OT Bring things back from France

Aug 05, 2023 Last reply: 3 years ago 9 Replies

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Lee Nowell 3 years ago

Hi All,

I am thinking of heading over to France to buy some items from Leroy Merlin (DIY store) and bring them back. Looking online, the new rules and regulations I find a bit confusing. Has anyone done this lately? My specific questions are...

It seems I can claim the French VAT back but it is unclear how. Some sites say that the retailer (Leroy Merlin in my case) has to have some sort of tax refund thing. Others seem to imply you just need your receipt that says you have paid VAT. Then there seems to be something to do at the port.
There is a limit of £390 per person and you can't come mine allowances if there is more than one person travelling together. Does this mean I will need to have separate receipts for each person/ allowance?
As far as I can make out if you are over the £390 then you pay import duty and UK vat on the whole amount rather than the items that take you over the limit. Is that true as it seems v odd?
It is also unclear which exchange rate they use to calculate it. Any ideas?

Thanks very much

Lee.

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Information here may be outdated?

Theo 3 years ago

Can't comment on the others but for that one HMRC maintain tables of exchange rates for calculating taxes and duties:

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They give the rates until the end of the current month, so that should be acceptable for on the spot calculations.

Theo

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Colin Bignell 3 years ago

If you exceed the threshold, it becomes a business import, so there is no personal allowance element. Hence you pay import duty and VAT on the whole amount. That is exactly the same as it was before we joined the Common Market, except that it would have been purchase tax, rather than VAT.

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Chris Green 3 years ago

I'm amazed that you can find *anything* cheaper in a french D-I-Y store! We have a small boat in France and, as far as possible, I take everything I need for it (carpentry, electrics, etc.) from the UK as it's much cheaper over here.

I think the standard thing is that you prove that you are a buyer from outside the EU when you buy. I *think* I've seen tax-free buying advertised at Auchan but I'm not absolutely sure,

In reality I doubt if anyone will bother looking at what you have. I can't see any issue with half a bag of cement being mine and the other half being yours.

That's actually pretty standard, once you are over the limit you pay duty on the whole lot.

Current inter-bank rate probably.

Unless you bring a vehicle absolutely choc full of new stuff I don't believe customs ar going to care to be quite honest. At the French end they are just checking for bodies hidden away in your vehicle. At the English end I really don't know what theylook for or how they decide on which cars to stop. I've not been stopped in umpteen years of travelling back and forth to France, except to ask the odd question like 'where have you come from?' and 'what did you do there?'.

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Ian Jackson 3 years ago

Oh the joys of the Brexit Bonuses!

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Fredxx 3 years ago

Quite, it encourages purchase of UK stocked items. More UK taxes rather than profiting other government's coffers.

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Lee Nowell 3 years ago

The items are plastic pedestals to lay tiles on top of. They are unfortunately quite bulky so will probably fill the car. Might even have to have a box or 2 on the roof. So likely to draw attention I guess.

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