Double VAT when forwarding: why, and how to limit it

It is the question we get most often from customers outside the EU: why do I pay tax twice on the same product? Once the Dutch VAT in the shop price, and on delivery once more the VAT or sales tax of my own country. The answer is not pleasant, but it is honest: that is correct, and it is not a mistake by the web shop, the carrier or us.

In this article we explain where that double charge comes from, in which cases it does not occur at all, and the three things that do keep the amount in check. And without false promises: anyone who says a forwarding address lets you avoid VAT is saying something that is not true.

Why you pay twice

A Dutch web shop sells to the address you enter when ordering, and that is our address in the Netherlands. For the shop that is an ordinary domestic delivery, so Dutch VAT is included in the price. Export without VAT does exist, but only when the seller itself ships to an address outside the EU and can prove that with transport documents.

As a private customer you generally cannot reclaim that Dutch VAT through a forwarding address. The travellers' scheme only applies when you leave the EU yourself with the items in your luggage, with a customs stamp at the border; a parcel we ship does not fall under it. When the parcel then enters your country, your customs sees an import from outside its own territory and charges its own VAT or tax, usually on the value plus the shipping cost, and often import duty on top.

When it is not double

Within the EU this does not happen. If you have a parcel forwarded to Germany, France, Ireland or Poland, it passes no customs: the Dutch VAT you paid at the web shop is the only one, and nothing is added on delivery. The exceptions are excise goods such as alcohol and tobacco, and areas outside the EU VAT zone, such as the Canary Islands.

Outside the EU it depends on your country's threshold. Many countries only charge from a certain value per shipment; if your parcel stays below it, the import VAT lapses and often the import duty too, and you only pay the Dutch VAT that was already in the shop price. Which countries have a threshold and how high it is varies a lot and changes regularly. The current rule per destination, with source and reference date, is on our country pages.

Three ways to limit the amount

One: bundle your orders. The tax on the value does not change, but the fixed costs do. Outside the EU the carrier charges a clearance fee per shipment, and with three separate parcels you pay it three times, with one bundled shipment once. Two: look at your country's threshold. One shipment that stays below it is perfectly legitimate; artificially splitting one large order into pieces is not, and customs may merge those pieces again.

Three, and this is not a way to save but a way to avoid trouble: the customs value must match the invoice from the web shop. We always declare the actual purchase value, with your invoice as proof. Declaring a lower value is fraud; with a risk of seizure and fines. The honest way to pay less is therefore choosing what you order and how you bundle it, not what goes on the form.

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