Statement on Taxes in Europe, UK, and Norway

Update 12/8: The previous update from 11/17 wound up having unintended negative consequences with our tax assessment, and had to be reversed. The rest of the information on this page is still accurate.

Update 11/17: For orders placed on or after this date, the 150 EUR/135 GBP issue appears to be resolved, and VAT should not be doublecharged on these orders. Our support team is always happy to help in abnormal circumstances where these issues persist.

 

Statement on double-taxation in the European Union, United Kingdom, and Norway

Some of our customers in the EU, UK and Norway have reported being charged for value-added tax (VAT) twice - both at the point of sale and the time of import or delivery. If you live in one of these regions, the following may apply to you. Please refer to the information below for your country/region of residence.

Information on what to do if you have been double-charged VAT is at the bottom of this page.

We would like to apologize for any inconvenience caused to those who are affected by these issues. We are making every effort to have this resolved in all regions as soon as possible, but we are dealing with many factors that are beyond our control.

Please note that VAT is distinct from other types of customs and duty fees. You can read our customs and duty policy here. https://www.lttstore.com/pages/customs-duty-fees

 

If you reside in the EU: As of July 1st, 2021, the EU implemented the Import One-Stop-Shop program, through which we are to collect VAT on all consignments valued below 150 EUR. While this program is technically optional for most stores, VAT collection is required for stores with sales volumes above certain thresholds which our store has passed in most EU countries.

In some cases, double-VAT may be charged. This may be for one of two reasons:

1. Your consignment value is above 150 EUR. We are currently experiencing an issue with the software we use to assess taxes which is preventing us from making an exception to VAT charges for orders that are above this threshold. You may be erroneously charged for VAT again at the time of delivery. However, all other customs/duty fees are correctly applied.
2. Our store’s IOSS-identifier has not been correctly received by your country’s customs bureau. Our investigation into why this occurs is ongoing. Under the IOSS system, this identifier is electronically transmitted to the courier that is customs-clearing your parcel. We have verified that we are submitting our customs declarations correctly, but our current understanding is that local post services in some EU countries have not properly implemented IOSS procedures when dealing with standard-service parcels.

Some stores have opted to provide their IOSS-identifier in their invoices so that customers can use this to make customs declarations themselves. However, the EU’s Taxation and Customs Union advises businesses against this. You can read more about that here, if desired. https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/system/files/2020-12/vatecommerceexplanatory_28102020_en.pdf For the time being, we will continue to follow this recommendation, but if that changes this page will be updated.

 

If you reside in the UK: As of January 1st, 2021, eCommerce stores based outside of the UK must collect VAT at point of sale on all consignments delivered to the UK which are valued at 135 GBP or lower. We are currently experiencing an issue with the software we use to assess taxes which is preventing us from making an exception to this for orders that are above this threshold. You may be erroneously charged for VAT again at the time of delivery. However, all other customs/duty fees are correctly applied.

 

If you reside in Norway: Our sales volumes in Norway require us to collect tax under Norway’s VAT-on-E-Commerce (VOEC) scheme for all consignments valued below 3000 NOK. VOEC shipments are to have our store’s VOEC number electronically transmitted and included on the package, but this is sometimes omitted for reasons we are still investigating. You can read more about VOEC here. https://www.skatteetaten.no/en/business-and-organisation/vat-and-duties/vat/foreign/e-commerce-voec/ 

 

In all cases where VAT has been paid at checkout and you are being charged again at delivery, please comply with their request and pay the fees so you can receive your package. Once fees are paid and your package has been received, contact our support team and attach a copy of your customs bill, customs decision, or receipt. This is usually provided at the time you make payment, but you can also request a copy of this document by contacting the courier which handled final-mile delivery for your parcel. Our support team will issue a refund for the taxes we collected as soon as possible. 

Attachments must be in JPG or PDF format. If you reside in a country where English is not the official language, you are not required to obtain a translation for this documentation. Please note that this documentation will be retained by our accounting team, and no refunds will be granted without this documentation, as it is necessary to prove our compliance with EU/UK/Norwegian tax guidelines.