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khanmu
·Just to clarify a few things, if it helps:
- VAT is a consumption/sales tax, levied on goods and services, some goods are exempt (in the UK, books, food, children's clothing), other things have VAT but at different rates (20%, 5%, 0%)
- Customs duties are taxes imposed when goods cross borders, applied at different rates for different types of products, depending on whether the UK government is trying to protect its internal base, or control the flow of certain good etc
- Excises - typically a tax applied on manufactured goods at the manufacturing end and typically in country. It's also been said it's for the stuff the government is trying (but not too hard) to get us to use less of - in the UK that's alcohol, cigarettes and petrol..
So what (and how) gets applied depends on a range of factors - is it a private or commercial seller, whether the goods are physically inside or outside the UK at time of supply, whether the value is more than £135, customs code that applies, whether the sale is to a business or to an end-consumer, and whether an on-line market place is being used or if it is a direct sale.
Generally EU imports into the U.K. above £135 will be charged VAT, possibly customs duty, excise if it is an excisable product, probably a handling fee, and U.K. VAT on the handling fee. This means that for used watches/parts, as a rough rule of thumb, I add roughly 20-23% to the price of the watch/parts. I expect most on-line platforms to charge/collect this from the buyer (it is what the eBay GSP has been doing for sales from the UK to US customers for example). If you aren’t charged this, then you’ve been lucky to get away with it...
- VAT is a consumption/sales tax, levied on goods and services, some goods are exempt (in the UK, books, food, children's clothing), other things have VAT but at different rates (20%, 5%, 0%)
- Customs duties are taxes imposed when goods cross borders, applied at different rates for different types of products, depending on whether the UK government is trying to protect its internal base, or control the flow of certain good etc
- Excises - typically a tax applied on manufactured goods at the manufacturing end and typically in country. It's also been said it's for the stuff the government is trying (but not too hard) to get us to use less of - in the UK that's alcohol, cigarettes and petrol..
So what (and how) gets applied depends on a range of factors - is it a private or commercial seller, whether the goods are physically inside or outside the UK at time of supply, whether the value is more than £135, customs code that applies, whether the sale is to a business or to an end-consumer, and whether an on-line market place is being used or if it is a direct sale.
Generally EU imports into the U.K. above £135 will be charged VAT, possibly customs duty, excise if it is an excisable product, probably a handling fee, and U.K. VAT on the handling fee. This means that for used watches/parts, as a rough rule of thumb, I add roughly 20-23% to the price of the watch/parts. I expect most on-line platforms to charge/collect this from the buyer (it is what the eBay GSP has been doing for sales from the UK to US customers for example). If you aren’t charged this, then you’ve been lucky to get away with it...
