAT issues and their response was really just a polite way of saying "we can charge you whatever we like and there's nothing you can do about it". God, they really have some incredible cheek. Between this stuff and being straight-up lied to about why it was returned the first time, I'm feeling pretty angry about the whole thing.

dimaie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118649153#Comment_118649153

I've been double charged with VAT on three parcels from EBay. The reason is that the sender did not add IOSS code to the customs declaration and An Post are not willing to accept it from me stating that "An Post is not in a position to amend this declaration and you will need to pay the current charge before contacting your retailer in relation to this matter." I was trying to clarify this with Revenue and got the following response:

"An Post, as your representative, are obliged to make correct declarations to Customs, and where necessary, submit an amended declaration to rectify any errors. They acted as your declarant and only they can amend/invalidate the declaration in order for a refund to issue."

and

"An Post are incorrect to state that they are unable to amend a declaration. An Post are the declarant in this situation and as I have stated only the declarant may submit, amend or invalidate a declaration. You will need to contact them again with the necessary information to get them to amend the declaration to include the IOSS number so that a refund of the charge paid can be issued. Customs cannot legally change a declaration so unfortunately we are unable to directly assist in rectifying this matter."

Sending these to An Post did not have any effect though:

"We are unable to add the IOSS number after the time of posting. The sender/sending retailer must include the IOSS number on the declaration which their exporter would upload electronically. 

If the IOSS number is not supplied on the electronic data, Irish Revenue will apply a charge which is due to be paid for delivery."

This situation is ridiculous, I am not quite sure what the next steps are. Sent a query to Revenue again using MyEnquiries service and waiting for reply.

whiterebel

I'm no fan of An Post, but I can see their point here. This IOSS system is out now quite a while now and is EU wide. How they don't know what to put on their parcels by this stage.

The return scenario in this thread is about An Post jumping the gun compared to the rest of the EU. In your case it is working as it should - if there is an IOSS number, it goes through and there is no VAT to be collected. If the IOSS number is missing, VAT and charges accrue. Customs can't interfere in the process, the customs clearance agent must go back and amend the entry - some of the couriers have a big fee to do that - €50+. Seeing as An Post got €3.50 for clearing something incorrectly that wasn't their fault, I can see why they would push back.

You should tell eBay what is happening, really it is up to the seller to sort it out at their end.

dimaie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118652899#Comment_118652899

An Post in this case acts a Customs Broker. And accordingly to Revenue:

"An Post, as your representative, are obliged to make correct declarations to Customs, and where necessary, submit an amended declaration to rectify any errors. They acted as your declarant and only they can amend/invalidate the declaration in order for a refund to issue."

A possibility of amending the incorrect customs declarations seems to be a natural part of the clearance process.

If An Post cannot or are not willing to implement it, the service they offer as Customs Broker is not adequate.

With regard to implementation they could change their payment process allowing customers to submit the missing details of the customs declarations and other documents e.g. invoices from the seller that have clear indications that VAT has already been paid and IOSS code included. And they could even review €3.50 for clearing if it is not sufficient rather than double charging their customers with VAT.

whiterebel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118653104#Comment_118653104

It's not a natural part of the clearance process. Information required to clear imports should be available to the agent to allow them to clear it properly. If An Post put a fee on it of €50 to reclaim would you pay it? Other couriers have big charges like that, as there is more work and follow up to do on a reclaim than there is on the normal clearance.

An Post should never have jumped so soon to drop their charges from €10.00 to €3.50. They banked on the new system allowing them to process imports by clicking one button - totally automated. They were still the cheapest by far, but jumped off the cliff like lemmings. Most companies would sit back and see how it pans out with a new system, but An Post dropped their charges 6 months before an entirely new system come into being. Brexit was, and still is, a disaster to import from the UK.

I'm trying to get goods in at the moment, and the shipper keeps telling me that there will no charges under £135.00, but as they don't do IOSS, I know they are wrong. Their T&Cs also say that it is my responsibility to pay any customs charges, whether I accept the goods to not, so they are covered. Total lack of understanding 15 months later.

dimaie

"Information required to clear imports should be available to the agent to allow them to clear it properly." - and if it is not, they could provide some technical means for obtaining this information from the recipient of the goods but they don't seem to have any appetite for this.

"Id An Post put a fee on it of €50 to reclaim would you pay it?" - I am paying in a range of €15 - 18 to UPS and DHL for the customs clearance. I would be happy to pay the same to An Post, if they had to modify the customs declaration on my behalf instead of being charged for an excessive amount of VAT. In this case I would at least know what I am paying for.

I am not arguing that in my case the cause of the issue is the sender not filling the customs form and EBay who is acting on behalf of the sender. However, having contacted with EBay customer service on this issue on multiple occasions, I don't think that the advice to talk to them first is in any way practical. In my case they simply refused to acknowledge the issue.

whiterebel

UPS and DHL charge that for customs clearance. UPS quote €50 to amend a customs entry afterwards., I think DHL and FedEx are similar.

You absolutely should tell the shipper/eBay about this, otherwise it never gets resolved. With the IOSS issue it will affect any non-EU country shipping into the EU, not just Ireland. People had the same problem with Amazon marketplace sellers, and Amazon refunded the VAT. Amazon will probably deduct it from the sellers account, which wouldn't be long waking them up.

And you might not mind the €15-18 clearance fee, but the amount of people around here that lost their minds at €10.00 and again at €3.50.

dimaie

"You absolutely should tell the shipper/eBay about this" - I did that before exploring the An Post avenue every single time when the issue has happened. The sender keeps telling me that the customs declaration form provided by his local post does not even have an entry for IOSS code where he could fill the data in. And EBay CS don't see anything wrong with that either as long as they are clearly stating that VAT has been paid in their invoice.

I have also contacted Consumer rights protection agency wrt EBay handling of this without any success.

This is why I am not seeing the advice of contacting EBay as practical.

From Revenue response, it appears as they have an idea of how the clearance process should be handled by Customs brokers and An Post processes don't seem to fit into that concept.

Changing customs declaration based on the data provided by the recipient could be made available as an option by An Post, but knowingly charging their customers with VAT twice almost a year after the new customs rules were introduced, simply mean that they don't care much.

whiterebel

"but knowingly charging their customers with VAT twice almost a year after the new customs rules were introduced, simply mean that they don't care much." If there isn't an IOSS number they aren't knowingly double charging VAT. They are doing clearance as far as they are concerned it is supposed to be done. The fact that the whole system was introduced too quickly leaves us in limbo as it's nearly impossible to ship via post into Ireland as it is.

dimaie

"If there isn't an IOSS number they aren't knowingly double charging VAT" - There could be multiple scenarios for not having IOSS code in the customs declaration. One scenario is that the customer has not payed the tax. Other scenarios would have to handle IOSS code being absent because of the various reasons. It could be a user error when the code has not been entered, or it could wiped out from the customs declaration during transportation, etc. Handling only the single, the most frequent scenario, the 'happy path', means that their process is not fit for purpose and An Post are fully aware of it. This is why they are knowingly charging me with VAT twice.

whiterebel

You give every reason why they do not knowingly charge you twice. Every reason. Knowingly would mean that the IOSS declaration was sent electronically, and was present on the parcel. By your own admission they weren't.

The whole point of automation is they they don't have to run around checking to see was it ripped off in transit, did someone forget to put it on or whatever. They have thousands of parcels a week, where does that end? It is to be sent electronically which means all your scenarios wouldn't matter. Royal Mail are aware of this, as are Royal Mail, Australia Post, Japan Post etc. And for your €15-18 FedEx or UPS won't be running around to make sure either. No electronic of pre-advise of IOSS? No IOSS number on the parcel? Are they going to worry before they pay out VAT if its been paid already? No, they won't.

dimaie

Ok, let me rephrase that. An Post are aware of the deficiency of their process. They do know that I may have paid VAT but they are still charging me.

dimaie

"The whole point of automation is they they don't have to run around checking to see was it ripped off in transit, did someone forget to put it on or whatever. " - There are different reasons for automating business processes, e.g. increased productivity, cost savings, etc. However, when you are planning automation, you have to ensure that the majority of your business processes are covered by it, or substituted with adequate manual processes. Especially, if you're leading supplier of postal services with millions of customers.

"Are they going to worry before they pay out VAT if its been paid already? No, they won't." - You could be right. I don't have much of experience with other carriers and this is why I am not too concerned about it. For An Post though, I am double charged with VAT for 20-30% of my non-EU parcels. It is a big enough number to be concerned.

MrCouperin

In my case, I just can't believe what An Post told me, which is that the IOSS number wasn't given. The supplier I bought my goods from are a wholesaler who have an automated system for dealing with that kind of stuff since they've been selling to customers around the world for years. I've had five packages from them since they became IOSS-registered in October, and all of them bar this one arrived with no extra customs charges. They informed me that the IOSS was sent with this package, as usual. Considering An Post lied to me about the TARIC codes when they returned it to sender the first time, I don't see why they can't be lying to me now as well.

whiterebel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118654987#Comment_118654987

They do know you may be importing class A drugs, alcohol, explosives - Are they going to red flag every parcel?

Are they supposed to second guess every one of the thousands of parcels from outside the EU every week?

dimaie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118655823#Comment_118655823

No they don't have to red flag every parcel - provided that they have an effective process of identifying "drugs, alcohol, explosives" inside.

However, in the case of processing customs declarations their process is not adequate/complete/effective, so they cannot assume that I have not payed VAT, but they do.

"Are they supposed to second guess every one of the thousands of parcels from outside the EU every week?" - No, they are supposed to have a process of handling such parcels without double charging their customers. Even if it is "one of the thousands", which is quite far from being the case if extrapolate my experience.

whiterebel

The process with IOSS is quite clear and effective. If the shipper doesn't fulfill the requirements of the EU regulation by providing IOSS information, you follow the backup procedure - charge VAT. .You have confirmed that the eBay/seller didn't follow the requirements of the EU Regs, but expect An Post to change their system to facilitate them. If the seller cannot do something as simple as complete these procedures, you would have to wonder if they do actually account for the VAT.

dimaie

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118656094#Comment_118656094

I am not sure what does it have to do with the seller - he may not even know about EU rules. And he cannot be blamed for that as his local post office has accepted the parcel.

It is not the seller who gets penalized by An Post charges and it is not seller who would benefit from the change in the An Post process - in both cases that would be An Post customers, the customers who have already paid their shipping fees, taxes & duties.

whiterebel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118656475#Comment_118656475

Your post: “I've been double charged with VAT on three parcels from EBay. The reason is that the sender did not add IOSS code to the customs declaration”, Seriously, are you on a wind up?

dimaie

I am not sure what's wrong with my earlier statement. Yes, the cause of the issue is the absence of IOSS code. Yes, the seller did not add it to the customs declaration. And, yes he may not know about EU rules and he cannot be blamed for that because his local post office has accepted the parcel. I see no contradiction here, would you?

whiterebel

Do you even know what IOSS is? It is totally the sellers responsibility, and only theirs. If they want to ship into the EU they need to understand it. Anyway I'm out, this is going nowhere.

dimaie

Yes, it is their responsibility. However, in this case we are talking about EBay sellers who do not have their own IOSS codes so it would not be uncommon that do not know about it. If you look at EBay invoices, IOSS code is always the same - IM2760000742, regardless of the seller. Have a good night.

JdPaor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118656809#Comment_118656809

Hi there, posting first time because I think I can add something to this discussion (although maybe just more expressions of frustration).

So, I've ordered through eBay from Japan three times now in the last three months. One went fine, the other two not so much. I've had the same situation going between the seller, eBay, and An Post.

I've been left having almost no idea what is correct exactly, and it seems that everyone expects the buyer to pay for the package even when all mistakes are on the part of the seller, eBay, or An Post.

The first package was before Christmas:

1. I was not experienced with deliveries like this. I bought the package through eBay and did the usual paying up-front for everything, including postage, shipping, and the VAT.
2. The result was a few weeks later I got a text stating I must pay a customs charge (a charge that didn't reflect any value I could see, by the way). Not knowing any better, I paid An Post's demanded payment, including their customs charge, thinking it was some new rules.
3. When I realised it wasn't, and I had already paid everything I should have (again, I was new to all this), I contacted eBay. They told me it was a known issue: the Japanese supplier hadn't added the IOSS number and that is why I was charged by customs-by-way-of-An-Post. They also told me to send them proof of what I paid (I sent a photo of my receipt) and they would get it back for me.
4. eBay haven't got it back yet - despite a few queries my end and repeated promises on their end. They aren't clear about whether or not they will reimburse me the 3.50 from An Post. I think eBay are ghosting me.

The second package was mid-January:

1. This was through eBay again. I did everything the same, as I should and only could have (because... that's how eBay works). I bought the item through eBay, including the prepay of VAT on price and shipping.
2. However, this time, I also contacted the supplier first (a different supplier in Japan), noting the problem last time. I asked them to please ensure they put the IOSS number in. They said they would - and, to make sure it was seen, they put it beside my name on the address. And just to say: I've seen they did this. I can see it on the physical letter An Post sent me (see below).
3. Anyway, An Post sent me a customs charge text again AND a physical letter (with my address and the IOSS number beside it, incidentally). It included their An Post handling charge again. This time, I decided to see what I could do before I paid.
4. First, I contacted the supplier, who insisted they put the IOSS number in. Again, I can confirm it is on the package somewhere - it is right there beside my name. It probably wasn't the correct place, and so maybe caused the problem (to... something that's not human, anyway).
5. Second, I contacted eBay, who told me to contact my local courier (An Post) and, if I had to pay for it, contact them and they will go about getting it back. Given my last experience with this, I'm not encouraged by that response - so I didn't act on that.
6. Third, I contacted An Post, and also revenue and customs for An Post (basically, any number or email I could find). On the phone, a revenue An Post contact (I think; it gets confusing who is what) told me that he could see my delivery and the customs charge on it. However, also, beside my name, he could clearly see an IOSS number.
7. Probably (he told me), the way the details were automatically scanned when they first come into the country means that IOSS number was missed, throwing an automatic customs duty charge. But, he thought, someone along the line in An Post will probably notice it and amend it. So, it will probably be sorted out and delivered to me. He then told me, if I wanted to be sure, I should email the ecommquery An Post email address, attaching my tax invoice showing I'd paid the VAT and the IOSS number, and that should help speedily resolve the issue. Really helpful nice guy. Seemed to know what common human mistakes can arise in this process, and how they can be resolved by a human.
8. I emailed the ecommquery address with my tax invoice. I explained the situation and they replied after two weeks, saying they couldn't do anything. A mistake was made. They couldn't fix it. I should pay the custom charge, and then try to get it back from somewhere or other.
9. Anyway, that's the last proactive correspondence my side (except a email with eBay, where they just repeated themselves).
10. I have not had these problems with Amazon, by the way. I think eBay are part of the problem.
11. But I also squarely blame An Post: they seem to be fully in the 'Someone else's problem, not ours' mode, the kind of mode I often see in people who are in a panic.
12. I live in Cork. Interesting thing I'm told from a few An Post humans (e.g., my postman, a post office clerk in the main place in town) during this exciting process. When the pandemic hit, around the time of Brexit, An Post let go a lot of Little Island An Post workers (for covid reasons, I'm told). I'm given to understand this was the Cork sorting office. If that's right, then - just in time for Brexit and for the pandemic - An Post removed humans. I take it that what replaced them were automated machines - or maybe nothing (or dolphins maybe? Again, not a shipping expert).

Anyway, I read one commenter here saying we can't expect them to check every package, and so a missing IOSS number is not An Post's fault. (Yet, somehow, sufficiently the fault of the buyer that it's more justified that they pay it?)

Still, a human looking at a package who knows what an IOSS number looks like would quickly see my latest package had one. (My earlier one didn't, and that's fair.) That there is some kind of automatic scanner - AND that there appear to be fewer staff - suggests that the merry-go-round is in part due to inadequate facilities on the part of An Post. If it is TRUE that An Post reduced its staff when the pandemic/Brexit hit, it also suggests that merry-go-round is partly the incompetence of some An Post management or executive. (Not the folk I meet in the post office or at my door, though - they are class.)

Just to pause here for a moment: So, it seems to me, of everyone involved here, the customer in my position SHOULD NOT be paying. We do everything right, doing what we're asked to by the professional organisations involved, such as sellers, eBay, customs, and An Post. I think the reason why everyone else thinks its fine we pay is because, in most cases, we will. We actually want the thing. No-one else does.

Anyway, my current package has tracking on it. Every few days, I look at its status. I've not paid the customs demand, because I shouldn't. I've not received any demand for money from An Post since those few weeks ago. The demand is there in that one status update three weeks ago, and that's it. Since then, all I see are messages every few days that it is being sorted in Dublin.

Maybe the helpful call centre man was right, and some human saw it and amended it? Maybe it will just turn up? That is another thing that I've seen happen to people in this situation (although not to me).

I don't expect it to turn up. I expect when the 16 working days run out (in about a week), it will be sent away out of the country again, back the way it came, with all the attendent paperwork and automatic scanning necessary to do that.

I'm just going to watch the days tick by before it goes.

whiterebel

If there isn't an IOSS number, that isn't An Post's fault. Alos they cannot be expected to second guess whether thousands of parcels have been labelled incorrectly or not. They should be able to sort it out once there is an IOSS number on it, though.

notahappycamper

Ordered from Etsy paid VAT at 23% at checkout and still getting charged by An Post - why? Yes it was shipped from the UK but VAT paid at checkout. How do I get a refund?

Suckit

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118931099#Comment_118931099

There should be an email address or a phone number to contact them and let them know.

If Etsy hasn't labelled it correctly, then there may be some back and forths, I doubt An Post are as uncooperative as DHL when dealing with an individual, so it could be sorted fairly quickly. Alternatively, you can opt not to pay, have it sent back and reorder.

glitterIsland

I ordered online from an American shop to the value of 90 euro. This also included a free shipping. I used the American addresspal.

A week later I made another online purchase from the same shop and used addresspal for a smaller purchase of 80 euro. Also free shipping and I used addresspal.

The shop has policies in place and there is a processing time of 5 to 14 days. This isn't an issue as such.

I'm just after getting dispatch emails for the two orders now.

I do expect to pay the vat charge on these items. As these orders were bother under 150, I wasn't expecting to pay a customs charge that usually applies to imports over 150 euro.

These two separate orders will be shipped separately, in separate packaging but also at the same time. So its just after dawning on me that I may be charged a customs duty on these orders including vats.

Will I be charged customs even though the items were separate?

whiterebel

2 separate orders so you shouldn't be charged customs duty as the value of each is less than €150.00. You will pay 2 x AddressPal charges, and 2 x An Post clearance charges.

notahappycamper

I’m just wondering how long people are waiting for a response from the ecommcharge query mailbox once an email has been sent to them?

Discodog

So you all deserve a giggle. A friend sent me a greetings card from the USA. The custom declaration clearly shows a value of $5 with a clear decimal point between the 5 & two zeros. An post send me a demand for €113 as they have read it as $500. How anyone could decide that a card is worth $500 ?

deezell

I'm curious, would they have looked for $1.13 if they had read the value correctly? Surely a card is just used stationery, its correspondence. It's has no intrinsic value, other than as recyclable paper.

Discodog

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119076674#Comment_119076674

They want €113 😁 But yes it has no value.

Luckily she was able to send me a photograph of the declaration

Anyone know how long they take to release the item ?

witnessmenow

I bought some tea (which is a 0 rate item) from the UK a couple of weeks ago and sent to address pal. I received my first tax note for the full value on the 10th of June, emailed the ecomms query email that day, didn't get any response.

A few later I got my second tax note, so I emailed again. This time I got an automated response, mainly advising me to only send one email per query.

Is a delay of 6 or 7 business days without getting a response to be expected?

witnessmenow

To add to this, I complained on twitter this mornings and had a response within in an hour, what a world we live in

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119225955#Comment_119225955

Escapees

I ordered a part from a UK based supplier with a .IE site and have now received a message from An Post saying that a customs and admin fee is due. The suppliers website states that:

"If your delivery address is outside of Ireland or the UK, you may be required to pay import duties and taxes when your order reaches your country. These and any additional charges for customs clearance are your responsibility."

I don't feel I should have to pay the customs charge and was going to just let the package be returned to the supplier and then look for a refund. But should I just get the supplier on the case, in case An Post have made a mistake?

This is the last time I'll risk ordering from a UK based company!!

whiterebel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119384176#Comment_119384176

You'll probably find that it is yet another UK Supplier who doesn't understand that Ireland is in the EU. They have to make it quite clear on the paperwork and on the package that they are paying Irish VAT. If they don't An Post have to charge VAT. FYI, .ie domains mean nothing.

ObiTwoKenobi

There seems to be wholesale confusion with UK vendors as to how IOSS works, and the requirements therein. I received this "clarification" from a UK firm recently.

....

We cannot show the IOSS number on any invoice as its a secret registration number for customs clearance only and our handling of our EU VAT return, IOSS numbers are not to be shared to customers under the rules of this VAT collection framework / system.

There would not be a VAT number as it is IOSS and no EU VAT number is given for this type of VAT handling. We would have to advise you to speak to accountants to find our the legal position for VAT reclaims under IOSS. 

A tax amount is shown on the downloadable invoice provided to you but as mentioned there will be no EU VAT number shown, and this might present an issue making a reclaim, so please talk to a tax advisor.

....

If the IOSS number cannot be shared with the customer, then it cannot be placed on the package - so how can Irish customs ascertain that any VAT has been paid.

Ridiculous!!!

TheW1zard

Hi I put the wrong eircode on a package to Australia, (just moved house) will this not go through now?

All other details correct, value/ description etc