Have sent a parcel to Belgium from Australia. Total cost of parcel including
VAT and shipping only came to $38.33AU. Customer is querying why he has been
asked to pay a further 27 Euros in customs duties in order to collect his parcel.
Is this correct? I'm sure he wouldn't have ordered if he knew this was
part of the cost. Checking if this is legitimate and why so much money?
Have sent a parcel to Belgium from Australia. Total cost of parcel including
VAT and shipping only came to $38.33AU. Customer is querying why he has been
asked to pay a further 27 Euros in customs duties in order to collect his parcel.
Is this correct? I'm sure he wouldn't have ordered if he knew this was
part of the cost. Checking if this is legitimate and why so much money?
Regards,
Presumably this is VAT plus the declaration fee / collection fee, if you didn't
fill in the online paperwork correctly.
Have sent a parcel to Belgium from Australia. Total cost of parcel including
VAT and shipping only came to $38.33AU. Customer is querying why he has been
asked to pay a further 27 Euros in customs duties in order to collect his parcel.
Is this correct? I'm sure he wouldn't have ordered if he knew this was
part of the cost. Checking if this is legitimate and why so much money?
Regards,
Did you include the tax related things digitally when you created this shipping
label? If those aren’t transmitted digitally then buyers will be charged tax
twice. As for “why so much” in Europe it’s “normal” to have a vat of 20%-25%
and in general a handling charge or usually around $10-$15 on packages where
they collect tax
Have sent a parcel to Belgium from Australia. Total cost of parcel including
VAT and shipping only came to $38.33AU. Customer is querying why he has been
asked to pay a further 27 Euros in customs duties in order to collect his parcel.
Is this correct? I'm sure he wouldn't have ordered if he knew this was
part of the cost. Checking if this is legitimate and why so much money?
Regards,
Handling cost alone=Euro 20(usd +- 22) for orders below Euro 150,for orders over
150 its Euro 35...and then there.. is still the 21% VAt to be paid...and some
small customs tax that nobody seems to know how it is properly calculated.Nowadays
all packages,even those below Euro 22 are taxed..
Have sent a parcel to Belgium from Australia. Total cost of parcel including
VAT and shipping only came to $38.33AU. Customer is querying why he has been
asked to pay a further 27 Euros in customs duties in order to collect his parcel.
Is this correct? I'm sure he wouldn't have ordered if he knew this was
part of the cost. Checking if this is legitimate and why so much money?
Regards,
Besides from the help page,... you received an email including the VAT receipt
and a text part of which is:
BrickLink IOSS number
You must share BrickLink’s IOSS number directly with your shipping carrier so
that the shipping carrier can submit this information electronically.
This helps to ensure that the buyer will not be charged VAT twice.
I assume you did not submit VAT electronically to the carrier so this buyer is
requested to pay VAT for the second time, but I have to tell that this was your
fault.
Have sent a parcel to Belgium from Australia. Total cost of parcel including
VAT and shipping only came to $38.33AU. Customer is querying why he has been
asked to pay a further 27 Euros in customs duties in order to collect his parcel.
Is this correct? I'm sure he wouldn't have ordered if he knew this was
part of the cost. Checking if this is legitimate and why so much money?
Regards,
Besides from the help page,... you received an email including the VAT receipt
and a text part of which is:
BrickLink IOSS number
You must share BrickLink’s IOSS number directly with your shipping carrier so
that the shipping carrier can submit this information electronically.
This helps to ensure that the buyer will not be charged VAT twice.
I assume you did not submit VAT electronically to the carrier so this buyer is
requested to pay VAT for the second time, but I have to tell that this was your
fault.
I regularly send items overseas to Europe and US. When i drop off my item, the
local post office takes all the details of the address, item, sender etc and
enters it into their system.
I have never needed to complete anything online and my buyers havent paid any
additional duties that I am aware of.
I will premise this by saying that I havent sent anything to Belgium recently
though.
The OP will need to provide a bit more information how he sent his parcel and
if he filled in the customs form that Aust Post requires.
Have sent a parcel to Belgium from Australia. Total cost of parcel including
VAT and shipping only came to $38.33AU. Customer is querying why he has been
asked to pay a further 27 Euros in customs duties in order to collect his parcel.
Is this correct? I'm sure he wouldn't have ordered if he knew this was
part of the cost. Checking if this is legitimate and why so much money?
Regards,
Besides from the help page,... you received an email including the VAT receipt
and a text part of which is:
BrickLink IOSS number
You must share BrickLink’s IOSS number directly with your shipping carrier so
that the shipping carrier can submit this information electronically.
This helps to ensure that the buyer will not be charged VAT twice.
I assume you did not submit VAT electronically to the carrier so this buyer is
requested to pay VAT for the second time, but I have to tell that this was your
fault.
I regularly send items overseas to Europe and US. When i drop off my item, the
local post office takes all the details of the address, item, sender etc and
enters it into their system.
I have never needed to complete anything online and my buyers havent paid any
additional duties that I am aware of.
Sounds like the post office is taking care of entering the IOSS number electronically
(assuming you give it to them). In the USA they don't do that.
Have sent a parcel to Belgium from Australia. Total cost of parcel including
VAT and shipping only came to $38.33AU. Customer is querying why he has been
asked to pay a further 27 Euros in customs duties in order to collect his parcel.
Is this correct? I'm sure he wouldn't have ordered if he knew this was
part of the cost. Checking if this is legitimate and why so much money?
Regards,
Besides from the help page,... you received an email including the VAT receipt
and a text part of which is:
BrickLink IOSS number
You must share BrickLink’s IOSS number directly with your shipping carrier so
that the shipping carrier can submit this information electronically.
This helps to ensure that the buyer will not be charged VAT twice.
I assume you did not submit VAT electronically to the carrier so this buyer is
requested to pay VAT for the second time, but I have to tell that this was your
fault.
I regularly send items overseas to Europe and US. When i drop off my item, the
local post office takes all the details of the address, item, sender etc and
enters it into their system.
I have never needed to complete anything online and my buyers havent paid any
additional duties that I am aware of.
Sounds like the post office is taking care of entering the IOSS number electronically
(assuming you give it to them). In the USA they don't do that.
Yes that, or you sent low-value items that the custom let you with no charge.
I am 100% if one sends an item of value like 100 Euro and if the IOSS number
is not entered electronically, the buyer would be get charged again.
Sounds like the post office is taking care of entering the IOSS number electronically
(assuming you give it to them). In the USA they don't do that.
Yes that, or you sent low-value items that the custom let you with no charge.
I am 100% if one sends an item of value like 100 Euro and if the IOSS number
is not entered electronically, the buyer would be get charged again.
In my understanding, taxing low-value items (and preventing false declarations
of value) is part of why this has all been setup.
The €22 threshold is no more, low-value items don’t get a pass anymore.
Sounds like the post office is taking care of entering the IOSS number electronically
(assuming you give it to them). In the USA they don't do that.
Yes that, or you sent low-value items that the custom let you with no charge.
I am 100% if one sends an item of value like 100 Euro and if the IOSS number
is not entered electronically, the buyer would be get charged again.
In my understanding, taxing low-value items (and preventing false declarations
of value) is part of why this has all been setup.
The €22 threshold is no more, low-value items don’t get a pass anymore.
I think I read sometime ago, either from a French buyer of mine or from you
or both, that there is or were used to be a "soft" threshold like 50
Euro for France. I guess because they are busy, or have pitty... So are you sure
that is lo longer happening?
[…]
I think I read sometime ago, either from a French buyer of mine or from you
or both, that there is or were used to be a "soft" threshold like 50
Euro for France. I guess because they are busy, or have pitty... So are you sure
that is lo longer happening?
I don’t believe it would have been from me.
I do remember reading something like that from Canadian buyers: choose the ‘right’
courrier service because the ‘wrong’ ones apply the taxes and their big fees
to everything.
What I know is that:
— The official €22 threshold is gone.
— The €45 threshold for gifts is still here.
— Now everything is electronic: no IOSS? the package is flagged and VAT is added.
The only human interventions now are delivering and complaining.
[…]
I think I read sometime ago, either from a French buyer of mine or from you
or both, that there is or were used to be a "soft" threshold like 50
Euro for France. I guess because they are busy, or have pitty... So are you sure
that is lo longer happening?
I don’t believe it would have been from me.
I do remember reading something like that from Canadian buyers: choose the ‘right’
courrier service because the ‘wrong’ ones apply the taxes and their big fees
to everything.
What I know is that:
— The official €22 threshold is gone.
— The €45 threshold for gifts is still here.
— Now everything is electronic: no IOSS? the package is flagged and VAT is added.
The only human interventions now are delivering and complaining.
That being said, I also don’t order small packages from out of EU: besides the
price, there’s energy consumption and pollution.
As others have already replied to your message: the treshold of €22 has been
abolished thus resulting in EVERY parcel entering the EU being charged VAT (+
import duties when the value is over €150).
The company handling the shipment is obligated to declare EVERY shipment through
an electronic system connected to our government system.
These companies charge the consignee a handling fee for having to make this declaration.
If you have sent items through your postal system, it would normally be Bpost
that would handle the declaration in Belgium.
At the moment they charge €18,50 (https://www.bpost.be/en/receive-parcel/customs).
On top of that they have to charge the due VAT (21% in Belgium) if the IOSS system
hasn't been (properly) used. If not, the buyer will be charged double VAT.
The consignee receives an e-mail from Bpost stating the costs and they offer
a choice in accepting the parcel + costs or having it sent back to its origin.
As a seller you are responsible to correctly communicate the Bricklink IOSS nr
to your parcel handler to be entered into their computer system.
It's up to you I guess whether you want to reimburse your client for the
double VAT but I seem to remember Bricklink itself won't (understandably)
intervene in such cases.
As others have said: I myself don't order outside the EU if I can help it.
It's not worth the hassle and all the extra costs make the items more expensive
even when the base pricing is cheaper.
On a sidenote: I'd love to some statistics in what has to be a huge drop
in sales between the EU and the rest of the world on Bricklink.
Australia, South Australia
United Kingdom, England
Canada, Ontario
Belgium
USA, New Jersey
France, Nouvelle-Aquitaine