Bitcoin Forum

Hi,

I am wondering how much is the VAT of the S1 in the UK. Im not sure how the VAT works, because Im not british. Since I'm from Hong Kong only in the UK for study, can I be exempt from paying VAT?

Thanks

vat's 20%. it's quite hard to escape it. maybe try claiming you're intending to re-export the box when you go home?

Being British doesn't help with knowing how VAT works, its a frikken minefield!

Generally everything a company sells has VAT attracted to it unless that company sells less than approximately £79,000 per year but the calculation to see if the company qualifies is done quarterly.

If you import or export anything into or from the UK to or from an EEC country then there is no extra VAT to pay as there are double taxation agreements in place to stop VAT being paid twice.

If you import anything from anywhere else in the world then you have to pay VAT on the purchase price paid for the item at the rateable value for the item you are buying, normally 20%. If the seller claims it cost £1 but really cost £1,000 then the UK tax man can claim that you need to pay more to release the item or apply it retrospectively for decades afterwards.

The VAT thing is very complicated, even though after trying to read the HM Revenue & Customs page (http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageVAT_ShowContent&id=HMCE_CL_000114&propertyType=document#P21_1043).

Why can UK be like HK, no VAT what so ever (HK = paradise).

So what do bitmain declare their S1 value?

Thanks

My latest was USD 120.00 which came to £39.04 VAT.

Those that choose the USD 1,900.00 option instead will pay far more.

£39.04 VAT is quite expensive... But why do people choose the USD1,900 one when we can pay less by choosing the lower declared value?

They choose it because they are covered with insurance if the package doesn't arrive.

I think that they are worried that the tax authorities might do them for fraud.

An interesting point that Beastly bring up as non-delivery has not been brought up to my knowledge on the threads with Bitmain or Sushi. As Bitmain sent the parcel only they can claim any insurance, and it is their responsibility to see that the parcel is delivered, so the receiver would not care what the value is on the package. The sender might but then I wonder what the real cost price plus shipping would be for an S1, $120, any other guesses?

If bitmain declares around £120 then I can still afford to pay the VAT, but if they declare like £1200 (or the original price) then I don't think it's worth it. The chances of UPS losing your parcel is minimal, according to my research using google ::) . Declaring a lower value doesn't harm you since they do arrive without breaking.

Still don't really understand VAT... I thought import tax is between one country and a company, not country and buyer?

VAT is not Import Duty. The Import Duty on Computer Accessories is zero rated meaning that no duty or tax is required to be paid.

VAT is an extra tax required to be paid on purchases regardless of where the item was purchased, it could be within the UK, EEC or any country in the world. It doesn't matter if it is brought by a person or a company.

No. You have to pay it unless you are only here for a genuine holiday or business trip. Then you can claim back the VAT paid when you leave the UK - there are dedicated desks at the airports.

But if you get one sent to another country from the UK, you don't pay vat, but you might have to pay import duty .