Duty & Tax are charges that need to be paid any time a package is sent across borders. Most of the time, these charges are paid by your buyer. However, in many cases, you need to calculate and collect them from your customer at the moment of sale. Therefore, you need to be aware of what Duty & Tax are, and how to collect them. Check out below frequently asked questions about Duty & Tax.
Q: Is duty applied to every order?
A:
No. It is applied to certain products, source countries, or certain quantities that the destination country needs for more regulation.
Q: What is a de minimis value?
A:
De Minimis value refers to a certain value that is too small to be checked because it would unnecessarily burden the public sector. De minimis values for VAT are considered 0 in member states of the European Union, meaning all packages arriving from outside the EU are considered above the De Minimis value. For duty, the De Minimis value can depend on the destination country and product. It is € 150 in EU countries and £ 130 in UK.
Q: Are VAT rates different in EU countries?
A:
Yes, VAT rates are set by each country itself. Furthermore, each country can determine that certain product categories are subject to reduced VAT, and the reduced rates and product categories can all differ from country to country.
Q: What is the difference between duty and VAT?
A:
-VAT is short for Value Added Tax, which is standard in all European countries.
-Duty is a more specific method of taxing certain products or imports from certain countries.