Custom tax on microwave

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shellyd1
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon May 01, 2017 7:45 pm

Custom tax on microwave

Post by shellyd1 » Mon Aug 07, 2017 9:41 am

Hi, my son is living and working in Helsinki and looking to move into another apartment. I would like to send him a microwave, I am in the UK but was going to order it from Amazon Germany, I read that delivery would be free and it would have the correct plug. I would like to know if he would be charged custom tax when he collected it.

Thank you for you help.

Shelly



Custom tax on microwave

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riku2
Posts: 1045
Joined: Tue Jul 08, 2008 10:13 pm

Re: Custom tax on microwave

Post by riku2 » Mon Aug 07, 2017 3:23 pm

provided the microwave comes from an EU country then there is no tax payable. Just because you order from amazon.de doesn't mean it will come from germany though. Many items I order from amazon Germany come from their warehouse in the UK - although it might be a "european" product but stocked in the uk. The Stanley tape measure I ordered from amazon germany was posted from the UK but only had cm markings. One sold in a UK shop (and probably amazon uk) would have cm + inches. One product I ordered from amazon germany was actually posted from Italy.

The thing to beware of is products for sale on amazon de but the retailer is based outside the EU, Amazon is only acting as shop front for these sellers. You need to watch who the "seller" is. This affects the delivery charge also. Only amazon.de offers free delivery (over 29e) to Finland. Other sellers will charge their own rates (or refuse to deliver to Finland altogether).

I would compare the prices of both amazon.co.uk and amazon.de. Changing the plug is about 2 minutes work and there can be a big difference in prices (but amazon.co.uk don't offer free delivery to finland now, they stopped this about 3 years ago).

for both amazon sites the VAT will be recalculated once you enter a delivery address. they display prices with german (or UK) VAT but once you choose a finnish delivery address they remove the german VAT and add finnish VAT instead. this is because their annual sales are above 100k euro. if you buy from somebody that doesn't sell >100k euro of goods to finland then you pay the VAT of the sales country, not the delivery country (but both amazon.de and amazon.co.uk as sellers have finnish sales > 100k euro/year).

finally you might check if gigantti.fi have the product. this is a nordic brand of Dixons and they might have the same microwave there. you could order with click + collect (or delivery to your son). but generally the prices will be more expensive than amazon.de. I have two panasonic microwaves. one bought at Saturn in germany and bought back as checked baggage on lufthansa and one picked up in person from an internet shop when buying a new car. both were substantially cheaper than in finland (>50% difference in price).

shellyd1
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon May 01, 2017 7:45 pm

Re: Custom tax on microwave

Post by shellyd1 » Mon Aug 07, 2017 4:56 pm

Thank you for the replies, lots of good information, I will check out the other sites.

Thanks again

Shelly

PJG
Posts: 93
Joined: Tue Jun 28, 2016 10:13 pm

Re: Custom tax on microwave

Post by PJG » Mon Aug 07, 2017 10:24 pm

Hi Shelly,

Welcome to the forum.

Gigantti are very easy to get to in Finland. Plenty of stores around Helsinki. Order online and send him the pickup details, or order home delivery.

Plenty of options from as little as Eur 39 / GBP 35, with Kenwood microwaves starting at Eur 69 / GBP 62.

shellyd1
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon May 01, 2017 7:45 pm

Re: Custom tax on microwave

Post by shellyd1 » Tue Aug 08, 2017 2:04 pm

Thank you will take a look at Gigantti now.

Shelly


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