Customs, Duties, and Taxes

When ordering from archidemia.com, you’re responsible for assuring the product can be lawfully imported to the destination country.

The recipient is the importer of record and must comply with all laws and regulations of the destination country. Orders shipped outside of the UK or EU may be subject to import taxes, customs duties and fees levied by the destination country. The recipient of an international shipment may be subject to such import taxes, customs duties and fees, which are levied once a shipment reaches the recipient’s country. Additional charges for customs clearance must be fulfilled by the recipient; Archidemia has no control over these charges, nor can Archidemia predict what they may be.

Customs policies vary widely from country to country; you should contact your local customs office for more information. When customs clearance procedures are required, it can cause delays beyond our original delivery estimates.

Note:

• Customs offices in some countries require the importer of record to provide a particular form of identification before releasing a shipment. You may be required to provide an identification number such as a Unique Identification Number, CPF, or Tax ID.
• Countries that require an identification number include: Brazil, Chile, China, Ecuador, India, Israel, Peru, Qatar, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, and Turkey.

‘Brexit’ Information for All EU Customers 

Updated 30/11/2022

The UK left the EU ‘customs union’ on 01/01/2021. Although some kind of ‘free trade agreement’ was achieved, leaving the customs union creates a customs border between the UK and the EU.

At Archidemia we love the EU and our European customers are hugely important to us

Although we planned for Brexit, the finer details of the last-minute detail have created some considerable complications and restrictions for goods flowing in either direction between the UK and the EU.
At the start of the year, we announced that we expected to have our ‘zero friction’ solution in place by the end of April. Unfortunately, like many companies trading across the border, we have come to the conclusion that the combination of restrictions, regulations, unexplained charges, and delays with courier networks, means that no system of shipping to EU customers from the UK will ever be true ‘zero friction in the way that we had planned and that our customers deserve.
For this reason, we have taken the significant decision to open a new Archidemia subsidiary within the EU. The new subsidiary will have a fully stocked warehouse carrying all Archidemia products and will ship directly to customers throughout the EU. This is a huge step for Archidemia but it will allow us to provide the quality of service that we want for our European customers – a truly frictionless experience with the added benefits of lower shipping charges, no restricted items, and faster shipping to most EU countries.
We are working hard right now to establish the new warehouse and will update this page with further information as soon as we are able to do. In the meantime, EU customers can continue to buy from Archidemia.com in the UK but should read the following information carefully, which we have recently updated following 4 months of experience of shipping into the EU since Brexit.

EU Customers Ordering from 1st January 2021

Due to the EU/UK trade deal, import duty will be zero on many products. However, for the time being, duty will still apply to certain products and customers will face some additional handling costs for the collection of import VAT on most orders.
Please read below to make sure you fully understand these new costs.

EU VAT Registered Businesses

• You will be charged NO VAT when placing an order with Archidemia.
• Due to the EU/UK FTA (free trade agreement) zero duty will apply to many products. In the cases where duty may apply (certain products not made in the UK or EU), it will be between 3-10%.
• No import duty will be charged on orders under €150/£135.
• The courier service or the freight company will contact you, using the email/telephone number you provided on your order, to arrange for customs clearance. As the importer, you will need to provide your EORI number and complete the customs entry.
• For customs clearance, the courier company will charge a ‘brokerage’ fee of between 2.5 – 5.0% of the value of the goods (€12 – €22 minimum) depending on the courier.
• As a VAT registered business, depending on your VAT regime, import VAT may be payable at the time, or deferred. Either way, import VAT is fully reclaimable.
We have also been shown some rare examples of totally unexplained charges, shown on invoices as ‘Government Charges’, being applied to some orders into certain countries. We have been unable to get any explanation or justification for what these ‘Government Charges’ are or why they have been applied.

EU Individuals and Non-VAT Registered Businesses

Whilst we are still very happy to supply individuals and non-VAT registered businesses in the EU, extra charges for customs clearance will apply. Instead of paying UK VAT on the Archidemia website (as before Brexit), customers will now pay import VAT when goods arrive in their country, plus a brokerage cost (€12.77 or 2.5% of the value of the goods for courier deliveries) and potentially import duty of between 3-10% on certain products.
Before ordering, please make sure you read and understand the steps and costs below:
• From 01/01/2021 you will automatically be charged NO VAT when placing an order from Archidemia. However, your own country will now charge import VAT when the goods arrive.
• No import duty will be charged on orders under €150/£135. Import VAT still applies.
• Due to the EU/UK FTA (free trade agreement) zero duty will apply to many products for orders over €150/£135. In the cases where duty may apply it will be between 3-10% and only apply to a limited number of non-UK-made products.
• When the goods arrive in your country, the courier company (UPS, TNT, FedEx, or DHL) will contact you, using the email/telephone number you provided on your order, to take the VAT payment (and duty, if applicable).
• You will be charged the standard VAT rate for your country, usually between 19-21% for anatomical models and between 0 to 18% for books, plus a ‘brokerage’ charge (€12.77 or 2.5% for UPS, €22 or 5% for TNT).
• In rare cases, we have seen ‘Government Charges’ added to the invoice in some countries. It has not been possible to get an explanation of what these charges are or why they are applied.
• Payment can be made by card using a link emailed by the courier (UPS, TNT, FedEx, or DHL).
As noted above, we have been shown some rare examples of totally unexplained charges – shown on invoices as ‘Government Charges’ – being applied to some orders into certain countries. We have been unable to get any explanation or justification for what these ‘Government Charges’ are or why they have been applied.

A detailed map of countries and relative Vat/GST on printed books is published on the International Publishers Association website. You can find the VAT % for your country here.

 

Updated 30/11/2022