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I’m toying with the idea of buying a new frame from a bike shop in Slovenia and wondering whether I can recover the local VAT of 22% to offset the import duties when it comes to the UK
Everything I see on the internet talks about the process if I’m a business or a tourist leaving the country with the purchase.
Had anyone got any practical experience of the process for an item shipped directly to a private individual?
Import duty is not the same as vat.
On arrival in the UK you will pay UK import duty, UK VAT, and a fee to the currier for their 'services' collecting the charges.
Can the seller not send it without local vat?
The seller should remove local taxes before shipping to you. I imported a frame from the US last year and it was the same. Ended up paying around 2-3% import duty then 20% VAT on top of the new total cost including shipping. All was dealt with by the courier (UPS in my case), they sent a SMS with details of amounts due and a weblink to provide payment. Was still much cheaper than buying anything even remotely similar from a UK supplier.
Thanks. I’ll have another chat with the shop.
It‘s still cheaper than anything similar in the UK even with taxes both ends but happy to avoid cost if I can!