[Duggeh]

Mark you do pay VAT on goods bought outside the EU. The circumvention would be to pick it up in person and bring it back by hand, or to fudge the details on the import forms. The flipside is that you do not pay any VAT/Sales tax on the cost of the item in the country it was made in as it has not been sold in that country.

 

[royhendo]

It's a good idea to get a trusted contact in the USA who can forward it 'as a gift'.

 

[digivate]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mark2410 /img/forum/go_quote.gif yes and you did not in addition then pay VAT, did you? VAT is a tax on the sale of goods or services within the UK. you dont pay it on goods bought out side the country. royal mails rip off charges for doing their job are nothing to do with anything

Sorry Mark but I really think you're wrong on this one.

 

[mark2410]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Duggeh /img/forum/go_quote.gif Mark you do pay VAT on goods bought outside the EU. The circumvention would be to pick it up in person and bring it back by hand, or to fudge the details on the import forms. The flipside is that you do not pay any VAT/Sales tax on the cost of the item in the country it was made in as it has not been sold in that country.

i would not define any import duty / customs charges as being VAT whether they financially result in the same. VAT is a tax on the sale of goods or services in the UK

hmrc opting t start calling import duties "import VAT" doesnt legally make it and VAT the same thing

 

[digivate]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mark2410 /img/forum/go_quote.gif i would not define any import duty / customs charges as being VAT whether they financially result in the same. VAT is a tax on the sale of goods or services in the UK hmrc opting t start calling import duties "import VAT" doesnt legally make it and VAT the same thing

Quite right Mark ... I'm sure you know more about the "legal" side of this stuff than HM Revenue and Customs do.

 

[Duggeh]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mark2410 /img/forum/go_quote.gif i would not define any import duty / customs charges as being VAT whether they financially result in the same. VAT is a tax on the sale of goods or services in the UK hmrc opting t start calling import duties "import VAT" doesnt legally make it and VAT the same thing

When something is sold to someone within the UK, You pay VAT on it unless it falls under one of the few excepted catagories (biscuits, baby clothes etc). Petrol has VAT plus fuel duty, tobacco has VAT plus tobacco duty, beer has VAT plus alcohol duty at the beer rate (different rates for different drinks).

And impored goods have VAT plus import duty.

You are under the false impression that import VAT, or just VAT on imports is somehow a different name or term for import duty. Import duty and VAT are seperate things and are not the same in how they are calculated. And both apply to any imported goods over a certain value. Rates for duty vary on what types of goods they are, and VAT is excepted if the goods fall under one of the exepted catagories. Neither is applied for goods under a certain value, which is very low, and slightly higher than very low for gifts.

 

[communic]

Mark have you been on the cr@ck again! As an accountant I deal with issues like this frequently. Handheldaudio's price is actually not bad if it includes shipping and impressions, I might consider an audition of the jh13's from them if I get a chance.

To clear things up, VAT and customs duty are two entirely separate entitities. I'm not sure if the JH13 $1099 price includes local sales tax or not but lets assume it doesn't for the below explanation.

Since handheldaudio are a business they will buy the JH13's at $1099 (£657) and be charged VAT on it @ 15% (£99) the moment it hits the UK. I'm pretty sure they are above the VAT threshold (~£68k turnover) and as such are VAT registered (may even be voluntary registered). As such they will be able to claim back that 15% (£99) from the hmrc. So they've essentially paid £657 for the goods so far.

They are selling to you in the UK and since they are registered for VAT they have to charge you, Mark, the consumer, VAT @ 15% hence, £756 (£657 + £99). Now, do they get to keep the £99 they have charged you? No!! This VAT you are being charged is then later collected by the taxman as Handheldaudio in this case is acting as the middleman to collect these taxes on behalf of the hmrc from you. All this will appear on HA's vat return.

When you factor in cost of impressions (~£20), all shipping costs to completion (maybe £15/unit?), currency conversions etc., there is roughly a £60 difference between UK/US price. Not the worst of discrepancies for the average consumer to avoid the perceived hassles of buying from the US.

 

[timmyGCSE]

Quote:

Originally Posted by communic /img/forum/go_quote.gif Mark have you been on the cr@ck again! As an accountant I deal with issues like this frequently. Handheldaudio's price is actually not bad if it includes shipping and impressions, I might consider an audition of the jh13's from them if I get a chance. To clear things up, VAT and customs duty are two entirely separate entitities. I'm not sure if the JH13 $1099 price includes local sales tax or not but lets assume it doesn't for the below explanation. Since handheldaudio are a business they will buy the JH13's at $1099 (£657) and be charged VAT on it @ 15% (£99) the moment it hits the UK. I'm pretty sure they are above the VAT threshold (~£68k turnover) and as such are VAT registered (may even be voluntary registered). As such they will be able to claim back that 15% (£99) from the hmrc. So they've essentially paid £657 for the goods so far. They are selling to you in the UK and since they are registered for VAT they have to charge you, Mark, the consumer, VAT @ 15% hence, £756 (£657 + £99). Now, do they get to keep the £99 they have charged you? No!! This VAT you are being charged is then later collected by the taxman as Handheldaudio in this case is acting as the middleman to collect these taxes on behalf of the hmrc from you. All this will appear on HA's vat return. When you factor in cost of impressions (~£20), all shipping costs to completion (maybe £15/unit?), currency conversions etc., there is roughly a £60 difference between UK/US price. Not the worst of discrepancies for the average consumer to avoid the perceived hassles of buying from the US.

better explanation that I could do.
Shipping from JH Audio to the UK is £40/$75, and shipping from UK to USA is between £20-£30 depending on the courier and service used. Impressions are more like £40 so the difference really is even smaller

got my audition this afternoon

 

[SpudHarris]

Deleted

 

[timmyGCSE]

Went to handheld audio. I listened to all 6 demo units, i.e the entire JH lineup. I spent about 2 hours in total listening and then Nick did ear impressions for me incase I decide to order. He didn't charge for the impressions..well its all included in the price of the monitor but if I decide not to order anything I won't be charged for the impressions. If I do decide to order nick just said drop him an email with what I want, he will sort it and when they come back all done I make the payment.

Some quick thoughts:

JH5: a nice little one, quite warm, big bass, felt it was outdone in most areas apart from bass by the SE530s with custom sleeves. Would be a very nice budget custom though.

JH7: this to me is what a SE530 should sound like. Visceral bass impact and better treble, pretty nice mids too. I liked the 7's a lot

JH10: I didn't spend long with these, maybe 5 minutes, out of all of them I found these to be the most flat and the least amount of bass. They were nice but the sound sig wasn't for me

JH10x3: wonderful. Simply outstanding, it crushed anything I've ever previously listened to. Strong bass, beautiful mids, crisp highs, soundstage better than I've ever heard, detail so fantastic. I liked these so much, I spent in total about an hour listening to them.

JH11: I was looking forward to listening to these. I was a bit disappointed, the low bass hump, whilt not encroaching on the mids was off putting on a lot of songs, this may be good for some but it just distracted me too much.

JH13: after the JH10x3 I thought naa you can't top that. But jesus...seriously, yea I understand there are 3 extra driver per ear but what the hell? These are just...unreal. what really shocked me was the detail, how much they completely pulled me into the music, the soundstage, oh just everything. Seriously, everything, I loved these so much, too much, I felt like I was enjoying the music far too much.

But I will have to see, if I can afford the JH13's I will but the 10x3's are amazing and would be very happy with them.

 

[Musicdiddy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by timmyGCSE /img/forum/go_quote.gif But I will have to see, if I can afford the JH13's I will but the 10x3's are amazing and would be very happy with them.

Did they quote you a price for the 10x3's?

Like you I would love the JH13's but justifying the price, well.............

 

[timmyGCSE]

Including all the impressions shipping etc blah blah let's not start that again these are the prices inclusive of vat:
JH5: £402
JH7: £600
JH7 & JH10X3: £690
JH11: £725
JH13: £862

 

[Musicdiddy]

As an accountant I deal with issues like this frequently. Handheldaudio's price is actually not bad if it includes shipping and impressions, I might consider an audition of the jh13's from them if I get a chance.

QUOTE]

As an accountant could I ask you a question about VAT/Import charges.
If I purchase something from the States but then decide to send it back for a refund, can I and how do I, claim back the taxes that I have paid on the item.
Sorry if this has been covered before.

 

[timmyGCSE]

I placed my order with HHA Friday last week. JH Audio got my impressions yesterday - Wednesday, 3 working days after placing the order, not bad for transatlantic shipping

Nick at HHA will generate the invoice for me this week as to avoid the VAT increase then I can make payment on 4th Jan, I was worried about the 1st Jan VAT increase but thats a result

 

[episiarch]

I finally started getting serious about ordering a set for myself. However now that the JH Audio products are on the HHA website, it appears that the prices are up significantly. Here are the currently posted prices including VAT (and also converted to US$ at today's rates).

JH10x3 Pro ... £734.38 ... $1,144.68
JH11 Pro ... £775.50 ... $1,208.77
JH13 Pro ... £963.50 ... $1,501.81
JH16 Pro ... £1,016.38 ... $1,584.23

Assuming that the shipping/VAT/customs estimates that timmyGCSE did in post #13 still hold (except for a VAT increase amounting to roughly £20 or $30, I think), it looks like the gap between ordering from HHA and ordering direct from the USA has broadened by £80 or $125 in favour of ordering direct from the USA.