Costs involved after Brexit when buying AFV kit from France ?

[Merlin]

Hi,

There is no section on Britmodeller at all, not after a searching through carefuly twice, on the subject of acquiring models , fees, Brexit etc.

I am interested in a resin AFV kit, rare and I have found one in France.

Not wanting a terrible price shock, just what costs get added and removed after Brexit when buying such from France ?

I have a vague recollection of Parcel Farce charging £8 to deliver, having paid the custom fees UK border slap on, not sure what the customs fees are in a model resin kit.

Do they go by price or weight ?

Is there VAT added on at UK border, the shop talks about removing the French TAX, so if its £50 inc the French tax, how does all this pan out ?

 

We modellers need a section on what the costs could be, perhaps we shouldnt get so frightened of a nasty shock. With help here it may be better than we fear.

 

Merlin

[bentwaters81tfw]

There have been numerous threads on this subject if you use the search facility.

In a nutshell, the cost price should be free of French VAT, plus postage.

If you get caught by HMRC, they will add 20% VAT to cost plus postage. In that case it is likely you will get charged a Royal Mail handling/clearance fee of  very reasonable* £8. If it comes via Parcelfarce, expect a fee of £15. If it comes by courier, I have never seen a clearance fee added.

 

*commercial** clearance rates will see you charged upwards of £70 in today's market.

 

** commercial as in regular importers who ship goods worldwide.

 

If you have been charged French VAT and get stung again in the UK, you can claim it back from HMRC.

[colin]

Quick email to the seller and ask if they collect the vat for UK, a lot in the EU are now doing this(even in the EU I think the VAT now goes to whichever country they post the items too)

Purchased from Green stuff world (Spain)and they collected the vat so no extras when posted to me from Royal mail and UK vat

[Whitewolf]

The only problem I've encountered so far are the barmy postage fees from Germany!! Indeed, some sellers on Ebay won't post to the UK.

[Kingsman]

I did cover this topic in some depth back along when we parted company with Europe.  I'll try the short version........

 

The rules are the same now for everywhere outside the UK.  In theory, overseas sellers and online marketplaces are required to register to collect UK VAT up to a certain transaction value and pass it on to HMRC.  But in practice it seems that as long as they complete the customs label correctly that will be enough: Border Force and HMRC actually have no means of checking.

 

For consignments valued up to £135, excluding separately-identified shipping costs, the seller is reponsible for collecting the VAT at the point of sale.  In that respect little has changed in practical terms from the previous EU regime, except that the same system now applies world-wide.

 

For consignments valued at £135.01 or more, again excluding separately-identified shipping costs, you the buyer are responsible for paying the VAT on import and you should not be paying any sales tax to the seller.  The shipping agent - Royal Mail, DHL, etc etc will bill you for the 20% VAT plus their admin fee to release the goods from Customs.  Royal Mail currently charge about £10, others may charge more.

 

However, if the seller does not complete the customs paperwork correctly then you will probably be held liable for the VAT - even if you have already paid it to the seller - plus the admin fee.

 

So far since we left the EU I have bought stuff from sellers in Europe both above and below the £135 threshold and the system has worked for me as it is supposed to.  Although I'm not convinced that I didn't end up paying double VAT on an order over £135 from Germany.  It is difficult for sellers as it is not as simple as just adjusting their systems to be VAT-inclusive or VAT-exclusive for UK customers because that changes at £135 combined basket value and the equivalent value in €, $ etc varies daily.

 

Postage rates do vary very much from country to country and there is nothing you can do about that - other than hopping on Ryanair or Easyjet and going and getting it yourself!  French postage seems to be particularly outrageous.  Germany and Poland seeem to be more reasonable.

 

So to go back to your original question, if your order from France is valued below £135 then you should be paying VAT to the seller and that should be the end of it.  Like it used to be.  If it is over that value then expect to pay no VAT to the seller and to pay 20% VAT +£10-ish admin on import.

Edited January 11, 2022 by Das Abteilung
Bad spelling!

[Greg B]

Closed, not a WWII armour subject and the forum is certainly not in need of a separate section on the costs for buying kits.