I don't know whether you are talking about now or when we were within the EU VAT scheme. That's closer to the current situation, although as we have an FTA of sorts there is no duty payable to customs. It's got no resemblance to how EU VAT worked here and continues to work there.
Bringing goods from the EU
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I don't know whether you are talking about now or when we were within the EU VAT scheme. That's closer to the current situation, although as we have an FTA of sorts there is no duty payable to customs. It's got no resemblance to how EU VAT worked here and continues to work there.
Here is plain explanation of the entire tax-back thing. Main condition is you have to have proof the thing was exported, and you have to have proof that you are in fact a non-EU resident...
Tax Free Purchases for Non EU Travellers
Tax Free Purchases for Non EU Travellers
Terry - Somerset
Established Member
I don't understand the fuss being made about VAT on trade with EU.
It is now no different to non-EU countries. VAT is due on the cost of the goods + shipping at 20%. There are some special rules for goods below £135 which may affect items bought by forum members.
Initial problems are no surprise - wrong documentation, a lack of documentation, failure to read or apply guidance etc etc.
I would expect these to be resolved in the coming weeks - trade with non-EU nations seems to work fine. Extra admin costs money and is a sad consequence of having voted to leave.
That the EU has upper and lower rate limits, I assume, is to limit cross border traffic taking advantage of different rates. Of no interest to most woodworkers, but the "tampon tax" was a consequence of this approach!!
It is now no different to non-EU countries. VAT is due on the cost of the goods + shipping at 20%. There are some special rules for goods below £135 which may affect items bought by forum members.
Initial problems are no surprise - wrong documentation, a lack of documentation, failure to read or apply guidance etc etc.
I would expect these to be resolved in the coming weeks - trade with non-EU nations seems to work fine. Extra admin costs money and is a sad consequence of having voted to leave.
That the EU has upper and lower rate limits, I assume, is to limit cross border traffic taking advantage of different rates. Of no interest to most woodworkers, but the "tampon tax" was a consequence of this approach!!
billw
The Tattooed One
Trident - expensive yes, controversial yes, pointless no. MAD should make anyone think thrice about trying to nuke us. It wouldn't stop a complete lunatic no.
HS2 - trains in this country are absolute cack. Will it inevitably benefit London more than anyone else? Well there's that potential. Is it expensive? Yes. Pointless? It facilitates rapid movement of people. I don't want to sound like I'm noshing on Xi's privates, but the trains in China are incredible. 350km/h and lie-flat seats in first class. Admittedly you face the death penalty for sitting in the wrong seat but hey ho. Northern Rail is still running rolling stock that's basically a bus on two bogeys. First world that. First world.
Hinckley C. Maybe we can do without nuclear but a prominent American thinks that windmills cause cancer and kills large birds. Much like smoking for the working class.
clogs
just can't decide
apart from the envoiro damage HS2 will do....
for business use only it'd be cheaper for the government to supply free airline tickets to the north
instead of building same.....
But of course it'll make nice jobs for the "BOY'S" and OH the fiddles......
Not sure if it's true but isn't Hinckley getting some dated design instead of a more modern unit....
idiots in charge again.....I fear.....
for business use only it'd be cheaper for the government to supply free airline tickets to the north
instead of building same.....
But of course it'll make nice jobs for the "BOY'S" and OH the fiddles......
Not sure if it's true but isn't Hinckley getting some dated design instead of a more modern unit....
idiots in charge again.....I fear.....
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No, upper and lower limits reflect the admin and cost to collect versus value. Nothing to do with "cross border traffic taking advantage of different rates". That was the whole point of a SM/CU.
I think the days of the cold war are over in as much as all out world war 3, will Trident stop terrorism, Cyber attacks, Novichoc or the current virus? The concept of MAD amongst the major players is over, they all realise there is no winner and so the real threat is from terrorism & other lunatics, so Trident is not going to help. China is waging an economic war and using it's wealth to buy into every small impoverished country it can so war is not in their interest. By us having Trident it makes us a threat and therefore a target, we live on a little island that Russia could easily vapourise so the government is putting the people at risk by remaining in what is just a game of brinkmanship and being a member of the nuclear club. So lets say that we really must have this so called nuclear detterent, why have the subs, an expensive part of the program that has to be manned and maintained plus puts our oceans at risk if it goes wrong. All you need is the ability to launch the missiles into the upper atmosphere and detonate, the fall out will wipe out all life over a period of a few years so rather than instant death you actually promise the attacker a slow and lingering death which is probably worse than being instantly cremated in a flash.
Peterm1000
Guest
I believe Tax generally has nothing to do with the EU. There are tax treaties between countries and the EU is not a country. What has changed is whether something is considered an import or not. Previously you could buy something in Germany and bring it to the UK and not consider it an import. You would pay VAT in Germany because that is where title transferred. Now, you could still buy the item in Germany, pay German VAT, reclaim that at the border, import it into the UK, pay UK taxes on import. Or the German retailer can ship it to you in the UK, pay any import duties and charge you UK VAT (or - if you have your own VAT number have you charge yourself UK VAT). The only difference to pre-Brexit is the import. VAT works exactly the same way. The UK or other countries may require you to have a local VAT agent, but that is a whole other can of worms...
So the upshot of this is that you can still buy from France, Germany, wherever... but now it will be like buying from Canada or the US or Ghana or anywhere else in the world. Some retailers will be willing to do that and others won't.
But all of that extra hassle is more than offset by the smug realisation that your passport is now blue (back to the days of the empire and all that). I'm sure you will agree
Ollie78
Established Member
Yesterday I was going to order some 3d printing filament from prusa (they are in czeck republic) ....Nope.
Currently not taking orders from the UK due to brexit.
The guy in the unit next to me is having similar issues, he is a manufacturer and distributor of paragliding stuff. Many of his suppliers have stopped being able to send stuff.
The main excuse is not that they are unwilling to send it. But rather that the couriers won't deliver it.
They don't know what to do, effectively they are having to be customs agents and they don't want to do it.
Ollie
Currently not taking orders from the UK due to brexit.
The guy in the unit next to me is having similar issues, he is a manufacturer and distributor of paragliding stuff. Many of his suppliers have stopped being able to send stuff.
The main excuse is not that they are unwilling to send it. But rather that the couriers won't deliver it.
They don't know what to do, effectively they are having to be customs agents and they don't want to do it.
Ollie
sploo
Somewhat extinguished member
Hopefully it'll be worked out in time. Even the Danish seller I'm talking to (who is willing to ship via FedEx) is saying that they can't give me any guarantees as to what'll happen at the UK end (which is fair enough).
In other news... looking at the USA overnight I see we're sadly getting the inevitable endgame of years of populist deception - namely the expression of built up rage as reality slowly pokes its way through the fog of BS.
really...
that was a long time ago you know, the world has changed a bit since then.
Sure, we all saw how brits managed Dunkirk, Market Garden, Caen, etc
As someone else mentioned, i believe US and Russians did play a fairly big part.
I think it's a pity to see the UK leave, and was pretty sad after the brexit vote. However, during the past few years, I've heard more and more british colleagues blaming EU (and France particularly) for everything (economy, immigration, housing market, weather forecast, whatever-you-dont-like) and bragging at how they "saved our *****" at Dunkirk (which is a bit surprising if you read a bit about it).
Anyway, I guess if the Brexit doesnt give the expected results in few years, EU (and France) will be the one to be blamed.
The most interesting thing about your post is that those prepared to find out how to do it will gain on both sides (EU and UK exporters), and those that find it all too much will lose trade. I spent most of my business life importing and exporting both to/from ROW and EU. The difference is simply one of process. Export represented approx. 10% of our turnover, and I would not have thrown that away lightly. Someone will very quickly take up the slack of businesses unable or unwilling to take it on.
The idea that couriers are unwilling to send goods outside the EU is peculiar. Have the suppliers tried another freight agent? Maybe they mean their local equivalent of the post office - but even they will have international shipping departments.
Makes me wonder if there is a market for an intermediary import agent........
Ollie78
Established Member
I agree "peculiar" is an understatement. Especially as this has been going on for years. I would have expected there to be a certain amount of readiness.
Apparently the port of Rotterdam has spent a vast amount on the "brexit problem" more than the UK government at one stage.
I guess until the "agreement was published" no one had a clue exactly what the procedure would be.
I thing once the couriers have sorted a simple method everything will be back to normal.
Perhaps in the interim a specialist import agent could make a fortune.
Ollie
Peterm1000
Guest
Reading the posts about struggling to get couriers to deliver to the UK right now... A thought. If you were a Romanian / Polish, Hungarian trucker, would you want to travel to the UK right now? Not only is the UK known as a plague island, but just before Christmas we had thousands of them locked in truck parks without proper access to water, food or sanitation for several days I believe. I suspect in 3 months everything will be much easier.
Ollie78
Established Member
This is a very good point, I certainly don't envy those working in the logistics industry right now.
I suggest large "goods transportation cannons" at Calais and Folkestone with enormous catch nets either side.
I am sure the army engineers would have a great time with this.
Ollie
sploo
Somewhat extinguished member
It's what happens when you have a nation run by malevolent incompetence. It's nothing to do with being "for" or "against" their particular political/social/economic beliefs, the issue is that we have a government consisting of the most spectacularly unsuited for leadership. E.g. the "genius" of waiting until all the kids had gone back to school for one, effing, day... (just enough time to share any bugs with one another)... and then only locking everything down at 8pm on a Monday night. The amount of work that alone generated for schools and after care providers (who were having to work through the night to "fix" Tuesday) is staggering.
sploo
Somewhat extinguished member
Could we not aim those cannons into the middle of the Atlantic, and offload some of the chancers and charlatans that got us into this mess?
Could we not aim those cannons into the middle of the Atlantic, and offload some of the chancers and charlatans that got us into this mess?
Thte EU has rules about polluting the water.
Jonm
Established Member
Well that is a selective list of battles. Hastings missed out.
Crecy, Poitiers and Agincourt were all part of the Hundred Years’ War. We started it owning large parts of mainland Europe and ended it owning Calais. The last eight battles were won by France such as Patay and Castillon which get very little coverage in English History.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Hundred_Years'_War_battles
Trafalgar would have been a good example of what you are trying to say.
I think that past battles, victories and defeats are irrelevant. The big success of the EU is that after very many centuries of conflict and war in Europe, that prospect has all but disappeared, except perhsps in the Balkans.
Droogs
Not the Sharpest Moderator in the box
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