Since my education was paid for by the Finnish tax payer, I feel obligated to buy and advocate for Finnish products.

Before moving to Singapore I imported a Helkama bike which I loved.

In 2024 I ordered an ingenious tennis ball device. Cost 199EUR + 30EUR shipping.

However this purchase had 52.81GBP of fees and taxes!

Why?

tl;dr 20% VAT (~40GBP to HMRC) and handling (~12GBP to UPS) 🤯

Pre-Brexit

As Finland was a member of the European Union, there were generally no customs duties or import VAT applied to goods moving between EU member states. This frictionless trade was a key benefit of the EU’s single market and customs union.

Post-Brexit

For goods valued over £135, VAT is usually collected at the point of import. For goods under £135 (excluding gifts), the overseas seller should ideally collect the VAT at the point of sale. However, there can be instances where this isn’t done, and the recipient is charged upon arrival in the UK.

Losers

Any Europhile looking to import directly from sellers in Europe are now penalised. Furthermore sellers in the EU do not want to deal directly with UK sellers due to the poor buying experience and complexity around handling. What a shame!

Can anything be done?

To avoid the 20% charge rejoining the EU would be necessary for the UK to be part of the EU VAT system.