Purchases from outside the EU, VAT, customs duties, etc.
Summary: The discussion concerns purchases from non-EU countries and the related implications for VAT and customs duties. luciocabrio and marioelegio discuss the topic, exchanging information and clarifications. There are no concrete details about the contents of their messages, but the topic suggests an interest in the procedures and costs associated with imports from outside the European Union.
Guys, I need some help to understand how it works properly.
Compared to the past, now if you buy from outside the EU I’ve seen that eBay shows the VAT to be added. Before this didn’t happen, and sometimes I found myself (not always) paying a surplus to the postman (even though I never really understood in detail what it was. I knew you just had to pay)
Now I’ve won an auction for an item, shipping from Australia.
In the email it says
| The winning bid: AU $89,00 |
| VAT will be applied for an amount of +AU $19,58 |
+ shipping shipping is 55,21 AU
But if I go inside eBay there’s nothing written about VAT. If I pay on eBay... is eBay itself the one applying the VAT? Then besides that, is there also a risk of having to pay customs duties too? who decides the amount of the customs duties? Well, I’m really confused about this topic. thanks in advance |
sidot-feder
·10 months agoGuys, I should buy an item from the United States, Memphis to be exact... basically, including international shipping, eBay would cost me around 230 euros for a package that isn’t very large, containing small models; the size could be about 60-30-20H or so. Who could help me understand how much I’ll have to pay in VAT and customs duties? Because I still haven’t figured out if it’s worth it, who can help me?
marioelegio
·10 months agoIf the seller uses eBay international shipping, the listing says whether customs fees are prepaid or whether they will have to be paid upon delivery.
If they don’t use that service, you’ll have to pay everything upon delivery: duties, VAT, and fees.
hi
mario
luciocabrio
OP2 years agojust to update you, the package arrived. in the end I only managed to get 2 models. as you said here, I paid the VAT to ebay since it was under €150. fortunately, even though it came from australia, the seller did a good job with the packaging and everything arrived okay (of my last 4 purchases on ebay, 2 from italy, the models arrived broken or stolen = terrible packaging)
The downside was customs...€18.50...not exactly little!
But I couldn't do anything else. all over the world only the australian seller had it.
Thank you for the valuable help
evrivoltell-0
·2 years agoWatch out because there are sellers who don't include eBay's IOSS when they ship. The result is that you pay VAT twice: the first time to eBay and the second to the post office or to FedEx or DHL, with an added charge because they advance the money for the payment. And eBay only refunds the VAT you paid the first time.
So if you pay VAT of 10 to eBay, and then receive the package and have to pay another 30 euros, eBay will refund you at most the 10 you paid before and wash its hands of the rest.
luciocabrio
OP2 years agoGot it, thanks, so the fact that the seller says to declare around €35 per item... in the end it could backfire on me. maybe better to put the eBay sale value (can the eBay invoice be attached somehow, right?)
Since they’re small-scale car models....you have to be an expert in the field to know they’re worth around €100 each.
marioelegio
·2 years agoBetter to put the actual value, the seller will attach to the package the invoice needed for customs and in case of a dispute you can show the receipt for the transaction made on eBay. Clearly it's better if the two match.
hi
mario
marioelegio
·2 years agoThere’s no confusion about this.
Up to a total of 150 euros (item plus shipping), there are no duties, so eBay collects the VAT on behalf of the Italian state. Upon delivery, only customs fees are paid (between 5 and 20 euros, depending on the courier).
Over 150 euros, duties are paid and therefore the VAT (which must be paid on item + shipping + duties) is collected upon delivery together with duties and customs fees.
In your case it’s about 90 euros total (depending on the exchange fee), on which eBay will apply 22% VAT, so about 20 euros. The amount you say is shown in the email seems too low to me (it would make sense if it referred only to the item and there’s a separate one for shipping).
hi
mario
luciocabrio
OP2 years agothanks Mario...
but is all this done for the amount over €150...or once you go over €150 is everything calculated on the whole amount?
No because I won another item too...and I wanted to get another one as well
For now the items I won (2) plus shipping come to 204 Australian dollars (which according to Google is €124 on which the VAT will be calculated, which eBay will take care of)
the VAT I mentioned above was on the eBay message (received by email)
seeing good prices I made an offer for another item which for now, at the exchange rate, eBay says is €45
If it's like you say then maybe it's better for me to buy just the first two and that's it, otherwise I'd go over 150 and it would cost me an arm and a leg, right?
Are customs duties an additional tax that gets added to VAT and customs charges, right?
marioelegio
·2 years agoOnce you go over 150 euros, you pay on everything.
However, keep in mind that:
To get a rough idea of whether an offer in a non-EU country is worth it, add 30% to the price including shipping.
luciocabrio
OP2 years agobut how much are the customs duties?
I already bought 2 items
The other 2 I’d be interested in go for, according to eBay, 30 and 46 euros respectively.
the problem is that with 4 items I go over with the shipping, so those go up too (43€ vs about 35)
According to the approximate 30% calculation I’d have
the items I’ve already bought + the ones I’d like to buy (if I win the auctions) 54+34+46+30 (at least according to what eBay says with the conversion) +43 shipping (for 4 items) = 207€
Now I should do 30% of 207 euros, right?
207 x 30% = about 269
All correct? or have I left something out?
marioelegio
·2 years agoThey vary a lot, from 3-4% for everyday consumer goods, up to 16-17% for alcohol and tobacco.
If you want the exact calculations, there is a customs register for duties where, based on the country of origin and the product category, the % to apply is indicated.
https://www.adm.gov.it/portale/dogane/operatore/classificazione-delle-merci/taric-classificazione-merci
More or less, we're there.
bye
mario
luciocabrio
OP2 years agothanks...these are used model cars.
sold by a private seller
he said that normally he declares a value of 50 Australian dollars each...
but so does the eBay price determine the value or the declared value?
because I'm missing all 4, it's just that it would be a considerable financial effort (as we said around €260) but in Europe you can't find them anymore unless it's at ridiculous prices
the important thing is that I don't end up with ridiculous figures, that's it...up to 260 I could get there
luciocabrio
OP2 years agoThe TARIC code should be 95030085
is it possible that the percentage is 4.7?
marioelegio
·2 years agoLikely, I was hoping for something less but these are very common amounts too.
The value is calculated based on the invoice attached to the package, but if the value is deemed too low, customs can adjust it at their discretion.
If the invoice is for 200 euros including shipping.....
200 + 200*0.047 = 209.4
209.4 + 209.4*0.22 = 255,64
You then have to add between 10 and 25 euros in customs fees (they depend on the courier and the value of the package, starting from 2 euros for packages of modest value delivered by Poste Italiane).
bye
mario