Customs Fees Ireland - Not sure what I should do

[MickF]

In a bit of a pickle here.

Ordered a new laptop off pc specialist.ie a few weeks ago using my Irish companies VAT number.

Yesterday DPD emailed asking for €450 to release the item. I contacted PCS and on the phone they advised that that was a mistake and that they would rectify and come back to me. Most likely something hadn't been attached etc.

An hour ago PCS emailed to say that it's in their terms and conditions that I am liable for all charges for import/export duties. They've washed their hands of it.

Are they the type of company to take it seriously if I demand the customer agent gets his manager to ring me?

I assume if you order off an Irish website using an Irish VAT number then there will be no extra charges, am I wrong here? Company is registered for EORI etc

Cheers!

 

[SpyderTracks]

In a bit of a pickle here.

Ordered a new laptop off pc specialist.ie a few weeks ago using my Irish companies VAT number.

Yesterday DPD emailed asking for €450 to release the item. I contacted PCS and on the phone they advised that that was a mistake and that they would rectify and come back to me. Most likely something hadn't been attached etc.

An hour ago PCS emailed to say that it's in their terms and conditions that I am liable for all charges for import/export duties. They've washed their hands of it.

Are they the type of company to take it seriously if I demand the customer agent gets his manager to ring me?

I assume if you order off an Irish website using an Irish VAT number then there will be no extra charges, am I wrong here? Company is registered for EORI etc

Cheers!

If you ordered as a company, then PCS aren't responsible for any tax payments, that needs to come from yourself and then you claim it back on the company as you would with any tax claims in your annual tax submissions.

But you will have paid Irish taxes, not UK, that's all the EORI covers as far as I'm aware from a business sense. It's only for personal purchases where PCS would cover all taxes within the purchase.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Just calling @Steveyg as he's far more clued up on this stuff than I am.

 

[MickF]

If you ordered as a company, then PCS aren't responsible for any tax payments, that needs to come from yourself and then you claim it back on the company as you would with any tax claims in your annual tax submissions.

But you will have paid Irish taxes, not UK, that's all the EORI covers as far as I'm aware from a business sense. It's only for personal purchases where PCS would cover all taxes within the purchase.

OK - so if I ordered as a business then I'm liable for the customs charges?

 

[SpyderTracks]

OK - so if I ordered as a business then I'm liable for the customs charges?

Yes, you’re liable for any tax charges as a business, then you submit your returns annually for the government to work out what needs repaying or further collection.

You’re still liable for import charges if you order as a personal customer, it’s just they’re factored into the cost and PCS pays those fees directly to customs on your behalf.

You don’t somehow not get to pay customs fees, that’s typically referred to as smuggling

 

[MickF]

Yes, you’re liable for any tax charges as a business, then you submit your returns annually for the government to work out what needs repaying or further collection.

You’re still liable for import charges if you order as a personal customer, it’s just they’re factored into the cost and PCS pays those fees directly to customs on your behalf.

You don’t somehow not get to pay customs fees, that’s typically referred to as smuggling

Then whats the point of pcspecialist.ie?

Not anyone fault but I wouldn't have ordered off a non Irish website.

Not entirely sure how not expecting to pay custom fees from an Irish site is smuggling?

 

[SpyderTracks]

Then whats the point of pcspecialist.ie?

Not anyone fault but I wouldn't have ordered off a non Irish website.

Not entirely sure how not expecting to pay custom fees from an Irish site is smuggling?

It's not an Irish company, not sure where you're getting that from? No one ever stated it's an Irish company, it's clearly outlined on the website all over the place that it's a UK business.

All EORI does is allows PCS to operate on behalf of the customer and pay their customs fees on their behalf. It's an agreement between PCS and the customs agency for that country, it's nothing to do with not paying any fees, for a business owner, that's a really odd take???

 

[SpyderTracks]

You've paid exactly what you would have if you'd bought it in Ireland.

As with any purchase in Ireland where you pay VAT in a shop or somewhere, you'd reclaim that in your tax submissions at the end of the year.

it's no different to any other purchase.

 

[Steveyg]

OK - so if I ordered as a business then I'm liable for the customs charges?

Yeah if you order as a business in any market you are responsible for the duty & VAT payments on import. A usual private customer would pay these up front as part of the costs of buying a product so the company sending the product would be responsible for these charges but you still pay for them just at a different point in the process

The main difference being you bought this as an Irish business so the benefits are you can claim the VAT back yourself as part of the usual VAT reclaim you would do on any import as a business. It's always better to pay your own VAT and claim it back yourself if you're ordering items as a business. I'm not sure you fully understand the import process though mate? I can help but I'd need a lot of specifics that I wouldn't feel comfortable with you posting on a public forum

 

[B4zookaw]

@MickF Did your invoice show you paid VAT? PC Specialist has an Irish VAT Number, so can charge Irish VAT directly on the invoice. If you paid Irish VAT at the point of sale, you shouldn't have DPD looking for further charges.

 

[B4zookaw]

If you had entered your own VAT number here, the order would have been updated to Ex VAT, and so you would be liable for import VAT, as it states. I think maybe you assumed the VAT was included on the invoice, so just check that to confirm.

 

[martucrum]

Hi,

I found this thread asking the same question I have, so commenting here rather than a new thread.

@Steveyg you might know this, if you are able to help I'd appreciate it.

I have a VAT registered business in Ireland. I bought a PC without VAT being due, as I would here. I bought from the PCS .ie site and delivery to Ireland.

I received a customs charge. I thought as I was VAT registered I would not be charged this. Do I just pay it, and then claim it back later? Will DPD not deliver until I pay this?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Scott]

Yes, you pay it now then claim it back in your tax return.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Will DPD not deliver until I pay this?

Yes, until the customs charges are paid, they tend to hold off delivery.

It is down to the courier though, some will pay the bill on your behalf and then invoice you separately after delivery, but that's normally for non-business purchases.

 

[Steveyg]

Hi,

I found this thread asking the same question I have, so commenting here rather than a new thread.

@Steveyg you might know this, if you are able to help I'd appreciate it.

I have a VAT registered business in Ireland. I bought a PC without VAT being due, as I would here. I bought from the PCS .ie site and delivery to Ireland.

I received a customs charge. I thought as I was VAT registered I would not be charged this. Do I just pay it, and then claim it back later? Will DPD not deliver until I pay this?

Thanks in advance.

Yeah you still have to pay the VAT on import but you can claim it back, the guys are correct

 

[martucrum]

For anyone who is in this situation later:

- if you enter a VAT number when buying you can buy without VAT.

This appears pointless, because then when it arrives, there is a customs charge for around the same amount. All it did for me was delay delivery by about 5 days, and now I have to go chasing DPD to try to get an invoice.

I'd have been better just not entering my VAT number, buying it at the UK price including VAT, then claim that VAT back here.

Financially no different from what I can see.....just a lot of pointless hassle adding your VAT number and then having it held up by customs to end up paying the same amount.

I got a great system so not a big deal. Thanks for the replies earlier.

 

[SpyderTracks]

For anyone who is in this situation later:

- if you enter a VAT number when buying you can buy without VAT.

This appears pointless, because then when it arrives, there is a customs charge for around the same amount. All it did for me was delay delivery by about 5 days, and now I have to go chasing DPD to try to get an invoice.

I'd have been better just not entering my VAT number, buying it at the UK price including VAT, then claim that VAT back here.

Financially no different from what I can see.....just a lot of pointless hassle adding your VAT number and then having it held up by customs to end up paying the same amount.

I got a great system so not a big deal. Thanks for the replies earlier.

As a company, you take ownership of your tax, so the government has no connection to you paying for tax, other than annual or quarterly declarations.

As an individual, the government takes responsibility for your taxes. The agreement PCS have with the Irish and certain European governments is that rather than individuals purchasing without UK VAT and then having to deal with customs themselves, PCS deal with customs on their behalf.

With a business, PCS can’t do that as the government aren’t responsible, the company are. So as with any tax system, the company has to settle outstanding payments and then claim them back in their annual / quarterly statements.

If you bought a system from PCS as an individual, and then tried to claim back the VAT as a company, you would be rejected as it wasn’t a legitimate business payment with associated invoice.

 

[martucrum]

We could have just not entered our VAT number, got the invoice to the business and then reclaimed the VAT later, savings the custom delay I suppose.

 

[SpyderTracks]

We could have just not entered our VAT number, got the invoice to the business and then reclaimed the VAT later, savings the custom delay I suppose.

If you don’t enter your business VAT number, it’s not a business purchase under the company and therefore you’re not eligible to reclaim the tax.

The receipt would be to you as an individual rather than the company.

 

[martucrum]

The criteria for it being a business purchase or not, is if the entity buying is a business or not and the purchase is for use by the business, not if the entity has a VAT number. For example, if my company was below the VAT registration threshold and therefore did not have a VAT number (and not be claiming VAT back as a result, so somewhat academic), it would still be a business purchase.

You can 100% make a business purchase and pay VAT. There are many cases where we make purchases from abroad where the seller does not have the facility to validate the VAT number through VIES at the point of sale, so it goes through with VAT paid then we reclaim it later.