Online bike parts retailer Dutch Bike Bits has announced that with the advent of Brexit, the UK will become the only country in the world to which it will not ship goods. The firm explained that this was because the UK is now asking overseas firms to apply and collect British taxes on behalf of the British government when selling to UK customers.
It's become too much hassle dealing with the UK now, it's easier to deal with a whole continent which has the same trading rules.
The point at which VAT is collected has moved from the point of importation to the point of sale and online retailers are therefore being asked to register for UK VAT and account for VAT to HMRC.
Dutch Bike Bits said that for this service the UK government intends to charge a fee, “to every company in the world in every country in the world which exports to the UK.
“Clearly this is ludicrous for one country, but imagine if every country in the world had the same idea. If every country decided to behave in the same way then we would have to pay 195 fees every year, keep up with the changes in taxation law for 195 different countries, keep accounts on behalf of 195 different countries and submit payments to 195 tax offices in 195 different countries, and jump through whatever hoops were required to prove that we were doing all of this honestly and without any error.
“Therefore from mid December 2020 onward we ship to every country in the world... except the UK.”
Road CC
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ReplyDeleteAn opportunity!
DeleteNo, not an opportunity. It simply means that those who are willing to sell into the Uk will charge more because they are closer to a monopolistic position. The UK lacks the manufacturing base to fill the gap.
ReplyDeleteAstonishingly this is just the EU One Stop Shop for VAT that is coming in in the rest of the EU in July.
ReplyDeleteNo doubt it is terrible because the UK is implementing it, but will be totally marvellous when the EU implements the same thing.
Because it's no longer about rational argument.