Taxes, Taxes, Taxes.... Overseas Now Affected.

A chap I buy coins from regularly in the USA, has a standard $25.00 shipping charge via the USPS First Class Mail International / First Class Package International Service. The service was fast and reliable.

ebay now adds the 20% VaT and import charge, not only to the items, but also to the shipping cost. At the current rate of exchange this is now $31.50. As the importation charges have been paid at source, the packages come directly in the mail. The same rules apply to a dealer I buy from in Cyprus.

If the charges are not paid at source, the recipient gets a card saying that the package can't be delivered till the duty is paid To UK Customs. The sting in the tail is, that we can't pay for the import duty ourselves, it has to be done by UK ParcelForce. ParcelForce then add their "handling fee", which can range from $15.00 to $25.00 or more.

What were once reasonably priced coins, are now becoming out of reach. It will impact businesses for sure.

The short-term upshot is that customers in the UK may stop begging dealers in the US and elsewhere to falsify customs forms, which is a serious crime.

UK customers may actually save money if the coins are properly declared. Unless it has changed post-Brexit, antique coins over 100 years old are taxed at a lower rate. This has sometimes been overlooked by sellers outside the UK.

Neither ebay nor governments are asking anyone to pay takes that wouldn't be due otherwise. I have no sympathy for tax evaders. I honestly wish ebay would start collecting taxes for my state. Sales tax record keeping and paperwork for the occasional in-state sale are a thankless burden. Just a couple of weeks ago I had to spend an hour on book keeping and waste a 55 cent stamp to mail my state department of revenue a check for 28 cents!

The big picture, however, is that we are likely approaching the end of ancient coin collecting. New payment, tax and shipping regulations combined with import-export restrictions on "cultural property" may be a lethal one-two punch IMHO. The screws will only tighten from here.

Doesn't sound like a freindly Global Economy and it's ridiculous.

Parallels with the fall of the Roman Empire and what is going on today is really uncanny. Mike Duncan who hosted the Podcast "The History of Rome" said it best when explaining taxation, "... Imperial taxation, which ground the poor masses even deeper into the ground and the wealthy waited for moments of debt cancellation or else they were able to use their influence to win tax exemptions which left the poor classes who had no such influence to shoulder the burden which far outweighed their ability to pay.."

I might have butchered that - but you get the drift

Link to podcast - one of my top picks

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podca.../id261654474

Donald decided to make America - the greatest country and imposed customs duties on imported goods to stimulate local production Boris decided to make UK the greatest nation and imposed customs duties on imported goods from Europe and America, and abolished customs duties with Turkey! There are no changes in the rest of the world!

Everything I learned in economics about fiat currency has been suspended over the past 20 years. The money printing caused by debt should lead to inflation, yet until recently the greatest threat was deflation. Before I could wrap my head around that, inflation started to pick up again.

But the question remains: how long can you run the printers before we turn into Weimar Germany?

In response to Kushanshah above "UK customers may actually save money if the coins are properly declared. Unless it has changed post-Brexit, antique coins over 100 years old are taxed at a lower rate. "

Things have changed post Brexit. UK VAT is now added at 20% on all imported items and the lower rate for antique coins seems to have disappeared into the noise. Duty is also applied on coins over £139. The seller is not informed that the taxes have been paid and this means that they cannot declare the item as havindg had duty paid. The item can be perceived as requiring to be taxed again as there is no papaer evidence from the seller that the duty has been paid.

Paying duty twice is not a fair scenario.

I think that you are referriing to the "eBay's foreign shipping service" which is transparent as the seller is involved and does mark the item as appropriate. From the start of January this year, as a result of the UK formally leaving the EU, ebay does this for all purchases from outside the UK and adds the VAT without any involvement from the seller whatsoever. I have had packages delivered that has no HMRC markings whatsoever. If customs had looked at these packages which were disclosed with their value on the customs declaration then there was no evidence that VAT had already been paid and they would then have applied VAT with handling charges within the UK. This would certainly be double tax.

Add to this that many sellers don't declare "ancient coins" on their customs declarations to avoid drawing the attention of thieves within the shipping route and just something akin to "goods" then HMRC will also add duty.

It is then incumbent on the receiver to attempt to reclaim any duty and vat post receipt as they have to pay these and additional handling fees charged by the postal service or courier in order to receive the item.

Under the ebay foreign shipping service ebay decided the VAT rate and set it at 20% for ancient coins where it should have been set at 5%. They also added VAT to the shipping. The total always seemed to be about 21% of the combined total of the item plus shipping. It never came out at 20%.

Well as for shipping, I have found out now that if I ship overseas and I use "ship cover" which works overseas better, if I put less for a declared value for the buyer, the shipping insurance would not work if the item is lost. Ship cover sees the original form I typed out. As for what I write the item is, I am quite sure this is all quite confusing as ebay puts what it is from the title of the auction automatically, and not the whole title just so many characters, so this might be written on a coin sale, "Time of Maximinus II 'Persecution of Christians Issue'" which probably means nothing to anyone. But on ebay you struggle with the limited characters and you want to highlight to buyers who know exactly what category they are in, the unique points of the auction and that is a good title to get interest in the auction. Like I am in the ancient coins category, why waste valuable characters in saying the word "coin" instead of "As" which is more important for the listing. You get up at 6 am and have to print before driving to work by 8 am to teach, you are just not going to be creative.