Now that we are, hopefully, getting close to receiving remotes I am trying to work out how much in duties I will have to pay when I get mine in the UK and specifically what the VAT situation is.
Did the price we paid to back the project (in Euros) include EU VAT?
I presume it did, but when I have bought other items from the EU to be sent to me in the UK, the seller has removed the EU VAT from the purchase and then I pay UK VAT here (via the courier) when it is imported.
Does anyone know what the exact situation is with this?
I am a bit concerned I might end up paying both EU VAT and UK VAT which shouldn’t happen.
Thanks
There is no EU VAT. Each country decides how high VAT is.
Ralf
From a Google search:
The EU sets the broad VAT rules through European VAT Directives, and has set the minimum standard VAT rate at 15%. The 27 member states (plus UK) are otherwise free to set their standard VAT rates. The EU also permits a maximum of two reduced rates, the lowest of which must be 5% or above.
This is from the UC website terms and conditions:
"Price and payment
The prices listed for our Products on our website include only EU VAT and do not encompass import taxes or duties "
That may be different to the Kickstarter pledge situation but they specifically mention “EU VAT”
You will have to pay 20% UK vat plus a brokerage fee from UPS as i believe they are the shipping agent
Its important that the shipping documents are correct i also did mention that if the parts of the kit didn’t all get shipped together we could potentially be charge another brokerage fee
Thanks Peter. That is how I understand it will work from the UK VAT side of things. What I was concerned about was have we also already paid EU VAT in the orginal pledge price? As I presume EU residents don’t pay any additional fees when their remote is delivered, it feels like the pledge price did include EU VAT. My understanding is that you shouldn’t pay VAT in both the exporting and importing country, only one. So if we are paying UK VAT on import, any EU VAT included in the pledge price should be refunded.
This is from the Kickstarter webpages:
“As tax liability varies from country to country, providing rewards to a backer based in a specific region might create a VAT liability for you. For creators using Kickstarter’s Pledge Manager tool, we will collect VAT (value-added tax) on items shipped to backers in the EU and the UK, when Kickstarter is the deemed supplier and, as authorized by the creator, when the creator is the responsible party.”
I think there is a possibility that we could end up paying VAT twice.
Hi Geoff thats the problem with people exporting when they know nothing about it
I am also waiting for one of these remotes
Tecnically as its being exported it should be exempt from the EU vat but thats not whats going to happen
Interestingly, my receipt for the purchase (not Kickstarter) of the special deal for R2 owners is below:
Dock 3 - non charging - dark grey × 1 €49.00
IR blaster for Dock 2 - dark grey × 1 €10.00
Subtotal €59.00
Shipping (UPS Standard (GB)) €19.00
Amount charged €78.00
No mention of Tax, EU or otherwise.
I’m sure I’ll be paying VAT on receipt, though.
You will plus a brokerage fee
UPS will email you requesting payment as they are imported before delivery
In theory they could sell it EU vat exempt and just get charged UK vat, some EU sellers do that. However I suspect in this case we will be paying it twice, as for sure it will get vat and import duty once it hits the UK.
I have no problem giving UC money for a great product (hopefully), but paying a total, compounded VAT rate of 44% between the EU and UK governments isn’t right. I’m pretty sure that legally it should be one or the other, not both.
I have messaged Marton about it on Discord but haven’t had a reply yet.
I’m not sure how it works. Vat is a sales tax but there must be a way to classify it’s a cross border non EU sale or to UK or something, as other firms don’t apply it. I brought a minidsp a week ago and no eu VAT was charged but UK was.
Same. I’ve bought satellite gear from Germany and was charged no EU VAT, just UK VAT (and fees) by the courier on import.
I suspect it will be too complicated to arrange for a small firm like unfolded but would be great if they did, always good to save money
I buy records from a store in Germany and they remove EU VAT on orders shipping outside of the EU. So I agree that we shouldn’t be paying VAT twice.
1 Like