Importing to the UK - VAT & Delivery info

Share your thoughts or ask all your questions about ExpressoBeans here.
User avatar
bubbie
Art Expert
Posts: 7771
Joined: Mon Sep 22, 2014 4:49 pm
Location: Canada

Wed Aug 05, 2020 3:46 am

Could be, but also
bubbie wrote:
Wed May 09, 2018 11:49 am
barneycantankerous wrote:arguments with the post office staff because they don't know how to measure diameter
:lol:
Fun to watch a postal worker who keeps turning a tube around and having no clue how to measure it. Pretty weird fudge because it does not seem to be some rocket science fudge, yet it happens at least 1 out of 10 times (probably being very generous with these numbers).
And that’s no offence to the people who work there. It’s the general population.
pegramen
Member
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Sep 21, 2020 7:30 am

Thu Sep 24, 2020 6:52 pm

Any "luxury" item is 20% and there's a miriad of different figures in between that ...books (educational) are zero rated , children's clothes are zero rated , adult clothes are 5% ...and so on and so on
lowc73
Member
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Jun 08, 2021 3:48 am

Tue Jun 08, 2021 1:04 pm

newbie here. I have a friend in USA shipping to me in UK a dozen original loose leaf lithograph pages from a limited edition book published c.1950, total edition of approx 300. These are double sided lithographs with text and illustrations by an artist, printed in sanguine on 'Arches' paper.
Bought for $300 in US.
I've no idea whether to tell my friend to declare as "used book" or "artwork" or what customs code to use, if any.
Any suggestions?
thanks!
User avatar
HippyChick
Art Connoisseur
Posts: 764
Joined: Mon Mar 18, 2013 8:15 am
Location: West Yorkshire, UK

Tue Jun 08, 2021 2:00 pm

Hi. I don't think this would fall under the reduced rate VAT for lithographs (art) because of the edition size and the addition of text.

If your friend could ship them inside a hole punched sleeve that would go into a ring binder then you might be able to use the following:

Commodity code: 4901100000 VATR
Description: Printed parts of a book in the form of separate sheets, constituting part of a complete work and designed for binding. UK VAT zero rate (HMRC guidance VBOOKS3110)

This would get you 0% import VAT and 0% import duty.

More info here https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk ... 0#overview and here https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manual ... vbooks3110

Hope this helps :)
lowc73
Member
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Jun 08, 2021 3:48 am

Tue Jun 08, 2021 5:17 pm

thanks @hippychick good suggestion but my plan is to frame the artist illustrations that appear on the pages, not bind as a book. Would this limited edition lithograph series where the artist is known to have exercised full control over the page layout, paper quality, typeface and illustrations not be considered "original"?
User avatar
HippyChick
Art Connoisseur
Posts: 764
Joined: Mon Mar 18, 2013 8:15 am
Location: West Yorkshire, UK

Tue Jun 08, 2021 6:00 pm

Once you've imported the pages you can frame them - HMRC won't check what you do with them once you've got them but saying that they are loose pages that are intended to be bound (even in a ring binder) helps them to fall into the zero rated category.

In answer to your question about whether this could fall under "original art" - no, it can't. The "original" category has the following definition for items that fall under the 5% VAT reduction "For the purposes of heading 9702, the expression ‘original engravings, prints and lithographs’ means impressions produced directly, in black and white or in colour, of one or of several plates wholly executed by hand by the artist, irrespective of the process or of the material employed by him, but not including any mechanical or photomechanical process."

As the pages that you are importing have text on them they can't fall under this as the text from a 1950s book would have been produced by some sort of mechanical means. If you tried to import using this code then either you have to lie on the description (e.g. say that these are limited edition, hand-executed lithographs, which HMRC could easily see is a lie if they opened the package) to get the 5% rate. If there's nothing clear in the description about why the items fall under the 5% VAT then HMRC would apply the standard rate of 20%.

To be fair, not a lot of the prints/posters that people collect fall under the 5% VAT category because of this definition, although I know that people try and swing it to cut down on import costs.

The commodity code 4901100000 is correct for the items you have described as they fall under the category of "Printed books, brochures, leaflets and similar printed matter, whether or not in single sheets". Adding VATR to the code and including the extra description I gave makes it difficult for HMRC to argue that they fall into the 20% VAT rating for this category. If they opened the package they would still find it difficult to argue as it would (I imagine) be hard to tell just from looking that the pages weren't going to be bound together again. If you just use the commodity code and describes as "loose book pages" then it's 50/50 whether you'd get 20 %Vat or 0% VAT (actually , more likely the higher rate, knowing HMRC!).

The lithograph bit or the fact that they came from a limited edition book is neither here nor there for HMRC. (I know, they are philistines!! :D )
User avatar
jvwoodford
Art Connoisseur
Posts: 568
Joined: Fri Jul 27, 2018 6:05 pm
Location: Bristol, UK

Tue Jun 08, 2021 10:40 pm

I didn't think there were any reduced rate tariffs available since they changed the import laws to the UK, it used to be that art prints were reduced rate but I think that was scrapped and anything over the value of £135 now gets taxed upon passing through UK borders.
lowc73
Member
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Jun 08, 2021 3:48 am

Wed Jun 09, 2021 2:15 am

Thanks for the very clear and succinct suggestion to use that VATR code and full description. I’m now in two minds whether to use this route as it hints that “I know the rules” and likely draws more attention to the package from Customs to challenge. The alternative would be to split the $300 package into two $150 value packages and ship separately as falls under the £135 threshold - though shipping cost I assume also gets factored into the overall “value” assessment for taxing so I need to find out the total… what a conundrum.
User avatar
HippyChick
Art Connoisseur
Posts: 764
Joined: Mon Mar 18, 2013 8:15 am
Location: West Yorkshire, UK

Wed Jun 09, 2021 3:19 am

jvwoodford wrote:
Tue Jun 08, 2021 10:40 pm
I didn't think there were any reduced rate tariffs available since they changed the import laws to the UK, it used to be that art prints were reduced rate but I think that was scrapped and anything over the value of £135 now gets taxed upon passing through UK borders.
Anything under £135 gets VAT charged at the point of purchase and anything over £135 gets charged by customs and includes VAT on the shipping costs as well..

The VAT rules still stay the same regardless of how/when they are charged - so the 5% rule for certain art prints that fall under the 9702 heading definition of "original engravings, prints and lithographs" still applies. There never was a general category for art prints that entitled them to the reduced rate of VAT. and most fall under commodity code 4911910090 @20% VAT.
User avatar
HippyChick
Art Connoisseur
Posts: 764
Joined: Mon Mar 18, 2013 8:15 am
Location: West Yorkshire, UK

Wed Jun 09, 2021 3:39 am

lowc73 wrote:
Wed Jun 09, 2021 2:15 am
Thanks for the very clear and succinct suggestion to use that VATR code and full description. I’m now in two minds whether to use this route as it hints that “I know the rules” and likely draws more attention to the package from Customs to challenge. The alternative would be to split the $300 package into two $150 value packages and ship separately as falls under the £135 threshold - though shipping cost I assume also gets factored into the overall “value” assessment for taxing so I need to find out the total… what a conundrum.
Happy to help - it can be a bit of a minefield in the beginning!

I don't think HMRC would think that there's anything too unreasonable about pages from a book at $300 being declared "correctly" so you should be fine. Bear in mind that millions of businesses and individuals who are importing know the rules and put the correct commodity codes and descriptions on customs declarations - so yours won't stand out like a sore thumb.

I have used the detailed description for hand-pulled, artist produced limited edition screenprints and also referenced the relevant legislation (Value Added Tax Act 1994 Section 21, subsection 6b) where appropriate to get the 5% rate - so far no-one has picked that up as suspicious. I think they appreciate someone taking the effort to try and make their jobs easier. If the description is vague or ambiguous then they default to standard rate VAT rather than risking their judgment being wrong and potentially undercharging.

Good luck and I hope you get it sorted :)
lowc73
Member
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Jun 08, 2021 3:48 am

Wed Jun 09, 2021 4:03 am

HippyChick wrote:
Wed Jun 09, 2021 3:39 am
Happy to help - it can be a bit of a minefield in the beginning!
….
Huge thanks @HappyChick, really appreciate your suggestions here!
I’m certainly on a learning curve and you’ve been super helpful.
User avatar
jvwoodford
Art Connoisseur
Posts: 568
Joined: Fri Jul 27, 2018 6:05 pm
Location: Bristol, UK

Wed Jun 09, 2021 5:56 pm

HippyChick wrote:
Wed Jun 09, 2021 3:19 am
jvwoodford wrote:
Tue Jun 08, 2021 10:40 pm
I didn't think there were any reduced rate tariffs available since they changed the import laws to the UK, it used to be that art prints were reduced rate but I think that was scrapped and anything over the value of £135 now gets taxed upon passing through UK borders.
Anything under £135 gets VAT charged at the point of purchase and anything over £135 gets charged by customs and includes VAT on the shipping costs as well..

The VAT rules still stay the same regardless of how/when they are charged - so the 5% rule for certain art prints that fall under the 9702 heading definition of "original engravings, prints and lithographs" still applies. There never was a general category for art prints that entitled them to the reduced rate of VAT. and most fall under commodity code 4911910090 @20% VAT.
That's what i meant when i said 'art print', which is basically a lithograph/giclee/screen print but I assumed they all fall into that same bracket, i didn't think that was a thing any more but it seems it is. Here is the reference from HMRC's site for people interested: https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/headings/9702

Also I know they got rid of the £15 VAT free threshold when you receive goods in the UK and now it's anything over £135, you are supposed to be charged VAT for anything below that at checkout (usually an increased shipping fee) but I haven't had many, if any, overseas vendors doing that.
User avatar
HippyChick
Art Connoisseur
Posts: 764
Joined: Mon Mar 18, 2013 8:15 am
Location: West Yorkshire, UK

Wed Jun 09, 2021 6:33 pm

jvwoodford wrote:
Tue Jun 08, 2021 10:40 pm

That's what i meant when i said 'art print', which is basically a lithograph/giclee/screen print but I assumed they all fall into that same bracket, i didn't think that was a thing any more but it seems it is. Here is the reference from HMRC's site for people interested: https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/headings/9702

Also I know they got rid of the £15 VAT free threshold when you receive goods in the UK and now it's anything over £135, you are supposed to be charged VAT for anything below that at checkout (usually an increased shipping fee) but I haven't had many, if any, overseas vendors doing that.
Giclees don't fall under the 9702 category (they are produced using a printer). Nor do all screenprints or lithographs. There is a note clarifying this on the link that you shared "For the purposes of heading 9702, the expression ‘original engravings, prints and lithographs’ means impressions produced directly, in black and white or in colour, of one or of several plates wholly executed by hand by the artist, irrespective of the process or of the material employed by him, but not including any mechanical or photomechanical process."

Some screenprints/lithographs will fall under heading 9702 and some won't - it all depends on the manufacturing process. So, for example Mondo prints that are printed by DL Screenprinting don't qualify for reduced rate VAT because they have mechanical screenprinting presses so shippers should use commodity code 4911910090 (=20% VAT); Screenprints that Chuck Sperry has produced himself by hand do and so shippers should use code 9702000090 VATR (=5% VAT).
User avatar
jvwoodford
Art Connoisseur
Posts: 568
Joined: Fri Jul 27, 2018 6:05 pm
Location: Bristol, UK

Fri Jun 11, 2021 6:34 am

That's confusing, lithographs are printed using printers. Do they mean linoprint?
User avatar
HippyChick
Art Connoisseur
Posts: 764
Joined: Mon Mar 18, 2013 8:15 am
Location: West Yorkshire, UK

Fri Jun 11, 2021 8:33 am

jvwoodford wrote:
Fri Jun 11, 2021 6:34 am
That's confusing, lithographs are printed using printers. Do they mean linoprint?
Lithographs can be hand pulled or produced using a printing press (e.g. offset lithographs). Because offset lithographs use a press (mechanical process) they wouldn't fall under commodity code 9702 reduced VAT.

This might help to explain the difference https://www.invaluable.com/blog/what-is-a-lithograph/
Post Reply