Shipping to the UK

1 January 2021

Brexit has happened and one of the consequences was a change in how the UK tax authorities are dealing with import shipments. Now the exporter (for instance Straps to Go) is required to create an account with UK Tax and collect VAT on all shipments going to the UK. The exporter must then file a statement quarterly with UK Tax and remit and taxes collected.

For an exporter this requires enough business in the UK to cover the costs of managing the receipts and reimbursement to the government. Straps to Go is not in the position to handle this burden.

The only option that is available to us is to ship by United Parcel Service. This is much more expensive than putting something in the mail, additionally UPS uses a Customs Broker to handle collection of taxes and duties and they charge the importer for this service on top of the shipping costs.

There seem to be exceptions for Business to Business sales where the importer can provide us with their VAT Registration Number. I am not sure how the US Postal System will deal with this so if you are a business wishing to import from us please give us the particulars and we will investigate further.

At £135 the rules change again since duty will be collected. Again, contact us if you have an order that exceeds this amount.

Otherwise we have no economical way to ship to the UK at this time.

Further reading from UK.gov

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Rollie Herman

President of Straps to Go's parent company, Westpac Marine Services, Inc. Bicycle rider, cook, husband to an avid gardener

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