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TVA on Imports


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Hi there,

I'm looking to import a 'sit-on' lawnmower from the USA as they are so much cheaper than in France (up to half price). I have a price for delivery (again pretty good). However, I'm sure there will be import duties payable.

Is it simply a case of adding 19.6% TVA to the euro equivalent purchase price (in this case c. euros 1,600) or are there other taxes and duties to be paid? I'm keen to clarify before it ends up not being financially viable.

Any help would be most appreciated - my grass is getting long....

Thanks.

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I am sure that at least 19.6% plus clearance charges apply but when dealing in foreign contracts you have to be sure and absolutely sure as to has responsibilities for insurance clearance and all those sorts of things.  I did international trade a long time ago in law but cannot remember the terms so be careful.

Just a thought as to after sales service.  Is this a brand available here in France?  Or if not are you going to service it yourself or are you going to turn up at a service agent and ask them to service it for you.  Again if it is a brand not normally available in France have you thought about spare parts.

Again there are always deals to be had in France especially out of season and whilst you may not like the brand I bought a Honda at St Lo and from a dealership brand new and mid range and haggled a bit it did not cost me much more than you are paying.  Add say 20% to 1600 euros and you are almost there.

I may be old-fashioned (and probably at times to my cost) but I try as best I can to support the local businesses for if we do not then they will die as in the UK.

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Please forgive me but I failed to mention that shipment from the US is not too simple and when you get at customs this end well anything can happen.

 

What is happening in the meantime is that your grass is growing (save of course in this weather) and you will then spend days cutting it.

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Well, there's more involved than just TVA.  There is Duty into the EU too.  I don't know the rates for lawnmowers but I expect it won't be less than 10%.  This is added to the invoice price (including shipping, insurance etc) and TVA applied to the total (can we say 'no double Taxation'? well no) You will probably have to have a shipping agent to do the paperwork for you as it's incredibly complicated and anyway, the shipping companies often refuse to deal direct with individuals, shipping agents are not cheap for one off arrangements.  Add all that to the servicing problems mentioned above and it doesn't seem so cheap.  Sorry to pour weedkiller on your plans but forewarned is forearmed and all that.
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Not the same thing at all but last year I ordered two really nice but cheap blouses from the US $19.99 each and I would have paid at least £40 each for them in the UK, not too sure how much here in France.  I was then charged another $20 handling fee and postage from the States (still cheaper than the UK shirts) but then I got hammered with 25 euros import duty at this end.  Barely any difference in price at all in the end!! [:(]
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Again not exactly the same thing but in the past I have ordered woodworking tools from America to be delivered to my address in the UK, the procedure was that the exporter made a customs declaration showing what the goods were together with the sales price, this was attached to the outside of the packages.

I had to pay 17.5% vat on the value before I could receive delivery or perhaps to the delivery man, I cannot remember.

The parcels were not opened, probably due to the selling company being known.

20 years ago I had some suits and silk shirts made in Thailand, I had to leave before they were finished, they posted them to me but warned that I may have to pay duty, it would have been better to have worn them once and brought them back in my luggage.

Anyway they packaged them as an individual would, not a company, hand wrote the address to "my good friend J.R....." of course the post office opened them and I had to pay VAT on what they estimated the UK value to be, which was much higher than I had in fact paid of course!

A long winded way of saying that you may perhaps have to pay TVA on the "French value" of the mower.

Try to contact the authority responsible.

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Essentially you pay TVA (and duty, don't forget the Duty as it's outside the EU) on the domestic wholesale value of the article or the invoice price whatever is the higher.  If it's a reputable firm then this is usually the same but of course we all know of the 'Invoice for Customs' dodge.  Yeah, like yer average Customs bloke doesn't see that a 100 times a day.  When I was in Customs (many years ago) it was always 'Gen-U-wine' Persian rugs with an invoice for a few hundred quid (if they were real it would be many thousand). All rubbish fakes obviously machine made 'Carpet Land' specials worth 50 quid tops.  Of course I was happy to take the invoice price in this case and tell people they had been grossly overcharged.  The usual response was 'but,but,but I paid much more than that!'  Well, enjoy your fake, at least you have a story to tell. 
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I find it extremely difficult to believe that, when all costs are added, it would be any cheaper to buy from the US. I paid 1,400€'s for our ride-on, MDS (German),14.5hp Briggs & Stratton with a one metre cut. Bought in a sale at Jardiland and came with a full warrantee.
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Thank you to all for your comments. I suspected as much but thought I'd better ask as someone always knows. Regarding the issue of warranty, I was looking at Husqvarna mowers which have a worldwide warranty, but that's not really an issue now.

Many thanks to all. Now, who's coming to cut my grass while I go shopping (in France) for a mower....?

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[quote user="Pierre ZFP"]Essentially you pay TVA (and duty, don't forget the Duty as it's outside the EU) on the domestic wholesale value of the article or the invoice price whatever is the higher.  If it's a reputable firm then this is usually the same but of course we all know of the 'Invoice for Customs' dodge.  Yeah, like yer average Customs bloke doesn't see that a 100 times a day.  When I was in Customs (many years ago) it was always 'Gen-U-wine' Persian rugs with an invoice for a few hundred quid (if they were real it would be many thousand). All rubbish fakes obviously machine made 'Carpet Land' specials worth 50 quid tops.  Of course I was happy to take the invoice price in this case and tell people they had been grossly overcharged.  The usual response was 'but,but,but I paid much more than that!'  Well, enjoy your fake, at least you have a story to tell. [/quote]

 

Thats is story funny enough to dine out on!

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Yep, also got stung buying mountainbike tyres and parts from the US - worked out the same as buying them locally give or take a few euros - the delivery man demanded a cheque for the tax before handing over the goods.

So try with a local store and ask them to 'faire un effort avec le prix' - it's a regular codeword for haggling and can be very effective. I even haggled successfully at Ikea come to think of it....

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I have the opportunity to indulge myself and get some tools onto a container (of household furniture/personal belongins etc) coming back from the US and I will be putting some things like:

- an electricians (fiberglass) 6ft ladder @ ₤17

- a telescopic ladder @ ₤60 vs. ₤219 in the UK

- Plasterers stilts for ₤100 vs. 259 in the UK

- Mouse trap for 7 Holds 30 mice! Great for French farms houses mid renovation me thinks

The list goes on, but these are some of the things I'm getting and while I agree in supporting local industry, these are all (more than likely) all made in China, so I won't loose too much sleep over cutting out either the importer or a seller of imported goods. 

Most people only do small scale importation, which is why it often doesn't work out worth doing, but if there is an opportunity to import things as a one off, with a genuine saving I'm all for it!

Oh yeah, one of my friends was a VAT man for 20 years and learned NOT to tell tradesmen what he did for a living as they went all squeemish and wouldn't give him a 'discount for cash' qoute. He complained that it cost him a fortune when the contractors included VAT.

Do as they say, not....

Cheers

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