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Wed Jul 27, 2011 8:47 pm  |
| Hi, I recently purchased a beauty tool from Great Britain. I live in the US. I was charged VAT on my order. Should VAT be charged on orders shipped to the US? I researched this and really can't find a clear answer. Thanks. |
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Thu Jul 28, 2011 1:41 am |
| Being a UKer I have friends who have asked me the same question and if you are in the US then your VAT exempt - so I'd raise it straight away with the seller. |
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Thu Jul 28, 2011 2:17 am |
| Thank you TheresaMary. |
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Thu Jul 28, 2011 11:46 am |
| Even if you bought something in the UK while you were there, you'd be entitled to a VAT refund by filling out a form (unless that has changed in the past few years). 20% is a big chunk of change these days. |
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Wed Aug 03, 2011 6:24 pm |
This issue with online sellers and VAT is not as easy as it once was. Sellers are exploiting UK tax legislation and legal requirements. Let me explain...
When you enter a UK website, it does not discriminate against whether you are a customer who will ship the goods to a UK address, or to a non-EU address e.g. USA.
It is a legal requirement for all UK sellers to list prices INCLUSIVE of VAT.
However, according to international VAT rules, if the customer's shipping address is outside the EU, you do not need to add VAT at more than a rate of 0% (zero rated- this is not the same as an exempt good).
Therefore, the retailer will tell you that you have not paid VAT as of course- YOUR VAT inclusive price includes VAT at 0%.
However, as websites do not discriminate between a US address and a UK address for shipping, the price the list is the same and MUST BE INCLUSIVE OF VAT AT 20%.
So, if a retailer tells you that you have not paid VAT, this is not true essentially. If they insist on saying this (as ASOS currently is for me) then they are operating 'pricing discrimination' i.e. charging the non-UK customer 20% more than the customer with the UK shipping address for the same item.
I am currently in ongoing correspondence with many UK retailers regarding this...I will keep pressing the issue and taking it to higher levels as based on my understanding of the issue at hand this is unacceptable practice. |
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Mid/late 20s...acne prone combination skin, slight pitted acne scarring on cheek, freckles, sun spots, severe dark circles, broken capillaries around my nose, blackheads on nose...yeah, I'm a skin mess. |
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Thu Aug 04, 2011 9:58 am |
I've had similar issues when attempting to order from certain websites in Australia - they were charging the same price to customers outside Australia as those inside Australia, ie not deducting the sales tax/GST included in the listed price.
I never questioned them on it, just didn't bother ordering from them, made my purchases elsewhere.
It doesn't make for good international customer relations... which kind of defeats the purpose of selling online to a wider international market. |
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