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International shipping

NeiljonesNeiljones
in General Vote Up0Vote Down
I ordered an item from Canada. It arrived today but it was shipped within the uk. I paid 20% vat on this order and the cost of shipping from Canada. Do I have the right to claim back the vat and the difference in shipping cost from the seller. Also is a seller allowed to do this. Look forward to hearing your thoughts about this.

Comments

  • 7 Comments sorted by Votes Date Added
  • P6tuP6tu
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    I'm a bit confused - was the item sent from Canada or was the whole transportation thing handled within the UK borders?

    In EE or in EU in general - if the central warehouse is within EU, then it does not matter if I purchase the item from a chinese seller who is located in China and whome I've paid with Chinese currency. If the item is already in an EU warehouse and the shipping is only done within EU, then I have no obligations to pay any additonal VAT nor nothing since it should have been done when ever the item(s) were imported to EU. And in reality it has been just like that.
  • NeiljonesNeiljones
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    @P6tu the store is in Canada, but the item was shipped from the uk.
  • Jay37Jay37
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    @Neiljones Sounds like the store in Canada didn't have the item in stock (although they may have thought they did), have possibly found a store in the UK and ordered from them to have it shipped to you. I'm guessing you had already checked UK stores so there must have been a reason to order from Canada in the first place. Have you checked with the store?
  • P6tuP6tu
    Vote Up0Vote Down
    @Neiljones , well, then it sounds like you should have not paid the VAT on it... At least according to our regulations in EU. However I am not sure about how things should and must be in UK :( ...
  • NeiljonesNeiljones
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    @P6tu within the uk no vat is added to an order. Thanks for your response
  • VosblokjesVosblokjes
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    Maybe begin to ask the seller what happened?
  • HoddieHoddie
    edited October 30 Vote Up0Vote Down
    P6tu, you must pay VAT either at the point of purchase (via the marketplace) or at the point of delivery (with Royal Mail/the courier) even if (1) the seller is outside the UK and (2) the goods are in the UK. This is because the seller is considered to have made a zero-rated supply to the Marketplace, known as a 'deemed supply.'

    The seller/importer then reclaims the Import VAT from HMRC (in most cases) and accounts for all this in whatever way their national authorities requires.

    In the end, VAT has been collected and paid correctly.

    B2B shipments can be more complicated, but if they're not registered for VAT in the UK, I'm not sure how else they could have done it when selling through a marketplace.

    Paying shipping from Canada to the UK only for them to ship within the UK is a different matter.
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