That fast fashion impulse buy will cost you more soon

Shopping
21

What about eBay? I think I may have bought a couple of things without realising they were coming from China.

22

From what I’ve read, large online sales platforms both within and outside the EU who deliver within the EU must collect TVA for the French government. As they collect TVA, they must collect the extra tax. The price you pay will include the extra tax.

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23

I think it depends on the supplier and whether they are properly geared up to deal with such things.

A few years ago (but post-Brexit) I bought a Schuberth C4 Pro crash helmet from FC-Moto in Germany. No UK supplier had the one I wanted in stock as it was a discontinued model / colour combination.

FC-Moto (correctly) did not charge me VAT, but they used the wrong commodity code on the shipping paperwork, so when the helmet arrived in the UK I was charged UK import duty (via DHL) even though the item should have been duty-free as it was safety equipment.

I was able to claim the ÂŁ70-odd import duty back from HM Customs and Excise, but it was a rigmarole of form filling.

International commodity codes are a nightmare of complexity - there are thousands of categories and subcategories all with different rates of duty.

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24

That was probably, I’m assuming over €150, or £120 in value. The current French extra tax is only chargeable on lower value purchases where duty payments are currently exempt. Also an individual business may or may not handle the VAT (no in your case).
What I didn’t realise until I looked into the issue is that online marketplaces who handle payments for traders on their platforms have to collect TVA on sales going into EU countries. It’s not optional, and it is the platform that is responsible for paying the TVA and now this extra levy.

25

Yes over ÂŁ135 I think was the figure. I realise it was not the same tax, but my point was that many retailers are not up to speed with all the current rules and regulations, let alone new ones!

26

Indeed. Many retailers that are UK based are not up to date with collecting EU VAT/TVA or just don’t want to bother. Similar with EU based retailers sending to the UK. It’s a bit better in some other parts of the world as they are more used to dealing with the EU. Online marketplaces are up to date as they have to be to able to trade within the EU and I expect they’ve been planning for this for sone time.

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27

Would love to but supply just isn’t there. Once Temu and others expand their European warehouse capacity maybe that will change.

28

Given the thread’s title, I was referring to buying clothing made in Europe.

29

You may have, but everyone else seems to be talking about importing into Europe :grin:

30

Virtually all the threads I buy these days are made in France, or Italy, and a lot of French shoe brands are actually made in Portugal.

31

Hi,i don,t quite understand this,i have just placed an order with Temu,no mention of this tax on items,so,when it arrives via La Poste ,is the post person going to check how many items are in the package and ask me for a fee?,thanks.

32

From what I’ve read on government websites, it’s the responsibility of whoever collects TVA to collect this extra tax. For marketplaces with sellers based outside the EU (Temu is one), they must collect TVA and this extra tax from EU customers and pass it on to the EU destination country. In theory, if they don’t collect this extra charge from the customer, then it is they who will be financially responsible for paying it and not the customer. Please do let us know what happens when you receive the order so that we know how it works in practice.

Edit to add:
I’ve use AliExpress for some of my smaller purchases for my telescope and will probably continue to do so. They always charge TVA and make a point of spelling it out and the fact they have to to comply with EU law. I tried a sample purchase yesterday up to the point of actually paying and there was nothing about the extra charge for France

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33

Thought I saw somewhere it kicks in from July

34

I put the following info in much earlier in this thread.

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35

That,s why i was asking the question,when i placed an order with Temu the other day there was no mention of this tax,are you saying that the postperson will be asking for payment when they come to deliver the parcel?Thanks.

36

Scroll up to see the excellent responses from @hairbear that explain why you shouldn’t have demands for money from the post person.

37

If it’s done at the point of charging VAT then the VAT tax point is always when tbe invoice is issued. Ie probably when it was sent if not before.

So anything sent before this latest money gouge officially started won’t be liable for it regardless if delivered after it started.

38

Isn’t that similar to the price of fuel going up on all fuel the day after an international crisis jacks the prices up including on the oil in the tanker in the Bay of Biscay which left long before the crises erupted?

39

I looked at my La Poste account earlier for a delivery and they have information on the new system. This is a small part of what they say.

‘Le rĂšglement de cette taxe petits colis peut se faire dĂšs l’achat des produits sur le site du commerçant ou bien Ă  l’arrivĂ©e de l’envoi en France et payable par le destinataire.’