Press release -
Post Office offers customers help with new post-Brexit changes affecting good being sold to the EU
- From Thursday 1 July 2021, a new post-Brexit VAT change will apply to goods being sent from Great Britain to the EU
- Items sold to EU destinations from Great Britain with a value of €22 or less will no longer be exempt from VAT.
- The EU has now established its Import One Stop Shop (IOSS) which businesses in Great Britain can use to comply with new VAT e-commerce rules when sending goods from Great Britain to the EU*
- Post Office has put in place new checks to ensure correct information will be collected when posting at any Post Office branch so marketplace sellers can continue to trade and send their items at branches with confidence
- People sending gifts from Great Britain to the EU are unaffected by this post-Brexit change
Post Office is alerting its customers that a new post-Brexit change concerning VAT will affect goods being sent from Great Britain to the EU from Thursday 1 July.
Items sold to EU destinations from Great Britain with a value of €22 or less will no longer be exempt from VAT. They will be subject to the local rate of VAT and charges of the destination country.
The EU have set up a new scheme called the Import One Stop Shop (IOSS) that allows businesses that register on the scheme to apply VAT and customs charges at the point an item is sold. For Post office customers, the change predominantly affects marketplace sellers who sell via marketplaces registered on the scheme. Post Office has put in place new checks to ensure the correct information will be collected for the IOSS scheme, so marketplace sellers can continue to buy their postage in Post Office branches with confidence.
Mark Siviter, Post Office Mails Product Portfolio Director, said:
“Whilst these changes don’t impact customers sending gifts to the EU, we’re concerned that thousands of marketplace sellers, particularly smaller ones could get a shock on 1 July when having to deal with these new VAT arrangements. We have put new checks in place to ensure marketplace sellers can continue to come to their local Post Office to send their goods with confidence. Crucially they can also receive advice and specialist knowledge from their Postmaster if they need it.”
Marketplace sellers that use Amazon, Ebay, Etsy and Not On The High Street can continue to visit their local Post Office and the Postmaster or their staff will capture the necessary information now required following this post Brexit change to the VAT rules.
Customers sending gifts to EU destinations are not affected by these changes either. Gifts under €45 remain exempt of VAT or charges.
These new changes do not apply to anyone visiting a Post Office in Northern Ireland and posting gifts or sending items sold to EU destinations from Northern Ireland.
Ends
*The EU’s Import One Stop Shop (IOSS) has been established which businesses can use to comply with new VAT e-commerce rules on distance sales when sending goods from GB to EU. This enables business sellers who register on the scheme to charge VAT at the point of sale for consignments with a value of €150 or less avoiding any VAT charges on delivery.
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About the Post Office
- With over 11,500 branches, Post Office has the biggest retail network in the UK, with more branches than all the banks and building societies combined.
- Post Office is helping anyone who wants cash to get it whichever way is most convenient. Partnership with over 30 banks, building societies and credit unions means that 99% of UK bank customers can access their accounts at their Post Office.
- Cash withdrawals, deposits and balance enquiries can be made securely and conveniently over the counter at any Post Office; and the biggest investment by any organisation or company in the last decade is being made to safeguard 1,400 free-to-use ATMs across the UK.
- Post Office is simplifying its proposition for Postmasters with a focus on its cash and banking; mails and parcels; foreign exchange; and bill payments services.
- Researchhas found that visits to the Post Office help drive another 400 million visitors to other shops, restaurants and local businesses equating to an estimated £1.1 billion in additional revenue for High Street businesses.
- 99.7% of the population live within three miles of a Post Office; and 4,000 branches are open seven days a week.
