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Post Brexit trading: Bikes and Bits

 
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welshlamb



Joined: 09 Mar 2011
Posts: 592
Location: South Wales , Nr. Abergavenny

PostPosted: Tue Jan 26, 2021 4:14 pm    Post subject: Post Brexit trading: Bikes and Bits Reply with quote

OK Bimota fans.

Nearly a month in and the cloud is just about clearing. Papers are carrying stories of shoppers 'horror' at extra charges on EU purchases. Not surprising as most effortr (such as it was) has been expended (at least by UK Govt) on impact of Brexit on businesses. Unfortunately many of the same issues are attached to individual consumer transactions so people are getting caught out.


1) My comments are specifically regarding the UK 'Experience' but should apply to EU countries as well for transactions going the other way.

2) The trade agreement says there are no Duties and no Quotas ie it doesnt say anything about VAT or paperwork. The latter in particular is needed to ensure that traded goods are traceable ... for VAT, for trade stats , for compliance with ongoing regulations either side fo channel etc.

3) if you want to avoid all this ensure that you are buying from a UK business or seller with the goods in the UK . Just because its a .co.uk website, in English don't take that as any proof. It may be just a trading name and address for an EU Business. In any case if you have any doubts then CHECK with the seller and ask specifically if there will be any additional charges to pay above the advertsied price.

3) Customs declarations will be required for all goods going in or out of UK . Main couriers may (?) be able to provide details of what is required. Post office has declarations to fill in and attach to parcels.

4) Import VAT is charged on all commercial goods over £135 in value, and on gifts that are over £39 in value.

Most prices on Ebay from businesses are likely to include VAT . I dont know if buying from a commercial seller in EU (who charges VAT) whether the seller can NOT charge VAT at his end to avoid the UK buyer having to pay VAT again on import. [ That is the biggest UNKNOWN on my part and if anyone knows the answer please post up!!]

If it's a private seller (who doesnt charge VAT) then the price you pay WILL be increased by the import VAT coming into the UK; Generally 20%
[AFAIK the import VAT rates for bikes haven't changed. Thery have uop to now been 20% on bikes less than 30 years old and 6% if more than 30 years old.. Originally the lower rate seemed to be only applicable to vehicles over 30 years 'and of historic value' such as historic race or VERY rare cars/bikes. There were a few test cases and its SEEMS that recently it was taken more as a general 30 year rule? ]

Again if anybody has more upto date infor or personal experience of imprting a 30+ year old bike (non EU) in recent years then let us know.

Surprise surprise the relevant gov.uk webpage (https://www.gov.uk/importing-vehicles-into-the-uk/telling-hmrc)
says...

"The Brexit transition period has ended and new rules on importing vehicles now apply. This page is currently out of date.?"

5) VAT is 20% on the vast majority of items but note that it will be levied and calculated against the total landed cost of the item. Even major couriers are now charging extra for deliveries across the channel to cover paperwork admin and hassle. If you were buying a bike the landed costs could be several hundred poundson on top of the actual bike cost e.g. crating, export customs charges, import clearance charges and freight cost.

Re the freight cost it might be interesting to see if UK carriers will minimise the VAT liable costs by spilitting any order inti two. ie Delivery to Dover and Dover to your location??

6) I'm not going to be buying a bike overseas anytime soon but clearly there is a risk the cost from EU would be significantly higher depending on the VAT treatment issues raised in 4 .

But many of us might buy clothing , accessories or sundry parts and accessories from EU countries and the same caution that was needed before for NON EU countries will now need to be applied to EU-UK purchases.

I'M not a trade expert! This is just my thoughts after looking at the papers and researching the web, and as always "Caveat Emptor"

I'll sit back and brace myself for the comments!!
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Not as many bikes as I would like and already too many to keep up with!
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