Post-Brexit info for EU Customers

It has of course been a few years now since Brexit, so many international/EU shoppers are used to the changes and what to expect when importing from the UK.

But, understandably, If you are an international customer and aren't aware of all of the import duties, taxes and handling charges you will incur by importing goods from the UK into your country Post-Brexit, please try and take the time to read this information as I’ve put it together to try and help you prepare for the processes. It's very important and details the process and costs involved.
As an importer of the goods it is your responsibility to pay your countries import duties and taxes, and the handling courier will also charge a handling fee for processing the goods through customs. So let's touch on some of the key details, in case you weren't otherwise are, and I hope it helps prepare you to make an import.

The Post-Brexit EU Trade deal and importing costs incurred

From January 1st 2021 we saw some changes implemented on export and import in the Brexit 'trade deal'. EU/UK trade though really isn’t quite business as usual I'm sad to say and there will be some differences for you importing goods into your country now. As an importer of goods into your country, you need to be aware of the process and familiarise yourself with what is involved. There has been some new changes since 1st July 2021 too, so it is worth familiarising yourself with the process and I will also continue to look for more convenient methods of ordering too.

UK VAT
Pre-Brexit, if you were for example situated in an EU member state country and ordered from a VAT registered business in the UK, the UK business would have charged you the UK VAT rate at the point of sale. 
Post-Brexit though, this is no longer the case. Which means if you are located in the EU/elsewhere in the world, and place an order to be shipped to your EU/international address, I won't charge the UK's 20% VAT on my invoice to you. You will instead be invoiced by your countries border control for the VAT rate of your country. But it is important to note that as an importer of goods to your country, it is your responsibility to pay the import VAT, any duty where applicable and the customs handling fee. What these charges may be, I will detail below.

Whilst you are browsing the website, you may note that all of the prices are shown including the UK 20% VAT rate. This VAT amount will be removed from your product/cart total once you proceed through the checkout process, because once the cart sees an international, non UK address, it will remove the VAT amount automatically for you. Or, if you are already logged into your account whilst viewing the website, or your cookies/cache remember that you have visited before, the prices may also display the ex VAT price. 

What will it cost you to import goods?
So although I won't charge you the UK VAT rate on my invoice, as the importer it is your responsibility to pay import VAT at your local rate to your country, as well as import duty where applicable and the courier's customs handling charges. None of these duty and/or tax charges will or can be invoiced to you James' Home of Tone, these fees are usually invoiced to you via the parcel handler/courier/broker and paid to them or your countries government revenue & customs directly depending on the specific circumstances. 

In advance, I highly recommend familiarising yourself with your countries VAT rate, Duty rates and be aware that there will be a handling/processing fee charged by the courier directly also as they act as your customs clearance broker, none of these costs are taken by myself and I won't ever request payment for these costs.

  • Items sent to the EU from England, Scotland and Wales are subject VAT and duties in the EU. The value of goods thresholds are detailed below  
  • AFTER 1st July 2021, ALL orders/goods valued from €0 to €150 will incur VAT by your country, a handling fee and potentially import duty charges by your country depending on the goods and your countries regulations.
  • Commercial items/goods sent to the EU over €150 will attract VAT, customs/import duties as well as a clearance/handling fee.
  • The customs authorities in the destination country and the customs thresholds in place determine if charges are due on imported goods.
  • The levels and thresholds of charges vary from country to country.
  • The 'handling fee' isn't anything to do with shipping costs. The handling courier processes your parcel through customs and they charge a handling fee to do this on your behalf (unless you have a broker personally allocated to do this for you). The fee can vary depending on the courier used and the country they are based, but it usually between £8-£15, but it could be more and again, this isn't invoiced/charged by me and I have no control of their costs charged.

What I will be doing going forward - 
Each item has to be declared within the parcel and order and I will need to provide full commercial invoice documents including the items HS commodity code as well as my own business information too. Any additional time spent preparing international labels and customs documents for clearance will be done in my own time, there will be no extra charges for this. I will always ensure that any commercial invoices provided on exports will be completed correctly, with all the required information to help ensure a quick process through customs for you as well as the correct charges being applied by your local rates. Again, I have no control over their charges.

What you need to prepare for if planning on importing goods from the UK to yourself in the EU -
Best thing I can recommend is for you to research what your countries process is and how their charges are calculated. What the import duty rate and threshold is & what your local VAT rate is for example.

PID/Identification numbers
Some countries use a PID or identification number for individuals, or tax ID numbers for example like a business customer would need. If your country uses PID for customs clearance, please provide me with this to help you with your import documents. (again each country is very different so it is difficult for me to be an expert in each country requirement). 

There is a field in the address box at checkout for you to add this number along with your address, or of course feel free to add it in the order comments or e-mail it to me directly at james@homeoftone.co.uk 

Transit Times
Companies across the UK and Europe have been experiencing delays in transit times for international packages ever since Brexit was implemented. This is mostly down to a huge increase in demand for mail order, but also in light of the post-brexit 'trade deal' and the additional customs clearance processing required for all imports and exports.
So it is worth baring in mind that there may be delays in transit times of your shipment compared to 'normal' so to speak. But I do my best to ensure everything is shipped with tracked services, and all relevant documentation.

Please rest assured that I am actively working on new ways of supporting our customers and trading within the EU. As we all continue to learn more about this transition, I appreciate your patience & I will keep this page updated should anything change.

IOSS
Another update by the EU on July 1st 2021 was their introduction of the IOSS scheme, to help create a more level playing field for retailers across the EU and UK too. This scheme allows for businesses to register for VAT in only one EU member state, which as a result then allows the business to collect VAT for each EU state. This means then that the business can charge the correct VAT rates for each country at the point of sale, meaning the goods no longer need to process through customs and incur customs charges. Now, unfortunately this is a fairly expensive process and requires the business to appoint an 'established EU intermediary. AKA a business registered within a EU member state, such as an accountant for example. This appears to be the expensive part for small business such as myself, and one I am working on seeing if it's viable for me as we speak. Hopefully I will have some answers on this in the future and be able to register, but for now, please refer to all of the information stated above.

James