VAT and AliExpress

July 1, 2021
Since 1 July 2021, 21% VAT has to be paid for every package outside the EU , also for packages up to €22 that were not taxed until July 1, 2021. This also applies to AliExpress .
Situation before
Before 1 July you did not have to pay VAT for a product with a price up to €0 to €22 , for a product from €22 to €150, on the other hand, 21% VAT had to be paid to customs and also customs clearance costs to the postal company (€22 - €150: PostNL €13). From €150, in addition to VAT and customs clearance costs, you also paid import duties, if applicable. Import duties are not levied on every product.
Current situation
In the current situation you now pay 21% VAT and clearance costs from €0 to €22 (€0 - €22: PostNL €4). As you can see, that will be a very expensive hobby for low priced items! The situation for products from €22 to €150 remains the same, and this also applies to items of €150 or more.
EU scheme
Fortunately, a regulation has been created for this by the EU under the name Import One Stop Shop (IOSS). Webshops that are affiliated with this already settle the VAT directly with the customer so that the postal company, for example PostNL, has nothing to do with this anymore and therefore no longer has to charge customs clearance costs. This saves you €4 in customs clearance costs on purchases up to €150 and €10 on purchases from €150 if the package is delivered by PostNL.
AliExpress
What about AliExpress? Fortunately, AliExpress is affiliated with IOSS, which means that low-priced products do not become exorbitantly more expensive. It has already included the VAT of prices up to €150 in the purchase price. Above €150 it remains the same, then you pay the VAT, import costs and clearance costs to customs. But that does not always appear to be the case, the IOSS regulation also seems to apply to products that are sent via an EU warehouse. This also means that no customs clearance costs are charged.
Example
Do you want to know how much VAT is charged? Then it's a matter of placing the product in the shopping cart, viewing the contents and tapping the question mark next to VAT at the bottom left. You now see how much VAT you have to pay, which is already included in the price. To calculate this, use the following formula:
Grand Total (Bottom, after taking into account shipping costs and discounts) x 21 (VAT rate) ÷ 121 =
1 & 2
In the example below that becomes: €21.11 x 21 ÷ 121 = €3.66
calculate VAT on a laptop bag of €21.11
1
Tapping on VAT included ? gives you a specification of the VAT of this product. If this text is placed next to a product, this means that the VAT will be paid by AliExpress according to IOSS and no further costs will be added.
2
Here the VAT (VAT) of € 3.66 has been calculated, this is already calculated in the Grand total of € 21.11.
To order a phone with a price above €150 in the EU (Spain):
1
Here I order a phone, even though you can't choose a warehouse location here, this phone is shipped from Spain, so within the EU. In the old situation you only paid the shipping costs, but now you also pay VAT on that. As you can see, this product is priced higher than €150, but AliExpress still collects the VAT here.
2
The Original price is a kind of suggested retail price, actually more of a sham. You will not pay this price anywhere on AliExpress. The first discount of 25% is therefore not a real discount. The second discount, or Store Discount, is an official seller discount.
3
Even though the product is priced higher than €150, you do pay the VAT to AliExpress and not to customs.
4
The VAT to be paid, this has already been deducted from the Grand Total of €268.34.
Pay VAT to customs
The IOSS scheme does not apply to products above €150. In this case, the VAT is not stated on the left under the heading VAT, but in the calculation of the Grand Total, this amount is preceded by the mention Price Adjustment? . This amount is calculated on the price of the product minus the discount. AliExpress indicates how much VAT you have to pay to customs, the customs clearance costs and any import duties must also be added that are not listed in the calculation.
To order a robot vacuum cleaner with a price above €150 in China:
1
In this example, I order a robot vacuum cleaner from China. At the bottom of the screen it says Buy it for about € 219.27 , if you tap on this you will end up in the next screen with a calculation of the final price.
2
The Original price is a kind of suggested retail price, actually more of a sham. You will not pay this price anywhere on AliExpress. The first discount of 58% is therefore not a real discount. The second discount, or Store Discount, is an official seller discount.
3
As you can see, the VAT is not included with this order, because the text VAT included is missing. Instead, over the Grand Total entry Price adjustment .
4
After tapping the Price adjustment entry, you will see a text stating that you have to pay the VAT and any other costs, such as customs clearance costs and import duties. These do not fall under IOSS and are therefore not handled by AliExpress.
EU warehouse
Many sellers on AliExpress work with EU warehouses, or European warehouses from which products are shipped. Previously, you could avoid surcharges, such as VAT, import duties and customs clearance costs. That now appears to be a thing of the past, at least as far as VAT is concerned.
To order a robot vacuum cleaner with a price above €150 in the EU (Spain):
1
Here I order the same product, but from Spain , so within the EU. In the old situation you only paid the shipping costs, but now you also pay VAT on that. As you can see, this product is priced higher than €150, but AliExpress still collects the VAT here.
2
The Original price is a kind of suggested retail price, actually more of a sham. You will not pay this price anywhere on AliExpress. The first discount of 58% is therefore not a real discount. The second discount, or Store Discount, is an official seller discount.
3
In contrast to ordering the same product in China, you do pay the VAT to AliExpress and not to customs.
4
The VAT to be paid, this has already been deducted from the Grand Total of €219.27.
Push the price
There are, of course, countless ways to reduce the price in the form of discounts on AliExpress. For example, you can use AliExpress Coupons , Select Coupons and Seller Coupons on many products . But nowadays saving coins is also one of the possibilities to collect a discount. You obtain this by performing actions, such as logging in daily and playing simple games. But don't be tempted to gamble your saved coins by playing slot games.
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