A lot of people in the press, either deliberately or through lack of knowledge are confusing two things I think.
(1) On January 1 we left the EU
(2) On January 1 the EU was supposed to introduce wholesale reform to the way VAT was treated for all business to consumer purchases from outside the EU. We were applying the same changes.
The second point above was part of package of measures to targeted at the likes of Amazon and eBay, to make them the tax collector rather than supplier. It meant that all non EU purchases would be subject to VAT, where previously a €150 exemption existed. It also ensured that all shipments into the EU that should have duty applied were caught, whereas previously many (most?) small purchases slipped under the radar. It was accompanied by the roll-out of a single EU VAT return and a One Stop Shop approach requiring VAT registration in just one EU country. It makes the platform responsible not the supplier. The supplier is still responsible for all product quality matters.
Howeve, due to COVID the EU has delayed their changes until July. I expect it’ll be pushed back further. We however ploughed on, reasonably given that we needed to change things anyway.
The net result is that B2C exporters from the EU assumed they’d have until July to implement the changes, not realising (or not realising the impact of) imports into the U.K. would be subject to the new rules from January. And in return B2C exporters from the U.K. (or at least those who’d given it any thought...) assumed they’d be able to use the One Stop Shop legislation to just register in one EU country for VAT.
That’s my take on it. Of course both in the U.K. and EU far too many companies have not done enough preparation and that’s confusing matters even more
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