Exasperated with import rules from EU - how can I get simple answers?

Under £135 the seller is obliged to sell the goods VAT-inclusive, which means they have to register and deal with the UK VAT system. It's not worth their while doing so for such a small item.

The simple answer is to bump up the price to £135 and then they can send the goods without VAT, and you pay the courier on delivery.

Brexit, the gift that keeps on taking.

Theo

So whose rule is this, then? Ours or the EU's?

Ours. EU sellers can send items to other non-EU countries without accounting for VAT. As a member we were part of the EU's shared VAT system (MOSS), but we left. Seemingly the courier systems wouldn't cope with having a million tiny parcels stuck awaiting VAT clearance, and yet HMRC sees this as too big a loophole to just let them through. Which is why the burden is pushed onto sellers.

Theo

Funnily enough, even inside the EU there seems to be confusion on the rules. I thought the whole Idea of the eu was to make it easy for goods to move about. It seems the administrators are creating jobs for themselves by over complicating everything in and out of the EU. Its still harder now to take a guide dog to EU than almost anywhere in the world due to the paperwork and involvement of only certain vets but not others. Its no wonder the world is in a mess! Brian

Brian Gaff snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com wrote

Nope.

Part of the idea, anyway.

The EU has always been a protectionist system.

It isnt.

Increase the amount to over the magic £135 number and he might be OK.>

Otherwise your simplest solution is to take a holiday in Bulgaria and then collect the goods from the supplier in person. That is unless they are plants or other prohibited goods that require additional phytosanitary certificates per species.

You will have to declare them as imports to UK customs.

This is another great benefit of Brexit loads more complicated red tape.

It used to be very easy to buy stuff from EU suppliers now it is just about impossible. They simply won't battle with UK HMRC on your behalf. (and who can blame them - HMRC rules make Kafka's novels look like Ladybird books)

Those who voted for Brexit have got what thought they wanted :(

Ebay is laughing all the way to the bank. The guy I'm buying from in Bulgaria says he will only sell on ebay.

Can't blame him. No doubt many others are doing the same.

Worth reading:

Job done.

Nick

Never! A friend had a lot of work done to her teeth in Serbia and has had 6 months of intense pain. She has had to go to Harley St. specialists several times to sort it out and even then it's not back to normal. She will probably have to have at least one tooth out. Similar stories about having teeth done in Turkey. Stick to UK dentists.

I had a shitload of work done in Hungary in 2005-6, best dentists I've ever encountered, literally not a peep out of the crowns/implants since.