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Date Published: 23/11/2021

ARCHIVED - Correos wrongly charging VAT on UK and US letters

ARCHIVED ARTICLE

Each new day sees more complaints of import duty being mistakenly charged on private letters from non-EU countries

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - Correos wrongly charging VAT on UK and US letters

Expats living in Spain who receive post from outside of the EU have been outraged that letters and documents are being subject to VAT and other special taxes when they should be exempt.

Fed-up recipients have reported postal workers demanding money upfront on the doorstep to deliver their non-commercial post that comes from outside the European Union, even though these items shouldn’t be taxed.

What kind of post is taxed in Spain?

Commercial and mercantile goods that have a monetary value are taxed when they come into the EU from outside, such as from the United States or the United Kingdom, but personal correspondence is exempted from such taxation.

As Correos explains on their website, “All goods entering Spain via Correos are subject to Customs control, whereas postal items containing documents or have personal messages sent between individuals, are not.”

Correos goes on to underline that, after Brexit, these Customs charges now apply to goods coming from the United Kingdom: “From 1 January 2021, in order for Correos to be able to deliver to addressees in Spain items containing goods from the United Kingdom, except for the territory of Northern Ireland, they must be presented for clearance at Spanish Customs.

“The addressee shall bear the costs corresponding to customs processing as well as the payment of the taxes accrued in accordance with the customs regulations in force (VAT or IGIC in the Canary Islands) and Special Taxes. However, the payment of customs duties may be exempted when documentary proof is provided that the goods contained in the shipment are of United Kingdom origin, with the exception of the territory of Northern Ireland.”

So why are people being charged for personal, private documents?

In spite of these clear regulations, some postal workers seem to be confused over what kind of mail they should charge people for receipt of, and which ones they shouldn’t.

Mrs Lynn Reeves, who lives in Murcia, Spain, told of having to pay 10.25 euros for receipt of an “A4 envelope containing redirected letters from the UK. The customs declaration clearly shows the contents are ‘DOCUMENTS’”. When she challenged the postman and told him that she didn’t need to pay for documents, he told her that if she didn’t pay she couldn’t have the letters.

“You have no option when you are put in the spot like that,” she said. “You have just pay up.”

Hers is not the only case of undue import duty being placed on letters coming to Spain from overseas. Expatriate residents in Spain have voiced their concerns on social media, with one saying “Some UK residents in my small town, Arboleas (Almería), are being charged for receiving letters from the UK. I understand maybe some custom charges for parcels but surely not letters.”

“A few weeks ago, my neighbour was charged 6 euros for some secondhand magazines sent by his brother,” came another complaint. “Clearly there may be some monetary value on those but he was only charged 6 euros whilst I was charged over 10 euros for a few letters which have no value. We have had the same envelopes sent a couple of times since Brexit but they have just been left in the postbox with no charge.”

The general consensus seems to be that, while the Correos HQ claims to know what they are doing, postal workers and customs officials need educating on the rules for import duty in Spain.

“Who is deciding what is to be charged VAT on? Clearly someone or everyone working for the Correos in Spain is getting it wrong,” said an exasperated Mrs Reeves. “It seems like no one knows the rules. I think there needs to be a lot of training somewhere along the line. I know of lots of people who have been charged more for the VAT than the value of the item. And the recipient has refused to take delivery and I believe the warehouses here are chock-a-block with unaccepted parcels.”

What can I do if I’ve been wrongly charged VAT or import duty?

If you are asked to pay customs duty, VAT or any sort of additional charges on letters that have no commercial value, be sure to make note of the code on the package (‘código de envío’) and, in the case that you paid the charge, the receipt or proof of payment (‘justificante del pago del IVA’).

With these details, it is possible to contact Correos directly and open a complaints procedure to reclaim any money that was mistakenly charged.

Other things to look out for when receiving parcels in Spain

Correos are not the only ones who have been in the firing line over postal incompetence. Private courier services like DHL and FedEx, which recently were among the seven major couriers in Spain who break the law by not offering a freephone customer service hotline, have also been accused of returning packages to the warehouses when the address is not copied correctly into the computer system.

“I have had untold problems with couriers taking parcels back to the warehouse because the full address was not on the packet. That was the office’s fault for not copying the full address on the official label, even though if the driver had turned the packet over, the full address was on it from the sender. Obviously they are just looking at the computer label and no common sense is being used. Three times they tried to deliver one packet and it has happened on three separate occasions.”

There’s not a lot you can do to counteract ineptitude and inefficiency in bureaucratic systems (especially in Spain!), but be sure to report any mistakes to the company responsible and keep your fingers crossed that it won’t happen too many more times.

Meanwhile, police in Spain have also warned of a common scam doing the rounds in which an online message tries to obtain people’s bank account details by claiming that they haven’t paid the delivery fees.

These sorts of messages can come by email, or occasionally SMS or WhatsApp, and are more common at this time of year when people are buying Christmas presents and waiting on deliveries and packages. If you receive a message like this, do not click on the link and never give out your bank account details.

It’s best to contact Correos, the delivery company or whoever claims to be sending the message (but not using any links or contact details from within the message itself!) to ask if there may be any truth in it, and if not be sure to report the scam.

Images 1 & 2: Mrs Lynn Reeves

Image 3: Guardia Civil Albacete/Twitter

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