Selling in Europe, import tax?
Hello
We have been selling on Amazon (and European marketplaces) for a very long time but around the Brexit transition we experienced a lot of problems with shipping abroad so we decided to stop.
Recently, we added a better and more reliable courier so enabled all our listings in DE, ES, IT, FR, BE. At first everything was running smooth until after a month when all the packages started to get delivered we started to get constant complaints about customers having to pay import tax because we have been sending the packages via DDU (Delivery Duty Unpaid) shipping.
We had no choice but to change the service from DDU to DDP and now we got hit with a massive invoice because by sending all the packages via DDP we have to pay the import tax.
We have contacted Amazon Seller Support on numerous occasions and they never give us a solution, instead say “speak to your local authorities”.
My question is, is there a way to surcharge our european customers for the import tax, why is not calculated when they make the purchase. Or the very least, it should be shown on the listing or in their basket that they are buying from abroad and that Import tax etc. applies.
None of the customers knew or expected that they have to pay import tax.
Do you guys know of a solution? How do you currently go about selling in Europe?
Thank you in advance.
Selling in Europe, import tax?
Hello
We have been selling on Amazon (and European marketplaces) for a very long time but around the Brexit transition we experienced a lot of problems with shipping abroad so we decided to stop.
Recently, we added a better and more reliable courier so enabled all our listings in DE, ES, IT, FR, BE. At first everything was running smooth until after a month when all the packages started to get delivered we started to get constant complaints about customers having to pay import tax because we have been sending the packages via DDU (Delivery Duty Unpaid) shipping.
We had no choice but to change the service from DDU to DDP and now we got hit with a massive invoice because by sending all the packages via DDP we have to pay the import tax.
We have contacted Amazon Seller Support on numerous occasions and they never give us a solution, instead say “speak to your local authorities”.
My question is, is there a way to surcharge our european customers for the import tax, why is not calculated when they make the purchase. Or the very least, it should be shown on the listing or in their basket that they are buying from abroad and that Import tax etc. applies.
None of the customers knew or expected that they have to pay import tax.
Do you guys know of a solution? How do you currently go about selling in Europe?
Thank you in advance.
8 replies
Seller_uZmYgk2Q734Ed
If the order value is EUR 150 and below, IOSS will take care of the taxes. Most national post and couriers have systems in place to deal with IOSS now so that is no longer a problem.
if EUR 150 and above, then DDP is probably the only option left.
Amazon customers are not expected to pay for custom duties and taxes when they received the packages. Sellers are expected to deal with them.
Seller_qZO3ZCjoBXEeL
and they shouldn’t have to - it is against Amazon Ts and Cs to have customer pay import duties.
as @obedientseller said, orders under EUR150 will/should be IOSS and you should be using a courier service that processes IOSS shipments.
If your products are over EUR150 then you need to ship them DDP and increase your EU pricing to accommodate that.
By exposing your customers to import charges you are risking account suspension, and by rights, they are justified in claiming for any charges they have to pay in a refund from you.
Seller_fqUNskKxiBohA
Thank you for the replies. Very helpful!
So the right course of action is to register for IOSS (if we are not already) and instruct our courier what our IOSS number is? Or do we add the IOSS as an extended property in our inventory?
Winston_Amazon
The posts here have said it best @Expert_Workwear, will also add a page from Seller University, you will also find other topics there under VAT as well, hope it helps!
