Thank you very much for shopping on ZenPlus.
Value Added Tax (VAT) prepayment for European customers and Goods & Services Tax (GST) prepayment for Australian customers is available on ZenPlus since November 2021.
In this article we are going to explore tax prepayment and shed light on some systems important to savvy shoppers.
Contents
What is Value Added Tax (VAT)?
In the EU, Value Added Tax (VAT) is akin to consumption tax.
Consumption tax is widely levied on transactions such as the sale of goods and the provision of services, but the VAT rate differs depending on the goods and services.
For example, the reduced tax rate is applied to food and books, and the standard tax rate is applied to general services. As the name suggests, the tax rate changes depending on the added value of the product.
In addition, the tax rate varies depending on the country.
Below you'll find a table of estimated VAT rates for countries in the EU as of September 10, 2021. We hope it helps!
| Country | Estimated VAT |
| Austria（AT） | 20% |
| Belgium（BE） | 21% |
| Bulgaria（BG） | 20% |
| Croatia（HR） | 25% |
| Cyprus（CY） | 19% |
| Czech Rep.（CZ） | 21% |
| Denmark（DK） | 25% |
| Estonia（EE） | 20% |
| Finland（FI） | 24% |
| Frane（FR） | 20% |
| Germany（DE | 19% |
| Greece（GR） | 24% |
| Hungary（HU） | 27% |
| Ireland（IE） | 21% |
| Italy（IT） | 22% |
| Latvia（LV） | 21% |
| Lithuania（LT） | 21% |
| Luxembourg（LU） | 17% |
| Malta（MT） | 18% |
| Netherlands（NL） | 21% |
| Poland（PL） | 23% |
| Portugal（PT） | 23% |
| Romania（RO） | 19% |
| Slovakia（SK） | 20% |
| Slovenia（SI） | 22% |
| Spain（ES） | 21% |
| Sweden（SE） | 25% |
What is Goods and Services Tax (GST)？
Like VAT, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is consumption tax.
It is levied on almost all goods and services consumed in Australia and the tax rate is 10% of the transaction price.
One of the differences from the consumption tax in Japan is that basic daily necessities such as food and educational expenses are not taxed. However, since this applies to the territory of Australia, 10% GST is levied when purchasing products from Japan.
Prepayment system
For your convenience, you'll be able to pay VAT and GST on eligible orders at checkout (rather than at the point of delivery).
Read on to find out more about this prepayment system and the general criteria for eligibility.
1. VAT prepayments
A. The IOSS system
IOSS stands for Import One-Stop Shop and is a system to collect VAT in advance from customers who ship packages with a total price of 150 euros or less for products shipped to Europe.
If the seller is registered in the IOSS, VAT can be paid at the moment of purchase.
B. Merits of the IOSS system
There are two main benefits of the IOSS system:
i. Cost saving
Normally when paying VAT, it is not uncommon to incur extra fees from the delivery company. By prepaying the tax those extra fees can be avoided.
ii. Faster delivery
The IOSS system eliminates the need for delivery companies to prepare documents and charge their customers. As a result, package delivery is faster and smoother.
Please note that if import duty is owed, an advance fee may be charged.
We cannot automatically process taxes for parcels that contain a total value of 150 EUR or more. Therefore, goods valued above 150 EUR will need to be processed and charged by customs offices domestically within Europe.
Please note that even though VAT is paid, depending on the items ordered and the individual country's import policies, you may need to pay a customs duty for your parcel before it can be released to you upon arrival in your country.
2. GST prepayments
When selling goods from outside Australia to consumers in Australia, if the goods are low-priced (total price of goods is less than 1,000 AUD), the seller will collect GST from Australian customers and declare it to the Australian Tax Office.
Parcels over 1,000 AUD will be processed and billed by the Australian customs office as usual.
Conclusion
We hope this article has been helpful to those of you living in (or sending products to) Europe and Australia.
If there are any changes or developments to the way VAT and GST are handled at ZenPlus, we'll be sure to let you know!
Other recommended articles
For more detailed coverage of ZenPlus and our operations, check out the articles below:
- How to Shop Japan With ZenPlus
- Official Rules for ZenPlus Social Media Giveaways
- OUR SUPPORT FOR UKRAINE
Thanks for reading!
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