Wow-hd

[Nebiroth]

Originally Posted by BarnDoor

Some huge hikes on the AYM titles I'm watching on Ebay - well over 20% in most cases (Curse of the Undead has gone up by £11 lol).

At least that includes VAT...

I suspect this is more a case of a relisting exercise. In some cases AYM (who are Wow and DeepDiscount) appear not to have updated their Ebay and Amazon MarketPlace prices to bring them in line with their main website. Since the change on January 1st reqquired them to update listings (they have to indicate the VAt rate to Ebay), I think the updated the prices as well.

[Nebiroth]

Originally Posted by Darthbooth1978

I’m waiting on stuff coming from the States which I ordered a couple of weeks ago, does this mean I’ll be stung with customs when it arrives?

It depends on the value. If the items are below £15 then no, since purchases made before the change that came into force on January the 1st are exempt and continue to be processed under the old rules. Indeed, they need not even be shipped before that date: only the purchase date applies (so long as the payment was processed).

That said, it is quite possible for HMRC to screw up and fail to check the despatch date.

[Nebiroth]

Originally Posted by johnlennon696

So anything I order from wow from now on will be probably end up with a custom charge?

No. It is no longer a custom charge. It is a sales tax applied at point of sale.

The only thing that has changed at WowHD is that the 20% tax applies to everything, whereas before, it only applied to items prices at over £15.

When you bought from WowHD, items over £15 included the customs charge - in essence you prepaid it, the package was marked with a unique code to show that it was already paid, so the package would go straight through Uk Customs with no further charge.

Now anything you buy is VAT paid. Unless it is valued over £135 it will need no processing by Customs as far as tax is concerned. Above thise value and duty comes into play, and these items are processed as they were before.

[Nebiroth]

Originally Posted by Bluyoda

If I order from wowhd.de to Austria, I won't get charged with customs more than usual, correct?

How about Zavvi.com?

Wowhd seems to have many subsiduaries in different countries, so it shouldn't be an issue, right?

As you can see, I have no clue about these customs regulations.

In Austria the same rules will apply, but from June the 1st, the European Commission delayed implementation for six months, so for now, you continue to use WowHD with no changes.

In the case of Zavvi, if it is despacthed form the UK, then the VAT should be deducted from the sale, and you may need to pay import taxes and admin charges if the value exceeds the exempt limit you have in Austria, which I believe is 22 euro.

This will change again in June, as purchases made by EU consumers must have VAT applied at point of sale, even if the purchas eis made in a non-EU country.

It remains to be seen which stores will do this, as it requires they register with an EU tax authority (they may choose any EU member) and submit VAt returns and so forth. Zavvi may decide it is not worth the expens eof doing this if they make relatively dew sales to the EU

[Nebiroth]

Originally Posted by EddieLarkin

I wonder how exactly HMRC are going to enforce this rule of making the sellers collect the VAT upfront? Surely the only way to do it would be to automatically send back packages that arrive without the VAT pre-paid? Meaning anything bought from VS right now may not ever arrive?

Correct. The government website does not make an enforcement mechanism clear, but I have read that mail carriers will be part of it. This would mean that a mail carrier would refuse to accept packages from a commercial sender without the correct customs declaration indicating VAT is paid (as indeed, they do now, since international parcels require a CN22 declaation attached)

In the worst case scenario, packages arriving in the UK could be returned to sender, or worse yet, seized and destroyed if no return address is provided.

There is a new simplified Customs declaration that businesses sending to the UKL may use.

iirc Vindegar Syndrome use USPS. The US Post Office will require that VS attach the correct Customs declaration and will refuse to accept without it (as now). For items destined to the UK, this will have to include the unique code that proves they have charged VAT on the items.

If VS print the slips themselves and they use the old type ones, then either USPS won't take them, or they will get bounced back when they arrive in the UK.

I'd be inclined to hold off VS purchases until the situation is clarified.

[fatboyslim142]

Originally Posted by Nebiroth

Correct. The government website does not make an enforcement mechanism clear, but I have read that mail carriers will be part of it. This would mean that a mail carrier would refuse to accept packages from a commercial sender without the correct customs declaration indicating VAT is paid (as indeed, they do now, since international parcels require a CN22 declaation attached)

In the worst case scenario, packages arriving in the UK could be returned to sender, or worse yet, seized and destroyed if no return address is provided.

There is a new simplified Customs declaration that businesses sending to the UKL may use.

iirc Vindegar Syndrome use USPS. The US Post Office will require that VS attach the correct Customs declaration and will refuse to accept without it (as now). For items destined to the UK, this will have to include the unique code that proves they have charged VAT on the items.

If VS print the slips themselves and they use the old type ones, then either USPS won't take them, or they will get bounced back when they arrive in the UK.

I'd be inclined to hold off VS purchases until the situation is clarified.

Try just asking them & see what they say about it.

[fatboyslim142]

Originally Posted by Nebiroth

In Austria the same rules will apply, but from June the 1st, the European Commission delayed implementation for six months, so for now, you continue to use WowHD with no changes.

Thought they'd postponed it by a year & NOT just 6-7 months.

[EddieLarkin]

Originally Posted by Nebiroth

Correct. The government website does not make an enforcement mechanism clear, but I have read that mail carriers will be part of it. This would mean that a mail carrier would refuse to accept packages from a commercial sender without the correct customs declaration indicating VAT is paid (as indeed, they do now, since international parcels require a CN22 declaation attached)

So what happens with private sellers? Let's say I win an eBay auction from a private individual in the US, say for $50. I would usually expect to pay VAT+handling on arrival. Is that still the case?

[Modman]

Originally Posted by EddieLarkin

So what happens with private sellers? Let's say I win an eBay auction from a private individual in the US, say for $50. I would usually expect to pay VAT+handling on arrival. Is that still the case?

I was wondering that myself, I read somewhere that private sellers aren't required to register for VAT.

[minister_x]

I believe from the links previously posted (will try and find the relevant section) that for a site like eBay it will eBay's responsibility to collect the fees when you complete the transaction (don't know how that would work with cheques). So if paying with PayPal, for instance, on a private auction for £12.50 all in, when you as the buyer go to pay eBay would present you with a bill for £15 and would somehow do a double payment - £12.50 to the seller, £2.50 to itself (to be later paid to HMRC)? Just speculating here - I don't know how it would work in practice - but I'm sure I read it would be the platform's responsibility (something about a reference to OMPs - online market places).

If you were to buy off these forums, the onus would probably be on you as the buyer and you'd get hit by import tax + handling fees as per usual, but this time applied to any package. I guess the only checks HMRC would now need to make are:
1) is it a gift declared under £39?
2) is the seller registered with us for VAT?
If the answer to those two is no, it'll get stung with import tax and handling fees.

I'm guessing they'll also continue to do spot checks on packages to assess the veracity of the value declarations and/or illegal imports.

[malcy30]

Marketplaces ie eBay, Amazon Marketplace are required to include VAT in the final price you pay so what you see at checkout if the purchase is under £135.

Above £135 it is considered a commercial transaction so they aren’t required to add VAT, in fact no overseas retailer is required to do so. Therefore applies to Amazon etc. as well.

If over £135 you have to pay when the item arrives in the UK.
0.5% import duty (rate for DVDs and BDs)
20% VAT on the item cost plus shipping
Your mail carriers handling fee for arranging payment of duty and VAT, so £8 upwards.

Private overseas 1-2-1 transactions (so outside an electronic marketplace) are now pretty much outlawed unless you claim you are sending as a gift under £39.

Otherwise with no customs form showing VAT paid the overseas carrier should refuse the parcel. Most national mail carriers and the big couriers seem to be doing this.
If it doesn’t turn up without the correct customs form showing VAT paid, on arrival in the UK, entry should be refused and it is returned to sender if return address on parcel or destroyed if not.

[eddyw78]

I really hope my orders made before Christmas made with Rarewaves which I’m still waiting for arrive ok. Would be beside myself if they had to destroy my Warner Archive release of The Curse Of Frankenstein or worse still some busy body at customs keeps it for themselves

[Nebiroth]

Originally Posted by EddieLarkin

So what happens with private sellers? Let's say I win an eBay auction from a private individual in the US, say for $50. I would usually expect to pay VAT+handling on arrival. Is that still the case?

Ebay are required to collect the VAt at point of sale. Eba is an "OTP" - Online Trading Platform. In that case, the onus of collecting VAt and then remitting it to UK HMRC lies with the platform, not the seller. This means that Ebay, MarketPlace, Etsy and Spotify are responsible for the VAT.

In the case of Ebay, sellers are only required to register the applicable rate of VAT on a listing (this is 20% for most things, but a fw items such as books are exempt, or have a lower rate)

Note that a truly private sale between individuals - falls under the old rules.

Only commercial purchases are affected - and ones via Ebay count.

[Nebiroth]

Originally Posted by eddyw78

I really hope my orders made before Christmas made with Rarewaves which I’m still waiting for arrive ok. Would be beside myself if they had to destroy my Warner Archive release of The Curse Of Frankenstein or worse still some busy body at customs keeps it for themselves

They should be Okay as purchases made before January the 1st fall under the old rules - so long as the payment was processed before that date then it should be OK, regardless of the date of posting or delivery.

However, there is of course always the possibility that HMRC will fail to apply it's own rules.

I believe that if items are seized then the addressee has to be notified. I would imagine that at the very least you would be able to lodge a claim for compensation as the government guidance does state that only purchases made after the date fall under the new rules.

I was actually suprised they did something sensible like that!

[MrGDX]

Originally Posted by Nebiroth

They should be Okay as purchases made before January the 1st fall under the old rules - so long as the payment was processed before that date then it should be OK, regardless of the date of posting or delivery.

However, there is of course always the possibility that HMRC will fail to apply it's own rules.

I believe that if items are seized then the addressee has to be notified. I would imagine that at the very least you would be able to lodge a claim for compensation as the government guidance does state that only purchases made after the date fall under the new rules.

I was actually suprised they did something sensible like that!

Everything you say is correct, but the old rules place the import vat onus on the buyer, so if the goods are over £15 it doesn't necessarily mean they'll escape without any Imperial entanglement. Probably be fine but you never know.

[CelestialAgent]

Originally Posted by Nebiroth

Correct. The government website does not make an enforcement mechanism clear, but I have read that mail carriers will be part of it. This would mean that a mail carrier would refuse to accept packages from a commercial sender without the correct customs declaration indicating VAT is paid (as indeed, they do now, since international parcels require a CN22 declaation attached)

In the worst case scenario, packages arriving in the UK could be returned to sender, or worse yet, seized and destroyed if no return address is provided.

There is a new simplified Customs declaration that businesses sending to the UKL may use.

iirc Vindegar Syndrome use USPS. The US Post Office will require that VS attach the correct Customs declaration and will refuse to accept without it (as now). For items destined to the UK, this will have to include the unique code that proves they have charged VAT on the items.

If VS print the slips themselves and they use the old type ones, then either USPS won't take them, or they will get bounced back when they arrive in the UK.

I'd be inclined to hold off VS purchases until the situation is clarified.

I made an order so I didn’t miss out on Grave Robbers with slip, hopefully this isn’t a grave mistakes

[Douglas R]

I’ve been waiting 4 weeks for my Wow order to arrive, which even given the Christmas period is excessive. Tracking gives a Hermes number but not in a numeric length which Hermes recognise.

[malcy30]

Originally Posted by Douglas R

I’ve been waiting 4 weeks for my Wow order to arrive, which even given the Christmas period is excessive. Tracking gives a Hermes number but not in a numeric length which Hermes recognise.

You need to search the tracking id on
parcelsapp.com

Thanks to a member here who posted the link last year. It doesn't work on the Hermes site as that needs a UK Hermes id.

[pnaschy]

Originally Posted by CelestialAgent

I made an order so I didn’t miss out on Grave Robbers with slip, hopefully this isn’t a grave mistakes

Don't Panic, I'm sure you'll be fine.

[Slice_N_Dice]

Beginning to feel like I may have made a terrible mistake ordering the January bundle from Vinegar Syndrome on the 1st of Jan now...

I don't mind getting hit with the 20% fee once it arrives but don't really want it to never arrive.

Any others in the same boat?