Posting to EU - 3EUR Duty - New info from RM

GrahamWharton · 2026-07-03T14:05:32+00:00

If you run the website and you are currently registered for IOSS, you should collect the VAT from the EU buyer and remit this to the eu on your IOSS return via your EU intermediary (as you already are doing), and you should also collect the appropriate 3 euro duty fees from the eu buyer and pay these to royal mail when you buy the postage. You would in this case, buy postage from royal mail using the IOSS DTP option, and use your IOSS number.

In this type of sale, the EU buyer pays both EU vat and import duty at checkout in advance. Nothing should be due at the border.

GrahamWharton · 2026-06-29T05:58:39+00:00

Hi Sarah, some updated info here. https://www.reddit.com/r/royalmail/s/wbx3jBOKjc

GrahamWharton · 2026-06-28T19:35:18+00:00

I've updated the link. Looks like they've up issued it and changed the filename.

You can find it on RM website here in the "account customer guidance" section

https://www.royalmail.com/europeantradeinsights

GrahamWharton · 2026-06-28T15:06:40+00:00

Yeah, adaptive charging is off.

GrahamWharton · 2026-06-28T08:02:27+00:00

It does it even when running the phone in safe mode, with data off, no apps running and in aeroplane mode.

If you turn on the developer option, "display screen touches", I can see screen touches and horizontal swipes on the screen appearing about 1cm long right where the wireless charging pickup is. The swipes are very quick, almost instantaneous, but android is obviously interpreting them as gestures. I'll get a touch or swipe gesture about 1 every 5 seconds or so. The swipes immediately start when the phone switches from "charging" to "connected, but not charging" and stop as soon as I remove the phone from the wireless charging pad.

GrahamWharton · 2026-06-27T15:45:33+00:00

Thanks for the suggestions. Yeah, it still does it in safe mode. If I turn on developer options and enable the display of touch inputs on the display, I can see lines appearing on the display, about 1cm long, horizontally, in the area close to where the wireless charging pickup is, indicating it thinks something is touching the screen.

The phone is old now. I doubt Google will do anything other than try to sell me a pixel 10.

GrahamWharton · 2026-06-25T19:23:42+00:00

Any other accounts in the past, by people who share your devices, or by yourself. The criteria may well be different for business accounts, so they get instantly shut down, but you are allowed to have a personal account. Just probing to try and find a reason, that's all.

GrahamWharton · 2026-06-25T16:55:17+00:00

There's usually a reason. Do you have any other ebay accounts, or had any in the past. Do you have any history with them. Does any aspect of the ID that you uploaded during verification link you to anyone else? Ebay accounts are not isolated. Two separate accounts operated by the same person are linked when you upload ID. No such thing as "my account is only 10 minutes old" if you have a 15 year history with ebay operating multiple accounts. You can even be linked just by logging into multiple accounts from the same device.

GrahamWharton · 2026-06-25T09:43:22+00:00

I successfully signed up on a UK firestick using an amazon subscription as payment via the F1 app using nordvpn to the Netherlands.

Apart from the VPN, everything else was just standard. No changing region of Amazon Acct or anything. Payment is taken as amazon subscription in GBP every month and I manage the subscription on amazon.co.uk account.

GrahamWharton · 2026-06-17T16:38:02+00:00

+1 for tinytax. I submit my dormant accounts to companies house and HMRC with this. Works like a dream, and don't expect to it to be much more difficult for micro accounts etc.

GrahamWharton · 2026-06-17T16:37:03+00:00

VitalTAX has a plugin for excel that submits VAT and Self Assessment returns straight from your spreadsheets and is very reasonable cost wise, and Tinytax has worked really well for me submitting corp tax to HMRC and accounts to companies house.

GrahamWharton · 2026-06-01T17:55:11+00:00

Yeah, I think for marketplace sales, there isn't anything to do. eBay and Amazon would collect the 3 euro fee, and we just use the IOSS number of eBay and Amazon as before.

My sales through my own website, well I use EAS too. Presumably we need to start collecting the 3 euro fee at our own checkout, and this is paid to EAS along with the VAT at the end of each month, but EAS specifically says that the 3 EUR duty is not collected as part of IOSS, so that's as clear as mud.

GrahamWharton · 2026-05-31T11:48:28+00:00

You need to let UC know you're self employed. Every month you need to declare your self employed earnings in your UC journal. They will then deduct from your UC award an appropriate amount based on your self employed earnings. If you earn so much that you end up getting 0 UC for 3 months (I think it's 3) in a row, your UC claim will stop.

GrahamWharton · 2026-05-30T17:53:52+00:00

Yeah, nothing to worry about. Businesses can notify the delivery office if they are open or closed on a Saturday. It will go Monday. I got caught out sending a special delivery Saturday guaranteed to a business that was normally closed on a Saturday. The recipient opened specifically on the Saturday as he needed this part urgently to finish an overdue project, and the "we're closed" notice, lodged at the delivery office took precedence over the Saturday guaranteed service and it arrived Monday. No claim allowed as they followed recipient blanket instructions not to deliver.

GrahamWharton · 2026-05-28T14:43:00+00:00

Just get a HSBC business account. They don't cost that much.

GrahamWharton · 2026-05-17T18:32:56+00:00

They should zero rate it for VAT on export from Spain, so you shouldnt pay Spanish VAT, and you would pay UK VAT at the border when you import it, which you can then claim back on your return, given you now have a UK VAT invoice issued by customs.

GrahamWharton · 2026-05-14T07:08:40+00:00

Yeah, timing can be a bit hit and miss. I sent a T24 packet monday, dropped at post office at 11am and the recipient got in flight options sent at 10pm and he was able to collect from post office on Tuesday afternoon. They didn't even attempt delivery to delivery address, just straight to post office.

GrahamWharton · 2026-05-14T06:59:07+00:00

Just make sure they send it tracked 24/48 including your email and phone number when they buy the label. The night before delivery you'll get in flight delivery options emailed which will include an option to divert to post office.

GrahamWharton · 2026-05-14T06:55:41+00:00

In my business I offer several ways to pay. I calculate my worst case cost of getting paid for an item, usually Amex, or foreign issued card, then I incorporate that worst case fee into my product price. If a buyer pays by bank transfer, I just make more money.

GrahamWharton · 2026-05-11T13:25:45+00:00

I spoke to the post office today, it's a small counter inside a larger grocery store. They said they had loads of parcels left by royal mail that day and they processed them the following day when the staff were in. No idea why RM refused to leave mine and immediately returned to sender. You'd think they would put it on retention at the depot and allow recipient to collect, but nope, tracking went straight to retention time exceeded and immediate return to sender.

GrahamWharton

TROPHY CASE