[JohnRoberts]

Looks like Italy is in trouble again. The government has collapsed. Debt was spiralling out of control even before Covid. There are reports of the Chinese eyeing up key assets at knock down prices.

Cheers

Ian

Still.... not again, but COVID hit Italy harder than most countries and the fractious political coalition may be milking the current weakness for political advantage.

===

I watched some of the UK prime minister's questions session on TV last night and the question about goods shortages into Ireland came up. The PM denied that any lorries had been stopped and acknowledged some difficulty meeting paper work requirements and procedures.

It was odd to see them in an almost empty chamber  zooming in their questions.

JR

[Script]

No tariffs on goods does not mean 'no freight papers'. Turns out many speditioners sent off trucks without the correct papers. Hence some (most?) of the delays.

[ruffrecords]

No tariffs on goods does not mean 'no freight papers'. Turns out many speditioners sent off trucks without the correct papers. Hence some (most?) of the delays.

I suspect a lot of it is businesses not being properly prepared. I can understand their reluctance when right up to the wire it looked like no deal was the most likely outcome. But radio advertising here was saturated for the 6 months before with government ads urging companies to prepare for it - there was oodles of help on the .gov web sites so they cannot say they did not know what they had to do. Much of it would apply deal or no deal.

Cheers

Ian

[Script]

Yes, or they were expecting yet another postponement... until all of a sudden on time for Xmas...

I read that disruptions are overall less severe than expected, but too soon to tell I guess, and less severe for sure than under a no-deal.

[Script]

The UK rejected an offer of visa-free tours by musicians to EU countries

Oh-oh, open letter of complaint to British government (published in The Times) by more than 100 famous British musicians (from Sex Pistols to Brian Eno, even Sir Elton signed it). The government better fix it soon and stop being frivolous about it.

[abbey road d enfer]

I suspect a lot of it is businesses not being properly prepared. I can understand their reluctance when right up to the wire it looked like no deal was the most likely outcome. But radio advertising here was saturated for the 6 months before with government ads urging companies to prepare for it - there was oodles of help on the .gov web sites so they cannot say they did not know what they had to do. Much of it would apply deal or no deal.

Cheers

Ian

You may not remember the times of the restricted community (E5/6). When you wanted to ship products to a non-EEC country, you needed a whole bunch of papers, carnets and all paraphernalia. It took a real hardened pro to manage that activity.
This knowledge has largely disappeared in most companies.
I would bet customs have done next to nothing to make sure companies were ready.
Customs are a state in the state and spend too much time lpractising levitatation to care about practicalities.

[ruffrecords]

You may not remember the times of the restricted community (E5/6). When you wanted to ship products to a non-EEC country, you needed a whole bunch of papers, carnets and all paraphernalia. It took a real hardened pro to manage that activity.

Oh, but I do. I joined Neve in 1974 and they shipped consoles everywhere in the world. I heard many stories of import adventures. Even in the 80s when I was working on telephony products you still had to contend with the requirements of each telecom institution as well as the variations in safety and interference among countries within and outwith the EEC. Fortunately harmonisation has helped a lot with that especially where the USA participates.

Cheers

Ian

[ruffrecords]

Super Mario is sworn in as Italy's new Prime Minister. Let's hope he can repeat his 2012 performance when he fixed the Eurozone crisis:

https://news.sky.com/story/super-mario-draghi-sworn-in-as-italys-new-pm-can-he-save-its-economy-like-he-saved-the-euro-12215054

Cheers

Ian

[[silent:arts]]

If I understand correctly the UK Government would like me to collect UK VAT if I sell anything under £ 135 to end users. They would like me to register for a UK VAT registration number and report/pay (quarterly?) to HMRC.

I WON'T DO THIS.

As a result I have to stop selling goods under £ 135 to the UK if you are not a UK VAT registered business.
This is a sad but necessary decision many small business will have to do.

No other country in the world would like me to collect their sales tax (except of course Germany, where my company is registered). They all collect VAT and taxes at the border and collect them from their citizens. Small businesses like me don't have the administrative resources to do this for foreign governments.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/changes-to-vat-treatment-of-overseas-goods-sold-to-customers-from-1-january-2021/changes-to-vat-treatment-of-overseas-goods-sold-to-customers-from-1-january-2021

[tony hunt]

Yes, that is how I understand the UK regulations for VAT now.

Smaller export does not seem to be expedient for small UK business either.

[Script]

Meaning also that when selling to the UK you have to add both German and UK VAT to the sales price ??

"The changes will not apply to consignments of goods containing excise goods or to non- commercial transactions between private individuals."  --- Would that apply if goods are smuggled to the UK 

[[silent:arts]]

Meaning also that when selling to the UK you have to add both German and UK VAT to the sales price ?

No. For Germany / the EU the UK now is like any other country outside the EU, so no VAT applies.

[ruffrecords]

Seems like a feeble attempt to avoid extra work for customs with the added bonus of reducing imports.

Presumably German VAT would not need to be collected because you would be exporting to a non-EU country.

The odd thing is that it appears this new scheme applies to both EU and non-EU countries. At the moment, VAT on the latter is collected by the courier.

Cheers

Ian

[[silent:arts]]

The odd thing is that it appears this new scheme applies to both EU and non-EU countries.

Yes, this is not an EU thing.

Someone posted this YouTube video on Rochey's Expat Audio Facebook page, summing the mess up pretty well.

[rob_gould]

Wow, he's annoying 

But yes, he's right.

In other brexit news, the British foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, said in an interview on Sunday that people should ignore the problems which brexit has caused and take a long term view of things. His estimate is ten years(!) for the benefits to be felt. Funny - I don't recall that being mentioned in the run up to the vote.

Don't forget - brexit was sold as no downsides, only upsides. Britain would secure the easiest trade deal in history and, with regained sovereignty, the country would be back on the world stage without being held back by those pesky unelected representatives in Brussels.

Conveniently for them, most of the politicians who actioned this clusterf**k will most likely be well out of politics in ten years time, enjoying lucrative board appointments or dinner circuit speech work. So I strongly suspect that they can say what they like now as they'll never be held accountable, politically or otherwise, for the whoppers they're telling.

[ruffrecords]

Yes, this is not an EU thing.

Someone posted this YouTube video on Rochey's Expat Audio Facebook page, summing the mess up pretty well.

It is a mess for small business but not for big business - surprise surprise. The scheme has been operating for non EU countries for a long time. Mouse for instance charge UK VAT on all my orders whether they are shipped form the US or in Europe.
Cheers

Ian

[ruffrecords]

Don't forget - brexit was sold as no downsides, only upsides. Britain would secure the easiest trade deal in history and, with regained sovereignty, the country would be back on the world stage without being held back by those pesky unelected representatives in Brussels.

I wish we could stop going round this endless loop. The Remainers had a huge FUD campaign predicting doom, gloom and 100% downside. The other side did the opposite. Nobody believed the entirety of what either side said. We had not long had the MPs expenses scandal and trust in politicians was virtually zero. Whatever the campaigners said, most of people who voted leave did so because they were pissed off with Brussels interfering in their daily lives.

Cheers

Ian

[[silent:arts]]

It is a mess for small business but not for big business - surprise surprise. The scheme has been operating for non EU countries for a long time. Mouse for instance charge UK VAT on all my orders whether they are shipped form the US or in Europe.

Ian, of course this is no problem for global operating companies, and there are (and have been) different rules with a taxable turnover of more than £85,000 anyway.
However, the new rules below £135 are not manageable for small companies, and are completely different to the rules in any other country in the world.
It doesn't affect my business much, but it hurts to tell fellow GroupDIY members in the UK that I can't sell them a D-LA2A or Bo Hansén DI Box PCB anymore. They can't buy them at Amazon or Mouser.

[Script]

Well, one good reason I can think of why such a ruling could be beneficial (ITSO protective in a good sense for local businesses) is that low-cost China products plus state-sponsored postage for instance is sheer unbeatable. And they could row back on this new rule with regard to selected countries later at any time. Also, maybe they even think it could be an incentive for more local production.

Either way, collecting at customs (or via courier) seems much better, as it would create quite a few new jobs.

[warpie]

This new rule is plain stupid. Imagine if all countries had the same requirement...