brexit woes

[johnw]

Well I ordered something last week from a UK Landrover supplier as a test, delivery to Switzerland. The order came in below the local VAT/Import threshold of approx £51 ex VAT. It was posted to me, and I paid the ex VAT price, no vat, no duty, no admin charges. Cheaper than buying in the UK if you forget the postage. Once you go over the threshold, you incur VAT, Customs duty, and collections fees.

[kees]

At the moment you pay VAT and handling costs on all imported (from outside the EU) articles regardless of the price when it is being shipped to you. Import duty is due from €150. However when you buy in the UK and bring the stuff with you by car/train/plane you can take goods into the country tax free up to several hundreds of Euro's.

[mojo]

I'm not looking for sympathy here, but the reverse direction is also farked. In recent years I've been buying quite a lot of stuff from Europe because the prices were significantly better - e.g. a Kenwood headunit which retails for the "special" price of £1000 in the UK would cost me under £800 from Germany. Now the manufacturers can apply their "special" UK prices pretty much with impunity.

But... whether I like it or not, it's a done deal. No point in crying over spilt milk, etc. We will all slowly adapt, businesses will fold, others will spring up and life will go on.

[Jens]

But... whether I like it or not, it's a done deal. No point in crying over spilt milk, etc. We will all slowly adapt, businesses will fold, others will spring up and life will go on.

You're certainly right and of course import to the UK from the mainland is more expensive.

"It's a done deal" but the whole thing was foreseeable.

As we say in Germany:

[David Davies]

I appreciate the irritation felt by some members regarding these unnecessary EU rules but they are not going to change. The total amounts however are not huge - the equivalent of an extra few bags of groceries per year maybe unless one has a fleet of classic cars.

I think we should be mindful that all of us in the classic car community, including the JOC, are privileged to have a classic car, over and above our daily transport. It's a luxury item.
Most JOC members spend thousands or tens of thousands buying and then maintaining and/or restoring their cars. A number of members have several Jensens or other classic cars. In that context the amounts complained of are very small indeed.

[johnw]

It is looking bleak in the UK until the government wake up and change tax on small packages to be like the Swiss. This will only benefit European sellers and UK public as buyers, so I don't see it happening TBH. I am getting small car parts packages, new parts, up to £58, delivered to the door in Switzerland and the UK suppliers are not adding UK VAT, and no Swiss VAT is due either. This is quite handy, as with an ongoing resto I can order what I need as I go in small packets. This was the case before and after BREXIT, the Swiss decided not to tax little packages ages ago, because people would otherwise pay more in handling than the package cost. What is happening to small packages from China in the UK these days? 15 years ago, small things like electric motors and components I bought direct from China never had customs charges added.

Until there is such a UK scheme, these people https://www.las-burg.de/ and a myriad of copy cat organisations (PM me if you like) offer a free registration, and pay per package, a few euros, to receive packages in the EU (Germany) which you then collect in person. They did have time limits, like 1 month pickup, before surcharges are added. They scrapped these due to covid in many cases. I have sent used gearboxes to them in the past (30 euros or similar for them to receive a pallet). Interestingly, electronics in Switzerland, are often cheaper than in Europe due to lower taxes. Inexpensive IT equipment is good for the economy. German discounters do a very good job of getting close though even with tax, and if I visit them and claim back German VAT up to my 275 euro per person Swiss day trip allowance, obviously tax free on a keen German price is better than a small Swiss tax on a Swiss price!

It is all jobs for people, counting pennies, opening small packets of rare used parts and losing bits

[felixkk]

unnecessary EU rules

That‘s one way of putting it

[Arne]

After I have sent a furious mail to UPS, they delivered the package without further activity. Compared to earlier orders from GB it is a backstep. This are not EU-rules, these are WTO rules which became valid because GB didn‘t want a customs agreement with the EU. Of course we will get used to the new circumstances and adapt with them. But the more uncomfortable things become, the more I think whether I should do them…. And hopefully we can avoid further backsteps we have to get used to, otherwise we we soon see us riding horses again….
Arne

[Keith]

WTF does it help to reintroduce the 19th century?

Too late now to start moaning.

You should have started contacting and harassing your EU politicians about all the ridiculous rules and regulations that were causing dissent amongst more that one or two countries (not only the UK). You didn't.

Too late now to start moaning.
(And I voted to stay in the EU, and I'm proud to say that.)

[ChrisP]

I am English but live in France, my biggest moan is that, for example i bought £100 quids worth of trim parts for my J-H
and got charged £25 quid admin charge by TNT on top of the tax.
However I agree with the leave lobby even its costing me money
Another example the EU is planning to classify pure lavender oil as a hazardous chemical. which will kill another
age old industry.They make politically correct decisions without any idea of the consequences to the people they
are supposed to represent.

[David Davies]

Joerg's message has been deleted so the matter is now closed

[mojo]

Please - let's drop the backward-looking stuff. We've had half a decade of this, and nobody has had anything new to say on the subject for a long time now.

Like Keith, I voted to stay in the EU and I'm not ashamed of that.

But we really do just have to make the best of it now, and try to find ways to work with our friends in Europe (who, fortunately, remain our friends).

[jglarkin]

I'm sure Joerg doesn't mean to offend, they are clearly the words of someone suffering from 'frustration'.
I must admit to feeling a bit 'frustrated' when i bought a set of wheels from Holland recently. I was most unimpressed about buying something obviously second hand,- taxes paid a long time ago when we were in the Eurozone. So why was I paying value added tax again!
But more importantly I thought I was going to have to pay the UPS handling charge 4 times because they were sent as 4 packages, thankfully they only charged per shipment

[NigelK]

Dear All

Has anyone tried to send anything to the EU for repair since 1st January 2021? I've found this place in Austria (https://www.rafanno.at/lock-repair/) that specialise in Maserati/Lancia locks and can therefore repair and restore the Torino/SAFE locks from Interceptor doors (and the boot lid and fuel filler flap on Mk1s).

I want to send my boot lock and fuel filler flap lock to them for restoration, but I'm very nervous about incurring large customs charges, given the items are rare and therefore quite valuable and will need to be insured as such. I've looked on the HMRC website and there is a temporary export regime called the "outward processing exemption" that allows goods to be exported for repair and then re-imported, with duties only payable on the cost of the repair and not the value of the underlying repaired item. Usually it is businesses that apply for this OPR exemption, but they need to be registered and have an EORI.

My restorers don't have any of this, so I am looking at getting this exemption as a private individual. The HMRC advisor suggested the courier company can organise this for me, but I am sceptical. Anyone got any experience of doing this?

Best wishes,
Nigel