indigoeagle
One of the Regulars
- Messages
- 253
- Location
- Northern Europe
I'm afraid that European Customs won't care much whether Greg pays VAT or not. And so the jacket will cost 1000 GBP + shipping costs + 4% duty + 20% VAT + fees = about 1260 GBP/1400 EUR. Customs are only waived if the product is largely English, which shouldn't be the case with Japanese leather. Where at this price 40 GBP more or less no longer matters.
I was surprised to see your 4% number.
But it's true. So arbitrary.
If you import a leather jacket into the EU besides the VAT of your country above EUR 150 you have to pay a customs fee based on the sum of the product price and the shipping, which in the case of leather jackets is 4%.
If it's some other kind of clothes it's 12%.
If it's leather shoes it's 8%.
If the shoes are vegan for instance it's 17%.
And for some reason notebooks are duty free.
Ok, you could argue, that leather jackets and shoes are in generally higher ticket items, so therefore the percentage is lower.
Still, as with so many other rules and regulations, I'd prefer a simple one with less hassle for everybody involved.
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