DDP Promises
When DDP is too much promise for a small exporter.
DDP can sound generous to a customer because it says you will take care of everything. For a small exporter, it can also mean foreign import VAT, customs duty, registration questions and a broker appointment in a country where you have no staff.
Before offering DDP, check who can legally import, who pays import VAT, whose EORI or local number is used and whether the sales price actually includes duties and broker charges.
Check The VAT Route
Export Evidence
What to keep when goods leave the EU.
A zero-rated export invoice needs more than confidence. Keep the invoice, packing list, transport proof, export declaration, customer order, Incoterms, payment trail and any import evidence that shows the goods landed where the invoice says they did.
Courier tracking alone may be too thin if it cannot be tied back to the invoice and product. A tidy file beats a frantic search two years later.
Clean Up The Evidence File
VAT Routes
Why one product can have two VAT problems.
The same product can create different VAT problems depending on who buys it and how it moves. A Dutch manufacturer selling B2B to a German company is not in the same position as the same manufacturer selling online to a UK consumer with delivery duty paid.
Do not solve VAT by product alone. Solve it by product, customer type, country, sales channel, Incoterms and import role.
Map The Route
Codes And Origin
Commodity codes are not a broker’s guess.
A broker can lodge a declaration, but the exporter still needs to know what the product is for customs purposes. Material, function and use matter. So do changes in product design, packaging and supplier base.
If the code is wrong, the duty rate, origin rule and import documents may all be wrong with it. That is why code work belongs before the urgent shipment, not during it.
Review Codes And Origin