Not wanting to deal with VAT & BREXIT

thebluehound
Explorer
52 0 10

Hi, I have a small NL based shop (B2C) and show prices inclusive of VAT which we collect and submit in the NL.  Most of our prices would hover near or above the £135 limit set.  We do very little business with the UK and with Brexit happening shortly, I've decided to possibly not sell there.  Of course, it isn't a decision that I take lightly, but, from what I understand, I would have to apply for a UK VAT and start collecting and submitting VAT to them.  Unless I am misunderstanding this (please let me know), I would like to somehow not sell to the UK.  How can I manage settings to not accept orders based there?

 

Thanks

 

Replies 8 (8)

Inglenook1975
Tourist
9 0 0

I have very similar concerns - and wish it was better explained !!!

 

HELLO!!!  ANYONE THERE?????

lenscap
Excursionist
34 0 12

I am based in the Republic of Ireland and only get a small number of orders from the UK.

I decided that, at the moment, I don't want to sell to the UK as I don't want to have to register for UK Vat and submit returns.

I simply deleted the UK from my shipping to list, in manage shipping profiles, in shipping and deliveries.

I then tested a sample order with a UK address and got the notice at shipping "this store does not ship to your country. Contact the store owner".

Hope that is helpful.

 

For me, it does create a problem with customers from Northern Ireland as it is part of the UK but for the Irish post office, it is the same rate as the Republic of Ireland. BUT that is for another day's discussion.

kristenlee
Tourist
3 0 2

It's my understanding that you don't have to register for VAT in the other country, but that you can just not charge VAT to the UK (or EU as is my case) and have the customer pay the VAT charge upon arrival of their goods (in the same way that we would currently do for items purchased form the USA or Oz for example - except no customs charges due to FTA). This is what my accountant has told us to do.

thebluehound
Explorer
52 0 10

My understanding is that on sales under €150 the seller has to collect the UK VAT and submit to the UK every quarter.  This means filing for a UK VAT number.

Yes, sales over €150, the customer would be responsible for VAT and any duties.  I think in the 1st year, the govt will be very strict with this.

In the end, I don’t want my customers to deal with duties and VAT.  I also don’t want to deal with having sales above and below the €150 mark.  If I had a bigger UK base, I might think differently.

kristenlee
Tourist
3 0 2

Hmmmm, guess I'll be contacting my accountant again 😕

What a stupid palaver. Sorry the UK is so stupid!

MYC2020
Visitor
3 0 0

Hi Lens, 

Our store is also based in the Rep.of Ireland and we are experiencing exactly the same issues. 

We have stopped selling to the UK by removing it from our Shipping List completely, but theorically we could continue selling to Northern Ireland because from a VAT perspective there isn't any changes.

The problem is that we can't split Northern Ireland and the UK within the Shipping Zones so I raised this with Shopify today via Chat Support and asked them to raise with this topic with their engineers. I would recommend for you to do the same. Perhaps, if they see a lot of requests related to the same topic, they might take action and review their Shipping Zones for the UK - there should be an option to select the countries within that region. 

Many thanks!

Doug

 

 

 

 

lenscap
Excursionist
34 0 12

Hi Doug,

thank you for your message. Yes, I will contact them but to be honest I don't have much confidence in any change happening in the immediate future.

I think we are too small and too few in numbers for them to be bothered with.

I have a search for apps that can allow changes to UK addresses by postal code and there appears to be a few Apps but they are very expensive (IMO).

Shopify could simply copy the Royal Mail and break the UK into regions.

 

lenscap
Excursionist
34 0 12

I got the following notice from Shopify which may be of interest.

The cost to ship to Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom after Brexit can vary greatly depending on where you are shipping. Historically, you have only had the option to set one shipping rate for all buyers across the UK. Now, when you add shipping rates for the UK you can create distinct rates for each of the following:

  • Northern Ireland
  • Scotland
  • Wales
  • England
  • British Forces

To edit shipping rates, or add or remove each constituent country visit your Shipping and Delivery Settings: