Conditions for VAT and customs duty deduction
(1) An import and export enterprise registered in a European country.
(2) Having a fixed place of business in Europe.
(3) Having an offshore foreign exchange bank account and signing a tax deduction agreement with the State Administration of Taxation.
(4) Having a fixed contact person and telephone number to confirm tax payment and customs clearance
(5) Having an EORI tax number.
Only when the above conditions are met can the seller use the VAT tax number to clear customs and pay the import VAT. Of course, many companies now do not apply for their own VAT tax number, but use the VAT tax number provided by the freight forwarder for customs clearance, which means that the freight forwarder’s VAT tax number is used and the import VAT is paid by the freight forwarder.
2. How to declare VAT
(1) How to settle and refund VAT.
In the UK, VAT tax numbers do not need to be reviewed annually, but VAT declarations are required to be made to Her Majes-ty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) every quarter to settle tax refunds (import VAT) and tax payments (sales VAT) and calculate the actual VAT to be paid. Even if there is no sales, tax declarations need to be made regularly every quarter.
Import VAT = (value of goods + VAT Value Adjust + tariff) x 20%
VAT Value Adjust is the regulation standard of the declared price by the UK Revenue and Customs, and the standards may be different at different ports and channels.
Sales VAT = Final Sales Price/6
Actual VAT Paid = Sales VAT – Import VAT
When paying VAT, if the seller paid VAT at the time of import, there are mainly two situations.
When the sales VAT > import VAT, the seller shall pay the insufficient sales VAT; when the sales VAT < import VAT, the seller will get a tax refund. But the tax refund is conditional, specifically including the following 7 conditions.
①Import and export enterprises registered in European countries.
②A fixed place of business in Europe.
③An offshore foreign exchange bank account and a tax withholding agreement signed with the State Administration of Taxation.
①A fixed contact person and contact number.
⑤An EORI tax number.
⑥At least one local European employee is employed.
⑦The bank account of the importer and exporter must have sales input for deduction.
The seller shipped the goods to the UK, but none of them were sold. The sales items were less than the input items. The tax bureau would also refund the seller, but for this tax refund, the tax bureau may go to the seller’s warehouse for on-site confirmation to see if there are really so many stocks. Some sellers will report the sales items low, and this operation also has certain risks.
(2) Information required for VAT declaration.
The declaration work is usually handled by an agency. The following information is required for declaration.
① Certificate C79 obtained when paying import VAT.
② Valid purchase bill with VAT received by the company for purchases in the UK.
③ Sales revenue summary.
Let’s stop here for the policy knowledge related to VAT. Now let’s talk about the issue that everyone is most concerned about, which is the relationship between VAT and Amazon, and how Amazon sellers should deal with VAT.