Paphos Life

My wife ordered online to a Cypriot franchise of a well-known British store, hoping that the package would be dispatched from Cyprus and not the UK, so that all the taxes that are being levied would not apply. She received an email from the store saying that the goods had been dispatched from the UK. It was delivered to ACS in Polis, from where we picked it up. There was no extra charge, as I had feared. The value of the clothing was €118.

We took the package home and were intrigued by the declaration that was on the label, identifying the contents as “Children’s Wear”. So my polo shirts (2 XL) and my wife’s bikini (36D) were classified as children’s wear. The package had not been opened by Customs. We tracked the package from the UK, to Germany and then to Cyprus.

Confused? I certainly am.

Perhaps because UK does not charge VAT on childrens' clothes and shoes?

An old link but: 'Clothing and shoes for young children have been charged a zero rate of VAT since the introduction of the tax on 1 April 1973. The problem is that there is no definition of the term "young children" in VAT law. Instead, the VAT relief is based on the maximum size an average child will be on their 14th birthday'.

I order goods from the same (I think) British store but through their UK online international site & have them delivered to the Paphos town shop, which is nearest to where we live. Delivery is free if the order is over a certain amount. I’ve just done my first order post Brexit so will be interested to see what happens. I did notice when making the order that they guaranteed there would be no extra charges to pay.