I have become used to regularly sending gifts to family in France over the years and, from what I’ve seen in the press over the last few days, the movement of parcels between the UK and EU is not smooth(!) with EU recipients of gifts from the UK now having to pay added costs and vice verse.
There seems to be a bit of political spice added to some of the commentary I’ve seen and thereby it’s a little tricky to separate fact from bollox.
Can anyone tell me definitively what folks in France now have to pay if I send them a birthday pressie?!?!?
Ah, but that’s coming in. I’m concerned about going out. There seems to be comments about various fees and costs, way in excess of what one might expect for import VAT alone.
Found on chronopost.fr:
Shipments between individuals are exempt from customs duties and VAT, provided that the value of the goods does not exceed €45.
Found here
Si le produit est d’origine anglaise et que vous disposez d’une preuve d’origine, il n’y aura pas de droit de douane grâce aux accords passés entre le Royaume-Uni et l’Union Européenne. Renseignez-vous auprès de votre vendeur et vérifiez que l’origine de la marchandise soit mentionnée sur la facture.
which translates as:
If the product is of English origin and you have proof of origin, there will be no customs duty thanks to the agreements between the United Kingdom and the European Union.
When i received my Etherregen from Uptone in the U.S…the value quoted was not what i paid (640 dollars)…but what it would cost them to insure and replace which was 150 dollars.Making it much cheaper my end. So you might want to bear that in mind when quoting its value?
All products coming into France are liable to tax and duty if they are coming from outside the eu. There is an exemption for low value goods and gifts. I’m not sure what the cut of figure is but it will be on the French gvt customs site. The new arrangement between the EU and the UK also means that import duties are waived for all parts that are manufactured in the UK. VAT is not part of the agreement so all goods coming into France will have VAT paid at the current rate on arrival, unless a separate arrangement has been made by the seller with the French tax authorities ( registration and declarations etc). VAt is payable on the value of the goods, plus postage and insurance costs. It is not legal to under declare the value with a false insurance cost.
The courier will collect the VAT from the recipient and charge the recipient for providing the service. The courier will then pay the customs people and the goods will be released. Given the newness of all this and the confusion about what is neccessary, there are delays with both the couriers and the French customs.
There are no exceptions for gifts other then the normal below a certain value exception mentioned above.
Buying synth modules from the US (or non-EU) they ask me how much I want it insured for and this is then declared also as the invoice value upon which I pay 25-28% VAT and customs.
A long time ago the customs would sometimes ask me for a copy of my invoice … but they seem to have long given up on that since it is not worth the effort.
I think most countries have a limit below which the receiver pay nothing. Above the limit you pay VAT and possibly som custom plus an admin fee. This based on the value the sender declares and which also is the base for the insurance. This has been true when I lived in Finland, Sweden, Germany.
Another variant is UPS/Fedex which call me in the morning or the day before and ask how I want delivery and if I want to pre-pay VAT and customs over the phone with a card.
