Uk import duty shocker!!

[Elmer J Fudd]

But now we all have blue passports.... or is it red?? So everything is apparently great.

I renewed mine last year and it came in red, though no longer EU type.

Now only nine years left, wonder when I will get to use it.

[pinball1008]

But now we all have blue passports.... or is it red?? So everything is apparently great.

I renewed mine last year and it came in red, though no longer EU type.

Now only nine years left, wonder when I will get to use it.

If you want Britain to be great again, you need to throw it in the bin and holiday only in the UK for the next 10 years

[johnnyboxer]

Its fascinating to read this thread.

I live in Ireland and vividly remember the pre EEC/EU times that meant paying duty and tax and clearance fees on anything imported from UK, US or any place you care to name.

Eventually harmonisation came about so that inter EU transactions became seamless. It made no difference if your order came from inside your country or another EU country. Many big companies seeking economic efficiency consolidated their entire EU operations into single places like Amsterdam. But if you continued to buy from outside EU then all this duty, VAT, custom clearance fee etc that is new to many UK people still applied and still applies, eg if I buy from US I have these charges exactly as mentioned in this thread. There has been no change in this. The same goes for inter EU mobile roaming, SEPA bank payments, motor vehicle insurance, healthcare etc etc etc. I am in construction and harmonisation of standards made it easy to source product and components in other countries and still meet Building Regulations. This had huge financial benefits for all.

EU has not been victimising anyone here. The exact same rules apply unchanged and there is zero change for us buying from outside EU. Duty, VAT and clearance fee are levied exactly as before. Except, if post Brexit I buy from UK then I am now levied duty, VAT and clearance fees.

But, and this a big but, the UK supplier is supposed to charge me the VAT EXCLUSIVE price for export so that I pay one VAT charge. In our case it's 21% VAT but to balance I do not pay 20% UK VAT so no real difference. I must still pay the duty for UK selling into EU and a clearance fee so that's an increase in costs. UK companies on small scale transactions do not charge us net of VAT, that's an issue for the UK company. But, in the same manner, EU companies selling to UK are also supposed to change to selling to UK nett of VAT. Do they? Not so far. For the millions of small transactions there is zero commercial sense in continuing these transactions at all. I purchase parts from Motorworks or the like pre Brexit they invoice me nett of VAT because I am registered for VAT and inter EU transactions between VAT registered parties do not accrue VAT. This is a cash flow advantage for traders too, they do not have to fund the VAT. Post Brexit, I am not so sure and that is a matter for the UK government and not for EU. That VAT does not go to EU and never did but to the UK exchequer as before, so one can guess its not going to change.

The UK could of course decide to eliminate duty on items imported from EU, that is not happening because that money, also as before, goes direct to HMRC and not the EU, but there remains the VAT and clearance fee issue.

There is another bigger issue. Many non EU products come into EU and are cleared through EU customs etc, not through UK but other countries such as through Amsterdam, Rotterdam etc. Think the giant container ships from US, China etc that are not just cars, but mobile phones, computers, printers, electronic components, toys, clothing, accessories, . To get to the UK these goods must come back out of the EU..........only to face a second tranche of custom charges, documentation, clearance fees etc to get into the UK.

In construction there is much regulation, calibration and certification of components, systems and products to EU standards. In certifying buildings it is a requirement to ascertain that materials and components have the relevant 'Agrement Certificates' etc etc. Nothing at all has changed here. But, unless the calibration company in the UK has EU certification, it can no longer certify anything inside EU. So, lots of these companies have moved operations to inside EU. Cue Volvo buying DAF a long time ago, that's the reason for that acquisition. Same as Nissan, Honda setting up in UK, the move to build cars inside EU eliminated their exposure to the dreaded duty. My 1987 Nissan Bluebird was Japanese built, my 1990 Bluebird came from the UK plant. Most UK insurers, as an example, have set up their EU operations in Dublin. They need to continue to trade inside the EU.

If UK is to continue to sell components to countries inside EU as before the end user must still use components carrying CE mark. No changes here. So the UK companies must manufacture to these standards, no change here either, but no longer have any input into how these standards are developed and amended. There is no victimisation of the UK here, Chinese, US and other non EU companies companies selling into EU must manufacture to EU standards to obtain their CE markings and are doing it for years. For that reason your Honda, Kia or Samsung has a European specification- to meet EU standards. Compulsory ABS, the angle from your eyes to the instrument panel and many more items are regulated.

By comparison Ireland is small compared to the UK. But it is recognised here that the gain for us remaining in EU is far greater than leaving it despite some increases in costs after Brexit, due to the smooth transactions that can exist in our EU trading.

Since Brexit, Brittany Ferries alone for example has gone from a single seasonal weekly sailing [Pont Aven to those who know it] to France to year round sailings, 3 per week, plus 2 sailings weekly to Spain. This increase started immediately after the Brexit vote and they also increased the ship sizes. Stena recently altered a Dublin-Holyhead route to Dublin-Cherbourg- none of the truckers have the time to process documents to get into UK and out again a few hours later. DFDS have opened a daily sailing from Ireland to Dunkerque. Dublin direct to Rotterdam is another route recently opened. None of this surprised us over here, this is freight driven. [Edit 29th January: DFDS have today changed the ferries on their route to increase capacity....it only opened on 2nd January]

Its a little like looking out at the snow on a clear winter's day, from inside the window basking in the heat from the solar gain and then deciding to go outside because its so warm. Except its not.

Well said and very clear

We, as Britons have been totally mugged by Brexit and the political Leave movement have got away with it

[Elmer J Fudd]

But now we all have blue passports.... or is it red?? So everything is apparently great.

I renewed mine last year and it came in red, though no longer EU type.

Now only nine years left, wonder when I will get to use it.

If you want Britain to be great again, you need to throw it in the bin and holiday only in the UK for the next 10 years

Is that based on the Tories expected timescale for the UK being back to square 1 pre-Brexit?

I would rather trade it in for a Scottish EU passport sometime before then, fingers crossed

[hotbulb]

"I would rather trade it in for a Scottish EU passport sometime before then, fingers crossed"


Not an option open to me as a Welshman any time soon, I think .... unless I somehow invoke my Scottish great-great-great (not sure how many).....grandmother

[Spike941]

I must check to see if having a small percentage of Saxon blood in my ancestral DNA entitles me to apply for a German passport
Come to think of it, I’ve also got Irish, Scottish and Norwegian. Surely that must entitle me to some kind of EU recognised passport with all the perks.

[92kk k100lt 193214]

In my previous comments: The UK could of course decide to eliminate duty on items imported [into the UK] from EU, that is not happening because that money, also as before, goes direct to HMRC and not the EU, but there remains the VAT and clearance fee issue.

Thing is, this is actually an additional revenue stream for the UK government exchequer. Does anyone think they are going to shut this off? Not a chance. Its lottery money for the government. Interesting to see the annual revenue from this.

The UK still gets a the revenue stream from goods bought from outside the EU eg China US etc etc. All things equal there should be a complete zero difference in these transactions pre and post Brexit. Unless they are coming through EU and paying double taxation, this is possible, Double handling charges arise post Brexit and cannot be avoided.

[daveuprite]

The map makes it all clear, but the testimony from truck drivers is important too:

https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 ... it-britain