[REMOVE ADS]




Results 1 to 5 of 5
  1. #1
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Posts
    10,798
    Rep Power
    350

    UK Abolishes £15 VAT Loophole

    From 1st April, 2012, the UK is abolishing the concession whereby companies importing goods below the value of £15 do not have to account for the VAT thereon. This is likely to hit HMV and Amazon UK's online business particularly hard as they import goods from the Channel Islands to take advantage of this.

    No doubt Amazon is strong enough to cope, but one wonders if this may be the last straw for HMV.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Posts
    3,741
    Rep Power
    204
    Well .. it's a bit disingenious to say that they "import" goods from the Channel Islands .. what these companies do is "export" goods from the British Mainland TO the Channel Islands [[without paying any import duty or VAT there) then post them back to the individual customers who have ordered the goods on the British mainland [[again without paying any import duty or VAT).

    This undercuts the prices charged by shops on the British mainland who have to charge VAT on goods that pass through their doors.

    What closing this loophole is likely to do is lessen the price differential between goods bought in the shops on the British mainland as opposed to those bought via the internet.

    Roger

    P.S. .. For those in North America wondering what VAT is it is "Value Added Tax" .. a variety of Sales Tax.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Posts
    10,798
    Rep Power
    350
    I didn't particularly want to go into the technicalities. It's more the effects of the change that I'm wondering about.

    Incidentally, the concession remains for goods received from outside the European Union.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Posts
    3,741
    Rep Power
    204
    Quote Originally Posted by 144man View Post
    I didn't particularly want to go into the technicalities. It's more the effects of the change that I'm wondering about.

    Incidentally, the concession remains for goods received from outside the European Union.
    Well .. actually the Channel Islands ARE outside of the "European Union" so there must be other factors at play here.

    As I was trying to point out in my earlier post, this isn't in practice anything to do with restricting "proper" imports, it's to do with closing a loophole that British "Land Based" Music Retailers have been complaining about.

    HMV, of course, is both a "Land Based" and a "Net Based" retailer, so I imagine the effect on them will be neutral.

    Roger

  5. #5
    I just read that this loophole existed in the past. Were there any significant decreases in revenue for the impacted traders?
    _______________________________________
    Alexandra
    Also see export compliance training courses

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  

[REMOVE ADS]

Ralph Terrana
MODERATOR

Welcome to Soulful Detroit! Kindly Consider Turning Off Your Ad BlockingX
Soulful Detroit is a free service that relies on revenue from ad display [regrettably] and donations. We notice that you are using an ad-blocking program that prevents us from earning revenue during your visit.
Ads are REMOVED for Members who donate to Soulful Detroit. [You must be logged in for ads to disappear]
DONATE HERE »
And have Ads removed.