The new reform from the European Union regarding compulsory VAT for all products from third countries has not pleased anyone. At AliExpress, everything became more expensive by 20% (as far as Slovakia is concerned) and fees have also been added Slovak Post for customs proceedings. However, the sellers at AliExpress came up with a clever trick on how to avoid VAT.
Some stores like Banggood or Geekbuying however, they remained, almost, the old way, and the only thing you pay when ordering from a Chinese warehouse is the Slovak Post fee. You will not pay anything extra from the EU warehouse from these stores. But let's take a closer look at AliExpress.
The skilful Chinese invented themselves
However, the trick of Chinese sellers is only applicable to packages over 150 €, because a fee other than VAT must already be paid here, same duty. Products over €150, which are available in both the Chinese and European warehouse, can be ordered "as is" from the Chinese warehouse, but the seller will still send it to you from the European warehouse. Of course, the given product must also be available in the EU warehouse.
Above 150 € namely, Aliexpress does not automatically collect VAT, because by default this amount may also incur a duty payment, which is a different fee from VAT.
All packages over 150 € undergo standard customs procedures, as was the case before the new law, nothing has changed in this. Of course, this only applies to packages from third countries (ie China).
The whole trick is that the goods look as if they were ordered from a Chinese warehouse, so over 150 € you do not pay VAT, but the seller actually sends it from a European warehouse. And since packages transported within the EU are no longer subject to customs clearance or any additional charges, the seller at Aliexpress will save you an additional 20%.
The trick is based on these rules, which you can see in the picture above.
It works like this with this vacuum cleaner from Viomi (a subsidiary of Xiaomi), where the procedure is also indicated in the figures in the product description. If we find more than one such product, we will definitely let you know in the form of an article on the web, so turn on notifications, subscribe to our newsletter or follow our Facebook.
I do not understand that:(
In this example, purchases over 150EUR.
Why would I order the vacuum cleaner from CN, when I can order it from PL for the same price and also without shipping fee.
If the condition is that the goods must be in EU storage, then I will order them directly from the EU, why from the CN?
What am I missing?
Hello. The point is that AliExpress, as a marketplace / platform, does not automatically collect VAT (as referred to in the figure on VAT collection in this article) for products with a value above 150 € from Chinese warehouses. The seller is responsible for this, and therefore in the basket, in the step before paying for the order itself, where normally 20% VAT is added, or The VAT of the country of delivery is "as if VAT is not payable from the Chinese warehouse". If you order from an EU warehouse, VAT is automatically collected by AliExpress and you cannot avoid a 20% price increase. With this trick, the seller tells AliExpress that the goods are from a Chinese warehouse and AliExpress does not automatically apply the VAT item in the cart. The goods from the EU warehouse are not detained at the customs office and therefore do not have to deal with customs duties and possibly additional VAT. We already ordered the product from the EU warehouse from Aliexpress and it arrived without additional charges.
I agree, it's not clear to me either.
Where can I guarantee that the seller will send it from an eu warehouse and not from China?