Sending hardware to friend, possible to claim VAT?

[arthurleung]

My friend in China want to buy a few 300G HDDs but no shop would stock it. Even if he order its like double the price of UK's ex-vat price. So he asked me can I ship him a few of them.

What I need to do to claim back the VAT? And what is the requirement?

[Jonny M]

You have to be a business, and it has to be a business related purchase. Then you'd have to charge your friend VAT when you sold the drives to him.

[XA04]

You have to be a business, and it has to be a business related purchase. Then you'd have to charge your friend VAT when you sold the drives to him.

What about charging him 0.1% VAT?


Can't he just transfer the money to your bank account, you go and buy them, then go send them?

[arthurleung]

What about charging him 0.1% VAT?


Can't he just transfer the money to your bank account, you go and buy them, then go send them?

But I will be taxed VAT in UK for buying it here, and he'll probably be charged import tax too when he get it in China. Double-taxed is not a good idea

You have to be a business, and it has to be a business related purchase. Then you'd have to charge your friend VAT when you sold the drives to him.

He is not even in EU...

[XA04]

Sorry got a little confused.

When you buy it, and you send it to him, if you mark it when you send it as been a gift - I don't think there is any import tax and such.

That's what people from Hong Kong do when they send me things (off eBay), and when I sold something to someone in Austria I marked it as Gift and they didn't get charged anything either?

[arthurleung]

Sorry got a little confused.

When you buy it, and you send it to him, if you mark it when you send it as been a gift - I don't think there is any import tax and such.

That's what people from Hong Kong do when they send me things (off eBay), and when I sold something to someone in Austria I marked it as Gift and they didn't get charged anything either?

Probably my bad English. What I want to do is the reverse. Instead of mailing from an Untaxed area into EU and being charged VAT, I want to buy here and mail from here BACK TO China and ask for my paid VAT back. Wondering if that is possible. I know you can do something like that when you travel outbound (outside EU) in Heathrow airport. Just I want to find a way to do this via mailing instead.

[HyeongSeong]

I think you are confused about the difference between vat and duty tax. They are not the same thing , vat is 17.5 where duty free is 15% (? I think ). Only the buyer can clam back duty tax from hight street shops with your passport ( provide you are not form EU and you are going outside EU within 3 month of buying the stuff). This doesn't applie to the online stores.