Buying from the EU

Although this is about some charts I am buying it could equally be about tooling or plans that model engineers might want to buy or have already bought from the EU. If the mods are not happy about the fact it is charts then apologies , please delete & I will go away.

I have ordered 4 sets of charts & books from NV charts in the Netherlands on behalf of our members who are going with me on a cruise in August Value £280

They are being sent from the supplier via DHL & when leaving the EU will be VAT exempt.

However, VAT will be charged once they enter the UK via customs & I do expect DHL to make a charge. Ideally I need these by 4 August as I will be leaving earlier than the others who will be leaving 20 August. My wife can take delivery & pass the charts on if really necessary but a nuisance. If they arrive after that date they will be useless.

The charts are not all in stock so will not leave Holland until 29 July. That gives 6 days to get here

Has anyone experience of how DHL handle the VAT, which I assume I will have to pay prior to delivery & how long it will take to get through customs for goods arriving from the EU.

Also how much will DHL rob me for the administration charge

Has anyone experience of this?

Please do not go into rants about Brexit- It has happened - I voted for it- I accept that it will cause issues. I just want an answer to my question please

Thanks

The [customs clearance] charge is currently £11.00 or 2.5% of the total Duty and/or VAT incurred, whichever is the greater.

source: DHL website, 'Why do I have to pay an Advance Payment or Disbursement charge?'

I spent all morning looking for that. I have tried phoning & chat line & got nowhere.

I have had a sleepless night over this

I apreciate your help

Sam L

I thought books (and charts are just large flat reference books) were vat free UK. and not subject to any other customs charges from the EU.
Of course DHL may decide to make a charge for declaring they are free of tax.....

pgk

Yes they will probbly charge admin/vat

The rub is you won't get the goods released from the depot until you answer and pay their email communication so watch out for it

Hope it all goes smoothly

If you knew someone in the Netherlands they might be kind enough to take delivery, place the charts in a document envelope, and post (or courier) them to you as documents. No Vat, no admin, quite quick.

I live in Amsterdam - you can msg me if you want.

Also, not sure where you are going, but you can download openCPN and cmaps (via bittorrent) for a worldwide mapping solution on your laptop - got me from the French Mediterranean to Amsterdam via the UK. Even works with an AIS receiver if you have one.

When you buy from a EU country it is not the EU that will charge you. It is the country to which the goods are exported (UK) that will charge customs duties.

You're not alone Sam! Border and VAT complexities make the cost of transactions somewhat unpredictable. It's a pain. Buying abroad, I assume the worst before taking the risk, and am usually pleasantly surprised when it turns out cheaper. So far so good but my daughter has been whacked twice.

DHL aren't robbing you, you're paying them to sort out your tax and excise liabilities. Should be small in this case but it has to be done and paid for. The amount of profit made on the admin service is limited by what DHL's competitors are doing: their customers will walk if someone else does the same job cheaper.

Dave

Exactly - but books shouldn't be subject to either on import UK although some declaration of contents will have to be made and DHL will doubtless charge their admin fee for that but that should be it.

Hi Sam,

1. This page link https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/headings/4905 indicates commodity code 4905 2000 00 for Maps - in printed form. It also suggests U.K. import duty rate for such a product to be 0.00%, with vat of 0% or 20%

2. this page link https://www.gov.uk/guidance/zero-rating-books-and-printed-matter-for-vat-notice-70110#meaning-of-the-group-3-items point 3.10 suggests vat to be 0% for such an import provided the charts meet the conditions defined.

So, dependent on what commodity code is stated by the shipper in Netherlands, combined with 'country of origin' of manufacture (e.g. not Russia), probabilities are 0% duty and 0% vat - as a best case scenario. As a worst case scenario, may be a small amount of duty and 20% vat depending on how the shipper has entered the product into the DHL booking system.

3. DHL's import entry charge potentially £11.00 up to £15.00 on average will be based on what arrangements the Netharlands shipper has made with DHL. Regardless of 0% Duty/VAT, DHL has to lodge an entry with U.K. HMRC. So, again, dependant on their agreement with the shipper, DHL may apply their charge of £11.00 to £15.00, for lodging the entry and providing a facility to the importer to pay any duty/vat to HMRC.

4. to th best of my knowledge, provided all goes well, current DHL transits from Netherlands to U.K. delivery are around 10 days... if order is shipped today form Netherlands, subject to no delays in road/ferry services on both sides caused by variable factors.

5. Look out for notifications from DHL in your email box - including spam box, and ask shipper to provide you with a tracking number, and track the movement on-line on their platform, to see if there are any message updates - specially regarding clearance. Usually, DHL will try to do U.K. HMRC clearance as soon as the consignment is booked by the shipper in Netherlands, to reduce U.K. clearance time.

We work with DHL the other way around... i.e. export to the E.U.. However, for the 27 E.U. states, we do all the destination clearance in the U.K., and collect all the duty/VAT clearance charges etc. for the destination E.U. country in our checkout, so the destination customer does not have to discuss or deal with DHL at all for clearance.... smooth as we can make it.

Ketan at ARC.

Edited By Ketan Swali on 21/07/2022 11:09:40

I recently bought a tool from LouisMoto in Hamburg. I paid the price on the website + the shipping cost. It arrived a week later with no extra costs incurred.

I have bought from them because the said free delivery for goods over £100 but I am not sure that included DHL's charge.

their Emails suggest that it did not

Thanks for the offer. I am considering having them posted to the royal north sea yacht club in Ostend. I get on well with the harbour master.

As for digital versions. We all have digital mapping. But like any responsible mariners we all want charts as backups. They are far easier for passage planning as well. We are doing the standing mast route to Dordrecht from Flushing. A trip I have done a number of time. We may carry on to Amsterdam if time permits.