Hello everyone. Here's an interesting (and potentially very provocative) subject for discussion: VAT on imported goods, particularly from the EU. I don't know about you guys, but prior to the UK's departure from the EU I frequently purchased high-value goods (in the £300-500 range) from Germany, Spain, and some other continental European countries. My reason for doing so was to save money, as it was often the case that the same high-value goods were considerably more expensive when purchased from a seller on my home turf (the UK). Even with a slightly higher shipping cost, it would still work out significantly cheaper than if bought locally. Here's an example real-world purchase that I made in 2007: Sale price (Germany): €450 Total cost, delivered to my door: £310 Fast-forward to now, and this arrangement is (sadly) a thing of the past, thanks to a poor exchange rate, and also to VAT. Comparing the same item sold at the same price delivered from the same country, it's looks quite appalling really: Sale price: €450 GBP equivalent: £387 Shipping £10 Conversion fee: £3 VAT: £80 Total cost: £480 Just recently, however, I came upon a product on ebay.de that was priced so incredibly low that even with shipping, currency conversion fees, and VAT added to the total sale price of £420, the resultant final amount of approx. £550 would be substantially cheaper than the same product advertised for sale in the UK (£700). Upon receipt of the item I was astounded to find that the seller had marked an item value of €100, which is why the package sailed through customs without any ado, and I ended up paying a total of £460. Now, here's the ethical bit: I should, in good conscience, reprimand this seller for being a very naughty boy and committing tax fraud... but he just saved me almost £100. What would you folks do in this situation, and would you ever consider asking a seller to under-value an item to circumvent the addition of VAT upon receipt into the UK?
Take the win, we pay a stupid amount of tax generally and the government is only going to waste it anyway. As a man who has been caught for tax evasion (innocent mistake as a youngster working many jobs, not intentional) you should perhaps not listen to me
Can't think if he (seller) loses out if he was to mark it as the actual amount. Or just you. As it goes, be thankful it didn't get marked needing more paid. As then you'd have to pay even MORE than you originally would. *YAY* more fees. I have not been caught for tax evasion. But I wouldn't listen to me either. (I may possibly but may not have asked sellers to undervalue for certain purposes. )
Yep, I thanked the seller profusely - I was a very happy bunny! In other news, having just bought yet another high-ish value item from Germany (€400), but this time from a different seller, I just received this email from RM, so it would seem that this seller has not afforded me the same benevolence:
Figured I should update this thread since I've now got some numbers, just in case anyone's interested (maths almost checks out): item sale price & shipping (Germany): €413.24 converted to GBP (0.859) £355 conversion fee (2.99%) £10.61 VAT (20%) £71.44 Parcel Farce handling fee £12 Total £449.05 So it cost around £95 extra to have it imported, but the price of the item is typically at least £500 so I can't really complain. £355 would have been insanely cheap.
I'm the sort of unlucky sod that things from outside the UK would turn up broken and then you have to piddle about sending it back.
Yeah that happened to me once buying from China of all places, but the AliExpress buyer protection was fantastic and I was given an immediate refund without even having to return the item. Buying from overseas is definitely high-risk, but in my experience it's still a risk I'm prepared to take, after due consideration of course - for example, I wouldn't hurry to buy high-value goods from Asia, but Western Europe I've never once had trouble with.
