How complicated to post a mouthpiece to the EU.......advice please.

[brianr]

I am selling some mouthpieces here in the Cafe, and I have a buyer for one of them.

However, he lives in the EU.

Ive read recently about this being an administrative nightmare for sellers since Brexit, but I dont know the ins and outs.
I assume it now isn’t as simple as going to the Post Office and buying some stamps!!!!!

Could anyone who has done such a sale recently comment on the procedure, please.

Thanks

 

[Colin the Bear]

There was a thread on here a while back. I think the concensus was that it's only complicated if the item is new or VAT is applicable. Private sale etc should be ok.
Selling through ebay I believe they sort it.

 

[rhysonsax]

There was a thread on here a while back. I think the concensus was that it's only complicated if the item is new or VAT is applicable. Private sale etc should be ok.
Selling through ebay I believe they sort it.

That discussion was about buying from EU rather than sending to EU.

I don't see why sending a small item to the EU would be any more complicated than it was previously - any tax issues would presumably affect the recipient rather than the sender. But I don't have experience to back up that assumption.

Rhys

 

[Phil]

It is easy if you are not a business. Stick it in a padded envelope. Fill out the customs form and pay for postage. The EU person will have to pay VAT if the EU notices. Frequently they dont even look at padded envelopes. Sometimes they do. Either way that is on the purchaser side. Its pretty easy. It is complicated if you are a business.

 

[nigeld]

I recently sold a mouthpiece to someone in Northern Ireland, which now counts as the EU for import/export purposes from mainland UK. I did it using the Post Office online via one of the carriers. When I marked that I had sold the mouthpiece, the website told me that I had to register as a business with some UK agency. There didn't seem to be any option for a private sale. Maybe I filled in the form wrong. So I marked it as a gift instead.

 

[Phil]

Not a shocker but that is also not how it supposed to operate.

Yes, they want vendors to register and that costs about 200 pounds a year plus you are supposed to collect the VAT for them if its a sale under 135 pounds. The document, however, suggests this does not apply to person to person sales. Again, its not like they have anything else sorted out...why would they this?

Of course I am making the assumption that it works in both directions the same. The rules Im quoting are the UK rules for EU sales TO the UK.

 

[Pete Thomas]

I assume it now isn’t as simple as going to the Post Office and buying some stamps!!!!!

Looks like it is almost as simple, the only difference is you now have to put a CN22 customs form on (as you did previously for any country outside the EU

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/vat-exports-dispatches-and-supplying-goods-abroad#vat-on-exports

VAT on exports​

VAT is a tax on goods used in the UK and you do not charge VAT if goods are exported from:

• Great Britain to a destination outside the UK
• Northern Ireland to a destination outside the UK and EU .

You can zero rate the sale, as long as you get and keep evidence of the export, and comply with all other conditions. You must also make sure the goods are exported, and you must get the evidence within 3 months from the time of sale. This can be longer for goods that need processing before export and for thoroughbred racehorses.

The time of sale is the earlier of the day you:

• send the goods to your customer
• get full payment for them

You must not zero rate sales if your customer asks you to deliver them to a UK address. If the customer arranges to collect them from you (an indirect export), you may be able to zero rate the sale as long as you meet certain zero rating conditions.

 

[Pete Thomas]

But not so simple if you in Northern Ireland

and Note the above is for anyone registered for VAT but it must also apply to non registered