VAT Tax

I think you would have to take that up with the vendor rather than here . In my opinion ..

As a tourist traveling into the UK (my second trip, since no one tells you on your first trip) I picked up a VAT refund form at the airport.

Did my shopping, filled out my form, turned it back in at the airport upon exit, and they mailed me a check.

So demonstrably non-residents don't pay VAT, just a matter of figuring out the mechanism.

I suggest talking to your Customs and Excise people and finding out how the reciprocal refunding works. I know if we import stuff, we have to pay VAT on import...sometimes if the system goes awry, goods get impounded at port until it's paid...

VAT is a huge can of worms, which is not that well understood within the EU, let alone outside. There are two main points to consider here:

• VAT is a 'European' tax, on final products. It is recovered by european governments on sales into their territories. It does not apply to exported products. It is the same as the sales tax in the US and Canada (although, surprisingly, not entirely harmonized in Europe!)
• You cannot accumulate VAT on a final product. This means the end-user, or consumer will pay VAT on the final product, but you cannot pay VAT on the components of the final product (otherwise you arer double-taxing).

So as far as you are concerned, you should not pay VAT ( unless you have a VAT number, which you won't because you are not European).

If you resell your product into any country in Europe you will have to charge your customer for VAT, because each government will claim it - but this is always for final products, not components.

You will find that your supplier sends components rather than finished products (they supply to OEMs) so they probably have little to do with VAT, even in the UK. Feel free to PM me, but the gist of it is that you should not be paying VAT.

You pay VAT on all components too. Only if you add these components into a product, the value is added in the end price. You pay the VAT (supplied by the next customer) to the tax office (VAT account) and deduct what you have paid for all the components in that product.

No, it is not usually done this way. Can you imagine the fun of trying to work out what VAT you have paid when your product is made of hundreds or thousands of different components? It would be horrifically messy. VAT is paid on the final product not on the components. I've been supplying components to OEMs for almost twenty years.

the VAT is the Value Added Tax which is totally supported by the final consumer. On international trade, if you are in the US and buying from the UK, you should not be paying the VAT (you pay the invoiced price before VAT). your local sales tax office can provide you with the details.

Thank You all for this information.

This group is awesome!

Joe

VAT - Uk,

TVA - France,

BTW - The Netherlands, Belgium is all the same and means

VALUE ADDED TAX. This Tax has been introduced before the EU existed and means that in a production process that goes through different contractors, only the TAX, is added when the value increases.

The businesses have all a VAT number and work with a debit and credit side. The balance is due to the administration.

This is to avoid excessive tax build up so that the end product loses its real value. The old system is the about same as the US still works with. I still remember, tto pay the tax, each invoice needed special TAX stamps for the amount required.

You buy in Europe from a business:

When you can prove that your company is non EU and the products leaves the EU, customs will need an export document you do not pay VAT on a EU product.

Even if a EU company sells itself in total no VAT is required in EU. (art.11)

Have been in this system for 30 years. For the tax man it is a plus because the 2 books - income And VAT results must show approx. the same figures.

Hi dvdsmc. Huge respect for you and your contributions to CR4. Trying to work out if you are Wallonian or Flemish, evidence of both in your English. I'm not sure what you mean by: "Even if a EU company sells itself in total no VAT is required in EU. (art.11)"

btw:

MWT - Germany (Mehrwertsteuer)

IVA - Italy,

etc. etc,

A full explanation of VAT is very difficult even to Europeans in their native languages. As I have said, (unlike perhaps sausages, cucumbers and bananas: VAT has not been fully harmonized in Europe, so rates vary between about 0%-25%, and also rates vary for different products in different countries. A complete mess!

You said enough with:- "When you can prove that your company is non EU and the products leaves the EU, customs will need an export document you do not pay VAT on a EU product." - except that you don't have to prove it with export documents. It is usually obvious enough from the delivery address, unless someone makes a mistake.

The most important thing to note is that NSS SHOULD ON NO ACCOUNT PAY VAT.

It is easy for us, in Europe, to reclaim VAT that has been wrongly paid. If you are outside of the EU, do not have an EU address or, more importantly, a VAT number, then it is very difficult if not impossible to reclaim VAT that has been wrongly charged by a supplier or by a shipping agent.

You are very right, especially when you have paid the VAT to the supplier, this could end in his not so honest pockets as extra profit. He can simply deduct it from his VAT account. There have been plenty of VAT scams this way.

No, you do not have to pay the British VAT tax, but you may have to pay an import tax in the States,

As much as it pains me (only joking) to agree with Holtsfeller, he is right... it is a mine field, and yes you do have to pay VAT... I'll not bore you with the why's and wherefore's

So to help, please copy and paste into your address bar the following.....

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/vat/index.htm?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageVAT_Home

That WILL tell you everything about UK VAT you need to know and they have a UK helpline for you to call

The UK might work different from Europe. They actually, if I remember well were the first to apply VAT, long before the EU existed. And British tend to act "different" from the continent.

yes the UK does do thing differently, that's why I put the web address so the OP can visit the site and get the info first hand.

not sure why the OP didn't google HMRC in the first place!

Perhaps because HM is not applicable in republics?

Tell the supplier that you are from abroad- The US and show evidence.

The problem might be the export papers. I buy from Greece all the time (as a company), have it send here to the Bahamas and haven't paid one cent of VAT yet.

The problem can be when you pick it up yourself and bring it with you. Then it doesn't pass an official "outlet".

As said here, you might be subject to pay US import tax at arrival. In the Bahamas, for e.g. a car it is between 65% and 85% freight inclusive.

When I lived in Norway I ran a business, and we often bought machines from England, and we never paid VAT, but I did have to pay a small import tax (4%), all you have to do is inform the supplier that you live in the USA, and they will deduct the VAT,

Xanasax