Customs Duty on Meds

[Quigleyandme]

I ordered a bottle of Switch from Viovet and I’ve just paid the UPS driver €25.79 comprising €7.34 in taxes and €18.45 in “other”. This is on top of the delivery charge I paid Viovet. I haven’t found an Irish distributor of Switch and my vet can only offer a 1% permethrin solution whereas Switch is 4%. Does anyone know where I can buy Switch online in Ireland or mainland Europe? Seamus is huge so needs the maximum dosage of 40mls per week so a bottle doesn’t last long. Alternatively if I asked my son to send it to me from the UK would I still get stuck with the extra charges or is it a courier thing? How do I know the ”other” charges have been calculated and levied correctly? The Switch cost about €24 so I’ve paid +100% import charges. Any advice/info greatly appreciated as always.

 

[Mrs. Jingle]

I feel your pain , I am getting the same issues here with the new Brexit set up.

I know it isn't licensed for horses here but I use Butox cattle pour on for all of them, including donkeys, for lice in the spring, and for midges throughout the summer. And it does seem to help my SI mare so I use it once a month throughout the summer on her too. But the main ingredient is Deltamethrin so maybe not any good to you as you are specifically talking about permethrin with Switch? https://www.agridirect.ie/product/butox-pouron

 

[Quigleyandme]

Thanks MJ. I have some Butox from when Seamus had Little Seamus the cyst surgically removed from his shoulder so I’ll give it a go. It just troubles me that UPS can assert these are the import duties on your parcel end of. Paying 100% plus for veterinary medicines just seems wrong. It is hardly a luxury good.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Thanks MJ. I have some Butox from when Seamus had Little Seamus the cyst surgically removed from his shoulder so I’ll give it a go. It just troubles me that UPS can assert these are the import duties on your parcel end of. Paying 100% plus for veterinary medicines just seems wrong. It is hardly a luxury good.

Thanks MJ. I have some Butox from when Seamus had Little Seamus the cyst surgically removed from his shoulder so I’ll give it a go. It just troubles me that UPS can assert these are the import duties on your parcel end of. Paying 100% plus for veterinary medicines just seems wrong. It is hardly a luxury good.

If I were you I would question that with UPS, it sounds to me as if the courier could be making a profit here. I would be very surprised if a courier were expected to collect and carry money, it would put them at risk

 

[CanteringCarrot]

If I were you I would question that with UPS, it sounds to me as if the courier could be making a profit here. I would be very surprised if a courier were expected to collect and carry money, it would put them at risk

I've had this happen to me before in Germany. Sometimes the delivery man asks for it directly, sometimes he gives me a slip of paper to bring to the post office in town. Maybe it depends on the amount.

 

[Quigleyandme]

The box has a huge yellow sticker with the charges printed on it issued by UPS but the driver put my money in his trouser pocket. It was however all coins from my piggy bank so he may have just wanted to transport it safely to his vehicle. I feel for them actually. It must be horrible being the recipient of complaints and grumbling when people are told they have to pay a lot to get their stuff. He did give me the option of not accepting the parcel but Seamus needs his meds. I let him get in the most God awful state last year because I didn’t know he had sweet itch. He is rather an aloof horse and naughty to catch. If I walked towards him he would move away so the twice daily checks on him were from enough distance that I didn’t see his poor, swollen, raw, bleeding ears, eyes, sheath and midline. He had a fly sheet on so the rest of him was protected. It’s an ill wind though because he loved his pamper sessions with the soothing lotions and Sudocrem and baby talk and kisses and he’s my hulking great shadow now.

 

[PurBee]

Have all small stuff sent to your son, he re-sends it to you with value below 30 quid, and as gift.

The viovet order plus p&p plus vat probably just pushed your order over the value range for applying import charges.

However, if your seller didnt add import charges when you paid youve been really scammed as the customs bods add a ‘admin’ fee , ontop of the import %.

The postage/import/vat uk-ireland system is a complete mess at the moment.

In reality, you shouldnt be charged the UK vat for products if theyre over a certain value, (think its 35 pounds?)..then when you get import charges it kinda evens out ...but now that product in ireland youll find same value as the ‘whole’ price youve just paid to get it from the uk, with all the charges.

Helps to have a uk friend who’ll post it on ?


There’s no saving to be had anymore by getting it ‘legit’ from the uk with extra charges. i’m looking to europe to get stuff now, germany has excellent fast cheap courier rates, and loads of horse products websites.
If you use chrome internet browser it’ll auto translate websites. So go to google.de for german websites, google.fr for france, google.nl for netherlands and browse their countries websites - have chrome auto translate all pages. If you search google uk or ie for anything and then add the country you want to browse, you’ll find you won’t get many of that countries websites come up.

 

[Mrs. Jingle]

Even An Post slaps on hefty charges when they deliver items to me from the UK.

Really fed up with it - but on the plus size my own little business has exploded with new EU and Irish customers now they suddenly realize what it costs to get items from the UK and how much cheaper to shop within the EU or at home within Ireland. So I wont grumble too much about the few things I buy for myself from the UK. Mind you I have yet to see what fantastical import duty and VAT charges my new stock will cost me when it comes from outside the EU next month!!

 

[druid]

Viovet have two delivery streams and one is Delivery Duty Paid (i.e. nothing due on delivery). Maybe ask if Switch can be sent that way

Shipping to the EU
If you are ordering from our website for delivery into the EU, from 11pm on the 31st of December 2020 the process will change slightly and delivery will be made by one of the following methods depending on which EU country your delivery is being sent to:
Delivery Duty Paid
For this delivery method, you will be charged a price at the checkout that includes all relevant duties, taxes and delivery fees and the package will be sent with the necessary customs documents to clear the border and arrive at your address. There will be no other payments required by you in this process.
Delivery Duty Unpaid
For this delivery method, you will be charged a price at the checkout with all relevant duties and taxes deducted. This price will be lower than that in the Delivery Duty Paid method and will include the delivery fee. The package will be sent with all necessary customs documents to clear the border, but the courier will email you if there are any country specific taxes to pay. They will provide an easy method for you to pay and once they have received this, they will deliver to your address.
You will be notified at checkout which method your delivery will use depending on the delivery country and we will also state this on the order confirmation email.

 

[PurBee]

Even An Post slaps on hefty charges when they deliver items to me from the UK.

Really fed up with it - but on the plus size my own little business has exploded with new EU and Irish customers now they suddenly realize what it costs to get items from the UK and how much cheaper to shop within the EU or at home within Ireland. So I wont grumble too much about the few things I buy for myself from the UK. Mind you I have yet to see what fantastical import duty and VAT charges my new stock will cost me when it comes from outside the EU next month!!

yes i imagine irish retail has had a boost all-round, bar what covid is doing to the industry at the moment. Brexit is a great boost for the irish economy is some ways....whether that’ll out-run the negatives financially i dont know...

if only i could order a pint online! All the poor publicans that are being crushed right now would have even better trade than theyve ever known!

Depending on what sector of goods youre importing depends on import and tax rate. It’s not 1 flat rate, from my initial delvings into it all. Irish customs and excise give a breakdown of the individual classes and charges so you can roughly gauge a ballpark figure from that. Hope your business continues to thrive!

 

[Keith_Beef]

If I were you I would question that with UPS, it sounds to me as if the courier could be making a profit here. I would be very surprised if a courier were expected to collect and carry money, it would put them at risk

In my experience, all the shipping companies that deliver to private individuals will collect duty and VAT on behalf of the government and charge an administration fee (here in France, it is typically €15).

The driver doesn't collect it as cash on the doorstep, though. The company delivers and invoices you for the duty, VAT and fees (invoice is either attached to the parcel or is sent later), and then you pay either through the company's web site or through its app.

 

[Quigleyandme]

In my experience, all the shipping companies that deliver to private individuals will collect duty and VAT on behalf of the government and charge an administration fee (here in France, it is typically €15).

The driver doesn't collect it as cash on the doorstep, though. The company delivers and invoices you for the duty, VAT and fees (invoice is either attached to the parcel or is sent later), and then you pay either through the company's web site or through its app.

So it seems I paid €18.45 in admin fees. What a scam. The Viovet website stated the duty collecting method you have outlined.

 

[Keith_Beef]

So it seems I paid €18.45 in admin fees. What a scam. The Viovet website stated the duty collecting method you have outlined.

I agree, the admin fees are ridiculously high. I can understand that the carriage company wants to charge for invoicing, receiving and passing on the duty and VAT, but a retailer selling within the UK also collects VAT on each sale and passes that on the the government. And if you, as a private individual, wanted to send a parcel by one of these companies, you'd pay VAT which would then be passed on to the government, in any case. So it's not as if the carriage company has had to shell out millions to have new features to its computer systems.

I've been looking at the Revenue's website, and I don't think you can get an exemption from duty and VAT on fly repellent.