US Based Site Selling On Amazon UK - VAT Info?

[olimits7]

Hi,

I'm trying to do some research about selling on Amazon UK. I've been in contact with Amazon UK, and I'm trying to understand how VAT would work as a US seller.

Any items that I would ship to the UK I will pre-pay any VAT/duty during the shipment. However, I mentioned this to Amazon UK and they said that my category referral % fees will still include a VAT % on top of the regular category referral % fees.

Does anyone have any experience selling on Amazon UK but being a US based seller? How would the VAT work being a US seller?

Thank you,

olimits7

[CernyM]

VAT isn't like sales tax in the USA that's added onto the price at the end.

VAT is included in the price, which means if you tell Amazon to sell your goods for 100GBP, then 20GBP of that is VAT. So, yes, they will be collecting fees on the VAT portion.

Typically, you don't have to register for UK VAT unless you pass a certain annual threshold of sales (73,000 GBP, I think). You'll still have to pay it on import, so its not like you aren't paying it - just that you don't have to register and do all the filing.

[hmrc.gov.uk ] gives an overview.

In addition, your Amazon rep in the UK should be able to recommend some 3rd party companies that can explain and handle all the details. A quick call with them can answer a lot of questions and help you figure out if you need their services for filings/etc or whether its easy enough to do yourself.

[HRoth]

CernyM, if UK folks buy something from abroad, do they have to pay VAT when it comes in? Some of my UK customers have told me about having to pay a fee to get their stuff, but I am not sure what it is for, whether it is a duty or what.

[CernyM]

CernyM, if UK folks buy something from abroad, do they have to pay VAT when it comes in? Some of my UK customers have told me about having to pay a fee to get their stuff, but I am not sure what it is for, whether it is a duty or what.

It depends. I'm assuming you are shipping from outside the EU as well.

Sometimes there is a brokerage charge due. If the value of the goods is too high for the di minimis exemptions on low value shipments, there may also be some VAT and duties required.

We stopped doing direct-to-consumer shipments because of the prohibitive cost of shipping. We do everything through Amazon UK FBA now - much, much cheaper.

[topr8]

>>if UK folks buy something from abroad, do they have to pay VAT when it comes in?

apologies if i'm mistaken, i thought you were in germany HRoth? in which case there should be no vat or duty payable.

for items shipped to the UK from outside the EU, then technically there is both VAT (20%) AND customs duty (varies on the product) which is payable by the customer, although in practice this is not always billed/collected, especially with items sent by mail, of course if you use fedex and ups etc then they usually require some kind of receipt/letter of value and you can get duty and VAT imposed based on this value. gifts up to a certain value are exempt, but any purchased goods are technically subject to vat and duty

... as many people who buy cheap goods direct from china on ebay discover, when they end up paying more duty than the item actually cost!

[ytswy]

apologies if i'm mistaken, i thought you were in germany HRoth? in which case there should be no vat or duty payable.

My understanding is (assuming seller is above the level of sales that requires VAT registration):

EU seller to EU buyer in a different country: VAT is charged to consumers (ie everyone who is not VAT registered in their home country). VAT registered entities pay no VAT (seller's responsibility to verify buyer is indeed VAT registered).

Buyer and seller within the same EU country: VAT is always paid by everyone, VAT registered entities claim it back in their VAT return.

EU seller to non-EU buyer: no VAT charged (seller's responsibility to ensure goods are leaving the EU).

non-EU seller to EU buyer: don't know, but logically you have to pay VAT (and maybe other tariffs), since if not you could undercut me by 20% in my domestic market!

[piatkow]

non-EU seller to EU buyer: don't know

In theory charged alongside customs duty.

[topr8]

>>in which case there should be no vat or duty payable

i was meaning with the package itself, obviously VAT is chargable at point of purchase if you are registered for VAT.

the OP said: Some of my UK customers have told me about having to pay a fee to get their stuff