I find myself in a Kafkaesque situation as a result of Brexit. I decided, over Christmas, to treat myself to a new £5,000 racing bicycle, but the only place I could source it was a shop in Poland.
I ordered it on 28 December 2020, and, at the time, the gov.uk website indicated there would be no duties to pay on goods purchased before 1 January 2021. DPD collected it in early January, but returned it to the sender as it couldn’t negotiate the border chaos. The package was re-sent on 12 January with UPS.
This is where it gets crazy. UPS told me in early February that there was more than £2,000 in duty and taxes to pay as the government had withdrawn the grace period for items purchased before 1 January.
Not having the money, I refused delivery and asked for the package to be returned to sender. However, UPS now says there is £1,500 duty to be paid to return it to Poland.
I can’t believe the bike was technically imported into the UK, but I cannot get a refund until it is returned. JS, Norwich
There have been lots of tales of post-Brexit bills for cross-border purchases but this has to be the worst I’ve seen yet. What a nightmare – not helped by the fact that the government changed the rules after you made the purchase.
In early January it stated that duty and VAT, which is what you have been asked for, was only payable on items that were bought from 1 January onwards.
HMRC told me this week that items despatched after that were subject to the taxes, hence the bill.
In hindsight, it was perhaps a little rash spending £5,000 on a bike three days before the Brexit deadline. That said, it seems incredible that you face a bill to return it, if it was never released by customs in the UK.
I asked UPS head office to get involved, and there is some positive news. After you supplied more paperwork obtained from the shop in Poland, it became apparent that you only needed to pay VAT and not customs duties. You will have to find an extra £1,000 over your original expectation, but not the £2,000-plus originally billed.
This appears to be the least-worst option, and you have chosen to do it.
Now it is just a case of finding your bike, and getting it to you. UPS has told you it has a warehouse stuffed with items similarly caught up in Brexit chaos. Let’s just hope that the carbon frame hasn’t been damaged in transit. I’d be checking it very closely when it finally arrives.
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