Importing guitar parts from EU to Northern Ireland

phil_b

I want to buy a trem from Halon guitar parts in Greece.

Do I pay VAT via the courier or pay Greek tax via the suppler. 

I'm a bit confused on how it works. The Northern Ireland protocol makes the rules different here to the rest of the UK and I'm a bit confused 

bacchanalian

For NI the rules for receiving from EU are much the same. The retailer should charge you their local VAT.

However, I have seen a few different treatments because either the retailer or the courier are not sure of the rules.

I had an order from the US held in London for a number of days but an sale I sent to Italy went via Dublin and was delivered in two days with no VAT added.

uksaint7

I ordered some guitar parts from the Netherlands and paid Dutch VAT. Then got charged UK VAT when it arrived here! I’ve sent an appeal for a refund of UK duty and VAT to the Border Force but not heard back yet.

phil_b

uksaint7 said:

I ordered some guitar parts from the Netherlands and paid Dutch VAT. Then got charged UK VAT when it arrived here! I’ve sent an appeal for a refund of UK duty and VAT to the Border Force but not heard back yet.

That doesn't sound promising 

crunchman

uksaint7 said:

I ordered some guitar parts from the Netherlands and paid Dutch VAT. Then got charged UK VAT when it arrived here! I’ve sent an appeal for a refund of UK duty and VAT to the Border Force but not heard back yet.

Did the border force actually get the "VAT" or did the courier charge you for it and pocket it hoping you would not know any better and swallow it?

Whitecat

crunchman said:

uksaint7 said:

I ordered some guitar parts from the Netherlands and paid Dutch VAT. Then got charged UK VAT when it arrived here! I’ve sent an appeal for a refund of UK duty and VAT to the Border Force but not heard back yet.

Did the border force actually get the "VAT" or did the courier charge you for it and pocket it hoping you would not know any better and swallow it?

I seriously doubt any major courier that is anything bigger than a man-with-a-van would try that on. VAT handling is a big, expensive deal - they have to front tonnes of money on account with HMRC in order to become "agents" for it and their liabilities for failure would be punishing. It's almost certainly a cock-up, of which is probably happening on an alarmingly regular basis at the moment due to incorrect paperwork being supplied with inbound parcels. If it's missing an obvious EORI/VAT number or important invoice info showing the VAT breakdown etc then they will assess charges.

elusivelight

Yeah you should be paying the local vat, but getting stung twice seems like it may be happening in a few places, not just on guitar related things. 

gavin_axecaster

Smaller retailers probably are not aware that they have to send DDP (delivery duty paid) when they charge VAT on parcels.

The couriers still send the money to the relevant govt (and still charge for doing so) but they invoice the sender, not the recipient.

If the shipment is not booked DDP with the correct paperwork the carrier is going to assume taxes are due and will charge the recipient.

The above is perhaps more related to UKL/EU rather than NI/EU.

TBH I'm not sure how it's supposed to work for EU-NI and vice versa - I thought that the sender just had to include their EORI number and the carriers would know from the addresses that tax was not due. There is some anecdotal evidence that unless "Northern Ireland" is specifically stated on the paperwork (instead of simply "UK") carriers may still charge import VAT.

strtdv

@phil_b just put your shipping location as Ireland, they'll deliver no problem.
The customs border is in the Irish Sea so there's only a problem if they ship to the mainland on the way here. By stating your location as Ireland it comes up from the South and no customs border is crossed

bacchanalian

I tried that on a site but it would not let me enter Ireland and a UK postcode.

Crazyblue1779

Could you get it shipped through a local retailer? 

@WindmillGuitars might know if this is possible?

WindmillGuitars

@phil_b / @bacchanalian happy to help either of you with EU shipments. DM me anytime
Cheers Simon