I don’t! it’s par for the course 
Only if for personal use - if selling at a profit then duty (2.5% most of the time for low valued stuff), VAT and the appropriate import import tariff will have to be paid.
See the link Jane provided, it is quite complex for commercial goods.
It is already set at £390
It doesn’t really have to as it is already set out for non-EU countries and, post Brexit, we will just be treating the EU the same as everyone else - which, of course, potentially means a massive increase in red tape for small traders like LIsa who have essentially been taking advantage of our single market membership without necessarily realising it.
The one thing that I think isn’t clear is how this will affect people who travel to the EU and bring stuff back with them in their own vehicle - will they need EORI numbers and all that faff. The rules are really set up for big importers who can do the paperwork but also are having goods shipped and they will naturally go in and out of warehouses. For individuals it’s difficult to bring loads of stuff back from, say, the US because it has to go into luggage and you would quickly hit weight limits so it kind-of doesn’t apply. But it’s easy to go and get a carload or vanload of stuff from Europe.
I think most likely is that it will be a question of going through the red channel and declaring stuff. Make sure you have receipts and know the customs classification of what you are bringing through, then you just have to pay the duty/VAT - but figure on a lot longer than it takes to go through the passport checks at present.
I’m not even sure how bringing back a couple of crates of wine will be handled, given that alcohol and tobacco are “special” - with luck it will just be the duty and VAT (alcohol is zero-tariffed) but duty is non-trivial at £2.9757 per litre plus 20% VAT so it will make it significantly more expensive to bring back a couple of cases of Haut Médoc.
That made me wonder how the Swiss do this in practice, as they have these limits too. It used to be quite common for the Swiss to go to France or Italy to buy white goods because of the price difference, then bring them back over the border, but I was told (quite a while ago) that the Swiss authorities attempted to crack down on this (not sure how, other than increasing border controls).
The Swiss go to Germany or France to buy meat and then smuggle it in, the douanes/Zoll are mad keen on searching for it.
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And here was I hoping that the pragmatic Swiss government might have devised an user-friendly way that the UK gov could learn from 
Yes, what the UK government can learn is that if you have a border, then you need border controls 
Lots of confusion has arisen because Switzerland is in Schengen - so people can pass freely, but goods cannot; this has widely been misunderstood.
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Along the same lines, does anyone know what would be the implication post-Brexit if we buy 2 zip-link beds in the UK for our gite and import them back into France?
It’s worse than that Jane. I don’t think having paid VAT “abroad” would entitle you to not to pay VAT at the port of entry into the UK. If you buy something in the EU and export it you reclaim the EU VAT and pay the tariffs and VAT (or equivalent) in the destination country. For private individuals the UK will be just like Australia or the US or any other third country. Probably even with a deal IMO.
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No, it won’t
It has just dawned on me that the confusion regarding 2nd hand goods has probably arisen because the duties, VAT and tariffs only apply to new goods, they do not apply to “personal posessions” (for customs purposes generally taken to be over 6 months old).
So the hoards of pensioners in their removal vans will not need to fear much, although they might have a greater chance of getting inspected, and it might be an idea to keep receipts for a few years in case “well preserved” items look new enough to catch HMRC’s interest.
However commercial goods have no “allowance” (well there is; you don’t have to pay if the amount is under some threshold but it’s about a tenner or something), and buying and selling for profit, even if in 2nd hand goods, puts things into the commercial sphere.
Right - just checked, for commercial goods the limits are a “single order” of £135 or less or if the amount of duty payable is less than £9 and for VAT it is not charged on a total of less than £15 (that is goods worth £15, not VAT of less than £15).
Paul, you have hit the nail on the head, everything is for big firms.
The only time I have a receipt is if I buy from the charity shop in France, otherwise I get my stuff from vide greniers. I also have a wide varity of items, linen sheets, sets of copper saucepans, non - working lights, bedside tables, kitchen ware, champagne glasses, champagne buckets, le creuset, eiderdowns , bread bins I am very much a magpie and it is not the same things everytime. This is what I need to find out what rate of Duty will I be paying, also do I pay export duty from France as well as import duty into the UK so a double whammy. If it is as you say 2.5% + 20% VAT then I will stop doing it as my margins are already low and that will cancel anything I earn.
Buying from VG’s doesn’t mean no receipt - just get a small book and ask the vendor to fill it in with the amount and item.
I don’t think you would be charged anything on the way out from France - unless it happened to be something you needed an export licence for, which I very much doubt. The main thing at export would be VAT reclaim but you 're not going to be in a position to do that.
I think that you need to budget for those amounts. Duties do vary by type of good but I think there’s a limit of up to about £1000 where a flat rate of 2.5% is applied and, VAT is 20% on most things.
This is exactly why people are so worried about the effect of Brexit - even if you can avoid paying VAT twice it still adds costs, paperwork and delay to your supply line, many businesses cannot adsorb those extra costs and will simply stop trading cross border (and perhaps at all) - and each one, from yours to the motor industry is a loss to the nation.
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[quote=“ptf, post:31, topic:27505”]
Buying from VG’s doesn’t mean no receipt - just get a small book and ask the vendor to fill it in with the amount and item.
I don’t think you would be charged anything on the way out from France - unless it happened to be something you needed an export licence for, which I very much doubt. The main thing at export would be VAT reclaim but you 're not going to be in a position to do that.
lisacorrina:
If it is as you say 2.5% + 20% VAT then I will stop doing it as my margins are already low and that will cancel anything I earn.
I think that you need to budget for those amounts.
I normally have about 500 euros worth of goods each time . As I have bought everything in euros and the UK will be charging me a minimum of 22.5 % which would be very roughly another 150 euros on top of that. At what rate of exchange would they me charging me. The bank rate of that day ? or is that another thing they have not sorted out yet?
Thank you Graham, I am now even more confused. Think I need a stiff drink after trying to work out what the website is actually trying to say. LOL
Duty free? 
This may be a better example as it refers to imports from the US which will be equal in terms of the UK relationship with the EU post brexshit (when/if/how it happens) 
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