VAT exemption on items under €22 from outside EU disappearing on 1 July 2021

Finally someone talking some sense.. 100% the sellers fault and more people need to start pushing back on the shippers so they sort it out

This isn't relevant to this thread. There is nothing the buyer can do from here to put whatever is missing on the parcel.

Update: I contacted the seller who assured me that the tax had been paid. Their advice was to refuse the delivery so the item would be returned. They did not advise further re refunds etc.

They do. My son gets loads from Japan and he's had the postman deliver an item from Japan and the letter for customs to be paid in the same post. However most of the time he gets a letter to say the item is held in customs and it needs paying before they release it. Just before Christmas he even had an expensive item come through from Japan that got trough with no customs (so far).

Lots of fraudulent An Post VAT emails around. I had one before Christmas - my item was coming from Brazil of all places. Link sends you to a fake An Post website with a peculiar URL. Then they ask for your card details - haha good try. An Post will never send you a link in an email. Nor are they called AnPost (one word) except in the domain name.

Customs don't care what the value is. The lower limit exemption was dropped in the last few years. If you buy from outside the EU, be prepared to pay VAT and clearance charges.

Not sure what you mean by customs charge. You have to pay VAT, and maybe duty, depending on the value of the goods.

Whether it has a value of €10, or €10M VAT/Duty has to be paid to revenue.

Admin charges are for customs clearance. A Post is €3.50. The other couriers are based on a %, usually about 2.5%, with a minimum of €15-18.50 depending on which courier.