If you’re an e-commerce business you may be familiar with the EU VAT rules which took effect from July 1st, but what if you’re a casual seller shipping to the EU, or someone sending a gift to a family member?
First it was Brexit and now there’s VAT to pay on all goods shipped to the EU. We feel your pain!
At Parcel Monkey we’ve been working closely with our courier partners to ensure we can provide you with the latest VAT and customs information for sending parcels to Europe.
To help you understand the new EU VAT rules for personal shipments we’ve put together the following FAQ.
If you have any further questions please reach out to our customer support team and they’ll be happy to help.
From July 1st unless you are sending a gift up to the value of €45, then your parcel will incur a VAT charge when it reaches Europe.
If you’re sending a gift to a friend or family member in Europe and the value of your shipment does not exceed €45, then you can declare it as a gift.
If you’re shipping through Parcel Monkey, you can select ‘Gift’ as the reason for export when you complete the customs declaration in the booking process.
If your gift is over €45 then it is eligible for VAT which will be charged at the VAT rate for the country where the parcel is being delivered.
The recipient will be contacted by customs when the parcel arrives and will need to pay any VAT and customs duties before the package is released to them.
This would still be treated as a commercial transaction so VAT will be applied. However, as long as the item you’re sending does not exceed €150 then eBay will be responsible for collecting the VAT and duty charges from the recipient at the point of payment. You’ll just need eBay to provide you with an IOSS number to pass on to your chosen courier.
If you’ve sold an item that’s over €150 then the recipient will be charged the VAT and customs fees when the item arrives in Europe, so always make sure they are aware of this.
If you’re an e-commerce business with your own online store, then there are some significant changes you should be aware of.
The following FAQ, highlights what the Import One Stop Shop is, how to register and how to declare VAT in the EU.
The Import One Stop Shop (IOSS) is a new way to declare and pay VAT on goods up to the value of €150 sold to consumers in the EU.
From July 1st, businesses will no longer need to be registered for VAT in every EU state they sell to. Instead, they can register for VAT in just one EU country and declare and pay the VAT on all EU transactions via the IOSS.
UK businesses will need to register for IOSS via an intermediary who will act as their VAT representative in the EU. There are a variety of companies who offer this service. We’re recommending Avalara to our e-commerce customers and you can receive a 10% discount on your IOSS registration if you contact Avalara through the following email [email protected]
When you ship to customers in Europe, you will need to provide your IOSS number to your chosen shipping partner so when your goods are declared at the EU border, customs will know that the VAT has already been paid.
If you’re collecting VAT from your customers via your own e-commerce website, you’ll need a duty and tax calculator added to your checkout. This will calculate any duties and VAT due and add it to the basket total.
This way, the VAT and duties are paid upfront at the point of checkout and the customer won’t get any unpleasant surprises on delivery.
You’ll need to file a monthly VAT return through IOSS, which will list the total value of goods sold and the VAT rate applied for each country. Your IOSS intermediary will take care of this for you and make the monthly VAT payment.
Yes, you can. We’ve added a section called ‘IOSS Status’ to our booking process. You can add your IOSS number here and we’ll pass it on to your chosen courier.
The €22 VAT exemption will be no more
VAT will be due on all shipments into the EU
If the shipment value is up to €150, your chosen marketplace will be responsible for collecting any VAT and duties at the point of checkout
You will need to pass on the IOSS number for the marketplace to the courier that is shipping your goods
Some e-commerce businesses sell exclusively through marketplaces such as eBay and Amazon and under these circumstances, the VAT will be taken care of for you as long as your shipment value doesn’t exceed €150.
The following FAQ, highlights how online marketplaces will deal with the new EU VAT rules.
From the 1st July if you sell through a marketplace like eBay, the marketplace is deemed as the seller and is therefore responsible for collecting VAT and duties on all EU shipments up to the value of €150.
If you exclusively sell through eBay then you will not need to register for an IOSS number. eBay will provide you with an IOSS number which you’ll need to pass on to the courier that is delivering the item you’ve sold.
If the total value of the shipment is more than €150 then the recipient will be charged any VAT and import duties due when the goods arrive in Europe.
Yes, you can. We have adapted our booking process so you can now enter the eBay IOSS number when you book your shipping. We’ll then pass it on to your chosen courier.
We have made preparations for the introduction of IOSS and have added a section to our booking process where you can enter an IOSS number. We will pass this information onto your chosen courier to show that the VAT and duties on your parcel have already been paid.
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