Brexit Information

Since the UK left the EU much has changed in the way we do business with Europe; Most of these changes involve costs related to the processing of paperwork and VAT in your country.

At first glance, it might seem overwhelming but once you’ve got the basics down, it's relatively straightforward to navigate the Brexit maze.

We’re here to help and our team is on hand to answer any questions or guide you to the relevant resource. Hopefully, this guide will help you get started.

In order to trade goods with countries outside of the EU, you need an Economic Operator Registration and Identification number (that’s EORI for short).

This number is unique to you or your business and is assigned by your country’s customs authority. Your EORI number replaces the previous VAT process we used before Brexit.

If you are VAT registered in your own country, it’s really easy to apply for an EORI number online if you don’t already have one.

If you’re not sure if you have one, speaking to your accountant would be a good place to start and you can check your number’s still valid by visiting the European Union’s EORI number validation page.

The bad news is WBC will not be able to trade with you if you don’t have your EORI number, and there’s no getting around it. Most couriers have this as a mandatory field, and if it’s not filled in, your parcel won’t ship, or you’ll incur nasty delays or worse still, the goods will be returned at a cost to all parties.

The good news is, it’s pretty straightforward to get one and of course, if you have one already, that’s even better because we’re one step closer to doing business with you.

Click here to find Customs Info for your country.

If you are VAT registered you can claim back the VAT payment using your normal VAT reclaim process.

If you do have an EORI number but are NOT VAT registered we can still ship to you, but you will be charged VAT on import and unable to claim back the cost.

A Revenue Trader Account Number (TAN) is a number provided by Revenue through which you’re able to make secure payments like import duties and VAT. Once you’re registered for an EORI number, you’ll be assigned a Revenue Trader Account Number (TAN). To locate yours visit ros.ie.

Making sure you have yours to hand will help you avoid additional surcharges.

Couriers now require VAT payment to allow delivery.

WBC uses DPD & UPN for all our international parcel and pallet shipments because, from our experience, their costs and tracking are more reliable than some of the others.

Before your goods are delivered, a DPD customs agent (parcels) or UPN agent TOGA (pallets) will contact you and request your VAT payment. This will be based on the value of your goods. The VAT rate is set by your country., and if you’re VAT registered, you can claim back the tax in the usual way.

The important bit to note:
To streamline the process and avoid any delays, please ensure you give us full contact details including a mobile number (sorry landline is no good) and a working email address so that the couriers can get in touch with you quickly.

Download a List of European VAT Rates

• Delivery charges to the Republic of Ireland are increasing from £25 to £35 for orders under £300. This is to cover additional costs related to export and customs clearance.
• A charge of £100 will be applied to orders over £300. This covers all paperwork and commodity charge costs required to export.
• Please note there will always be a €35 euro charge passed on to you by the broker which relates to customs clearance within the Republic of Ireland. Which includes 3 commodity codes with each code charged at €1.50 thereafter.

WBC uses both DPD and UPN for shipping goods to Ireland.

Parcel Deliveries

DPD has employed customs clearance agents who will deal with your shipment.

Unfortunately, there is currently no option to defer the payment or for you to use your own clearing agent.

Duty and VAT is separate to the admin delivery charge and is payable by you the customer.

Pallet Deliveries
Our pallet carrier, UPN, uses TOGA as their customs clearance agents.

TOGA will deal with the export process from start to finish. There is no option to defer payment or for you to use your own clearing agent.

There are numerous complex new processes that need to be followed which is why the pallet carriers need to control the process from start to finish. But that’s probably good news for all of us because in doing so, they will help to minimise delays that could arise if relying on 3rd parties to provide time-sensitive information.

Once the goods have shipped, DPD or TOGA will contact you for payment of any duty and VAT charges that apply prior to making the delivery.

Payment
When DPD or TOGA contact you, it’s recommended to comply with any fees levied within 48hrs or the goods may be placed into storage which could incur additional fees. It is important to know that WBC has no control over these costs or processes.
 
Please note that VAT is charged on the value of the goods (including the delivery and administration cost) but if you are VAT registered you can claim that back.

Collections
If you want to collect from WBC and use your own haulier and clearing agents, please call our sales team who will be able to facilitate this process.

A large proportion of our products are duty-free when imported into the EU.

However, some lines may have a small amount of duty to pay. In order to check with your own Customs’ authority please contact us on 020 7737 4040 to get the relevant tariff codes that you can share with your local Customs office or by putting the information into the TARIC website.

Simply access the database and insert the Commodity Code and Country of Origin to bring up the relevant Duty rate.

These are also called HS codes and are universally recognised.

Extra things worth noting:

• Any duty payable cannot be paid by WBC and will be added to the costs charged by DPD & UPN, payable at the same time as the VAT.
  
  
• Without your TAN number, our Freight Forwarders UPN/TOGA will levy an additional charges to use their account.
  
  

• Duty charges cannot be reclaimed from your government. Only VAT can be reclaimed if you are VAT registered.
  

Unfortunately, the leadtime to ship goods into Europe has been affected due to the new controls and procedures that need to be followed.

The key to making this process as simple and painless as possible is to make sure you have your EORI number, contact telephone number and email address when placing your order, allowing DPD or TOGA customs agents to contact you and clear your goods as quickly as possible.

So when you call us to place your order, here’s your checklist to help you remember:

• Give us your EORI &TAN number
  
  
• Contact details
  
  
• Pay as soon as possible
  
  
• Leave 1 - 2 weeks for DPD shipments (parcels) and 2 - 3 weeks for UPN (pallets)
  
  
• Enjoy your new WBC products