With just over a couple of weeks to go until 1st July, it would be useful to know Brickowl's IOSS VOEC, ABN numbers etc in advance, so sellers can set up electronic customs/CN22 values in advance, rather than leaving it to the last minute.
Unfortunately, the short answer is, we don't have one.
We put in a registration for IOSS with the Irish tax authority last month. They were waiting on the European Union to confirm whether the UK has a suitable VAT reciprocation agreement to allow the UK to access the IOSS scheme without an intermediary. I have it on my calendar to check this again on Monday. If they still have not resolved this, we will have no choice but to use an intermediary.
This is something we really don't want to do, as this will likely be a large expensive, and it may later get decided an intermediary is not needed, so we will then need to change registration etc. There is also the chance that the intermediary will take too long to set the registration up.
I'm not sure if I understood correctly, but it sounds like if you don't use any scheme, and just use a normal customs form, everything will work the same as it did before in terms of customs being assessed at the destination, aslong as the value is over the low value consignment relief threshold. There will be a big change for anything below the low value consignment threshold.
Hopefully I will have some more information next week.
And I thought tax variations in the US could get complicated... comparatively, I think we actually have it pretty easy! Cheers to our friends over the pond that are sorting this out for BO and for their stores - my virtual fingers are crossed for you!
Just to update this, for anyone following. Unfortunately there has been no change with regards to an EU-UK reciprocation agreement, so we are now exploring the intermediary route.
To provider a further update, we have now engaged an intermediary for IOSS, at great expense. This may or may nor be available for July 1st, likely not. I will provide further updates.
So how does that affect any EU sales we have (I'm in the UK) in the meantime? Does this mean that the buyer will be liable for VAT etc upon receipt of items. Are they notified of this somehow during the BO billing process?
At the moment, there is a note on the low value orders advising the store, but not the customer. The customer has always been liable for the VAT, but the difference is that now there is no exception for orders below 18 EUR
Shouldn't the customer be advised too, since they might get hit with an additional charge by their local postal service for collecting the VAT. On low value orders the additional charge might be more than the order value. Better that customers know to expect this before checking out, rather than it being an unexpected surprise which might lead to items not being collected.
It shouldn't fall to us sellers to inform the customer that they might be charged import taxes on all purchases. Especially as this takes place after the sale has taken place. This is not a good customer experience.
The customer may well be surprised by this information, resulting in disappointment and frustration with the seller. It's also an unnecessary waste of time needed for communications and a hassle for both parties to deal with the potential refunds which may result.
I've just received my first EU order and am now in the dilemma of needing to inform and educate the buyer. Can't you provide a message to the buyer at checkout?
Hi Lawrence. As minimum, can you provide the Brickowl IOSS number to the FAQ and / or forum so that we can add it to the customs forms? It should help speed up processing in the destination country.
@Bricksinbloom I am under the understanding that we can't share this publicly, as it can be misused. It is visible on the order page when you receive a relevant order. It should only be used on the relevant order where the tax has been paid by Brick Owl
@Brick Arena You need to set up a 'trading name' specifically for OMP that you trade on. In the trading names area you need to set up the IOSS number under the 'Pre-registration tax schemes & IOSS' pull-down menu. The value from here will be auto-filled when you create a new order. Just remember to select the correct trading name for each order that you create. You can create as many trading names as you need.
Thanks @misbi that is the approach I've taken so far though it seems a bit messy (from a Royal Mail perspective). Each Tradename needs to be different, so as to be recognisable ( i.e. "Brick Arena BO" ), but this prints out on the label as your Tradename, which is far from ideal.
I assume your using the automated click and drop feature from within each order on Brickowl? So you need to also tie the Brickowl integration to the appropriate tradename you've setup.
I've not been able to test yet as I've not had an EU order since Brickowl obtained an IOSS number. However, a friend advised me this morning that this approach outlined did not result in a IOSS icon appearing on the label generated (therefore RM not recognising that an IOSS had been provided).
We have separate trading names set up for BrickOwl, Bricklink, Brickbrowser & Ebay, but none of these trading names ever appears on the label. Only the trading address appears as the return address. I wrote my own own code to populate labels via the RM API so that addresses are consistent regardless of the OMP from which they originate. For BO to include the IOSS number in its integration, either all users would need to use the same trading name for BO orders, or @Lawrence would need to provide a means for sellers to provide their preferred trading name to BO, such as 'Brick Arena BO' in your case. As long as you select the correct sender during the create order stage (see attached screenshot), the associated IOSS number will appear on the CN22, but you must have the CN22 option enabled as well ie. not just the address label, but both the address label AND the CN22. This is selected in the label format area with the 'Generate customs declarations with orders' checkbox. (see attached screenshot).
Unusually I have not had an EU order since Brickowl's IOSS went live. I've had many non-EU orders but no EU one's. I thought I'd raise it in case anyone else has noticed this and there is a bug in the system, or it may just be me.
@lostBRICKS I have had a small amount of EU orders which proves the system works, but to large extent EU business has been dead since the change. I don't think this is so much due to the technical changes but the added 20% VAT which has to be paid by the buyer making the purchase prohibitive.
Well, I finally received an EU order from France and I can now see the problem!!!!
As a VAT registered LEGO seller on Brickowl my prices already include UK VAT at 20% for my UK customers, however when a EU order is received the EU customer is being charged VAT on top of the UK VAT prices (double VAT charging). @Lawrence I believe you need to adjust the system to remove the UK VAT from the store prices of VAT registered sellers for international customers. Or, possibly better, show all prices exclusive of VAT and then charge the necessary VAT rates if they are UK VAT registered or comes under IOSS VAT.
I've looked at my tax settings on Brickowl and I have already enabled my tax settings, so I don't think it's something I've not set correctly.
@Lawrence Thank you. I added the Tax ID but didn't realise that I also needed to create a UK Tax profile. Have now done this so hopefully will not have this issue going forwards.
Comments
We put in a registration for IOSS with the Irish tax authority last month. They were waiting on the European Union to confirm whether the UK has a suitable VAT reciprocation agreement to allow the UK to access the IOSS scheme without an intermediary. I have it on my calendar to check this again on Monday. If they still have not resolved this, we will have no choice but to use an intermediary.
This is something we really don't want to do, as this will likely be a large expensive, and it may later get decided an intermediary is not needed, so we will then need to change registration etc. There is also the chance that the intermediary will take too long to set the registration up.
I'm not sure if I understood correctly, but it sounds like if you don't use any scheme, and just use a normal customs form, everything will work the same as it did before in terms of customs being assessed at the destination, aslong as the value is over the low value consignment relief threshold. There will be a big change for anything below the low value consignment threshold.
Hopefully I will have some more information next week.
It shouldn't fall to us sellers to inform the customer that they might be charged import taxes on all purchases. Especially as this takes place after the sale has taken place. This is not a good customer experience.
The customer may well be surprised by this information, resulting in disappointment and frustration with the seller. It's also an unnecessary waste of time needed for communications and a hassle for both parties to deal with the potential refunds which may result.
I've just received my first EU order and am now in the dilemma of needing to inform and educate the buyer. Can't you provide a message to the buyer at checkout?
Stuart
@Bricksinbloom I am under the understanding that we can't share this publicly, as it can be misused. It is visible on the order page when you receive a relevant order. It should only be used on the relevant order where the tax has been paid by Brick Owl
I assume your using the automated click and drop feature from within each order on Brickowl? So you need to also tie the Brickowl integration to the appropriate tradename you've setup.
I've not been able to test yet as I've not had an EU order since Brickowl obtained an IOSS number. However, a friend advised me this morning that this approach outlined did not result in a IOSS icon appearing on the label generated (therefore RM not recognising that an IOSS had been provided).
As a VAT registered LEGO seller on Brickowl my prices already include UK VAT at 20% for my UK customers, however when a EU order is received the EU customer is being charged VAT on top of the UK VAT prices (double VAT charging). @Lawrence I believe you need to adjust the system to remove the UK VAT from the store prices of VAT registered sellers for international customers. Or, possibly better, show all prices exclusive of VAT and then charge the necessary VAT rates if they are UK VAT registered or comes under IOSS VAT.
I've looked at my tax settings on Brickowl and I have already enabled my tax settings, so I don't think it's something I've not set correctly.
Thanks.
All the best!