“Pay Customer VAT “PC-VAT” required” Orders FAQ

Certain European Union-bound and United Kingdom-bound orders may be marked with the “Pay Customer VAT “PC-VAT” required” flag in Merchant Dashboard or Merchant Plus dashboard. This FAQ walks merchants through some commonly-asked questions about these types of orders.

Orders bound for the European Union

The below EU specific section is related to EU fulfillment requirements effective July 1, 2021 12:00AM CEST. See here for more information.

EU-bound orders released on or after June 26, 2021 12:00AM CEST (i.e., June 25, 2021 10:00PM UTC) shipped from outside of the EU where the expected* customer-paid product price for the corresponding consignment is greater than €150 (excluding all other customer payments such as shipping and taxes) will have the order highlighted with a "Pay Customer VAT "PC-VAT" required" flag in Merchant Dashboard or Merchant Plus dashboard, starting July 1, 2021 12:00AM CEST (i.e., June 30, 2021 10:00PM UTC). Merchants are required to use specific carriers that provide Delivered Duty Paid (DDP) services to fulfill these types of orders. Carriers providing DDP services offer support to remit (at customs) VAT amount collected by Wish and/or customs duties.

* Note that Wish applies the “Pay Customer VAT “PC-VAT” required” flag to individual Order ID in Merchant Dashboard or Merchant Plus dashboard, and assumes that 1 Order ID = 1 consignment/package. Therefore, the expected customer-paid product price for the consignment = the customer-paid product price for the individual Order ID. See more details below.

This flag can be seen for relevant orders next to the Order ID under the Order Overview in the Order details page. This flag will also be visible under the Orders > Unfulfilled Orders or Orders > History page. See below for an example shown in the Orders > History page:

As shown in the screenshot above, carrier selection for merchants shipping from Mainland China using WishPost and from outside of Mainland China and outside of the EU will be different. Specifically:

1. For merchants shipping from Mainland China using WishPost:

Merchants are required to ship these orders with one of the three below-listed WishPost logistics channels that provides Delivered Duty Paid (DDP) service and offers support to remit (at customs) VAT amount collected by Wish and/or customs duties: 

• Sunyou European Express Parcel
• EQ-Express Parcel-HV-GC
• EQ-Expressparcel-HV-SC

Merchants may also need to file/share certain additional order information with the shipping carriers of these corresponding WishPost logistics channels as a necessary step to complete the customs declaration. Learn more by visiting this Help Center article and navigate to “1. Shipping to the EU from Mainland China”. 

As these orders will require a formal customs entry and appointed “Importer of Record” in order to clear EU customs, merchants should be aware that they may be required to take the following actions:

1). Provide carriers with their own EU EORI number and/or their own VAT number with the shipping carriers, AND/OR

2). Pay applicable customs duties and other customs clearance fees at the time of import. 

Additionally, shipping carriers may require non-EU domiciled merchants shipping into the EU from outside of the EU to appoint an EU-domiciled representative to assume customs liabilities associated with the entry. Such a partner will act in coordination with the non-EU-domiciled importer to ensure complete and accurate customs declaration, and will assume liability for the contents of the customs declaration. Please consult your tax advisor and selected shipping carrier for more information.

2. For merchants shipping from outside of Mainland China and outside of the EU

Merchants shipping EU-bound orders from outside of the EU and outside of Mainland China are required to ship these orders with one of the below-listed acceptable shipping carriers that provides Delivered Duty Paid (DDP) service and offers support to remit (at customs) VAT amount collected by Wish and/or customs duties.

Please note that if merchants plan to use one of the Postal carriers outlined in the below table for their DDP services, merchants must confirm with the specific carrier that they will be able to provide DDP services for the order they are shipping.

Carrier Name	DDP Supported Origin Countries/Regions	Carrier Type
AsendiaUK	GB	Commercial
AsendiaUSA	US	Commercial
B2CEurope	EU	Commercial
BPost	BE	Postal
BRTBartolini	IT	Commercial
Colissimo	FR	Commercial
CorreosDeEspana	ES	Postal
CorreosExpress	ES, PT	Commercial
DanmarkPost	DK	Postal
DeutschePost	DE	Postal
DHL	US, CA, KR, JP, TR, JP, EU, MA, PK, IN	Commercial
DHLFreightSweden	SE	Commercial
DHLGermany	DE	Commercial
DHLPoland	PL	Commercial
DirectLink	EU	Commercial
DPD	EU, RU	Commercial
DPDFrance	FR	Commercial
DPDGermany	DE	Commercial
DPDUK	GB	Commercial
FedEx	US, CA, KR, JP, TR, JP, EU, MA, PK, IN	Commercial
GlobegisticsInc	US	Commercial
GLS	EU, US	Commercial
GLSNetherlands	NL	Commercial
GLSSpain	ES	Commercial
Hermes	GB	Commercial
HermesGermany	DE	Commercial
LandmarkGlobal	EU, US, CA, AU	Commercial
LaPosteColissimo	FR	Commercial
MagyarPosta	HU	Postal
ParcelForce	GB	Commercial
PortugalCTT	PT	Commercial
PosteItaliane	IT	Postal
PostNL	NL	Postal
PTSWorldwideExpress	TR	Commercial
PTTPosta	TR	Postal
QXPRESS	KR	Commercial
RoyalMail	GB	Postal
RRDonnelley	US	Commercial
Sagawa	JP	Commercial
Sending	GB	Commercial
Spring	EU	Commercial
TNT	EU, US, CA, MA	Commercial
TNTFrance	FR	Commercial
UPS	US, CA, KR, JP, TR, JP, EU, MA, IN	Commercial
USPS	US	Postal
Yamato	JP	Commercial

Merchants are also required to file certain additional order information with the shipping carriers as a necessary step to complete the customs declaration. Learn more by visiting this Help Center article and navigate to “2. Shipping to the EU from outside of the EU AND outside of Mainland China”.

As these orders will require a formal customs entry and appointed “Importer of Record” in order to clear EU customs, merchants should be aware that they may be required to take the following actions: 

1). Provide carriers with their own EU EORI and/or VAT number, AND/OR

2). Pay applicable customs duties and other customs clearance fees at the time of import. 

Additionally, shipping carriers may require non-EU domiciled merchants shipping into the EU from outside of the EU to appoint an EU-domiciled representative to assume customs liabilities associated with the entry. Such a partner will act in coordination with the non-EU-domiciled importer to ensure complete and accurate Customs declaration, and will assume liability for the contents of the customs declaration. Please consult your tax advisor and selected shipping carrier for more information.

How does combining packages affect VAT for EU-bound orders?

If you choose to combine several individual customer orders into one shipment, and the combined total expected customer-paid product price is greater than €150 for the corresponding consignment (excluding all other customer payments such as shipping and taxes), you will be responsible for remitting VAT to freight forwarders (even though individual orders are not flagged as “Pay Customer VAT “PC-VAT” required”). 

As such, merchants must fulfill customer orders individually in all cases.

Please note that the “Pay Customer VAT “PC-VAT” required” flag is placed on individual Order IDs in the Merchant Dashboard, and does not take into account combining packages. Specifically, Wish assumes by default that 1 Order ID is equal to 1 consignment/package and pre-collect VAT at checkout from customers. Therefore, if merchants combine multiple Order IDs into one package/consignment, causing the total customer-paid product price of the entire consignment to be greater than €150, merchants will still be responsible for remitting VAT to freight forwarders, even if the individual orders' customer-paid price is less than or equal to €150, and do not have the “Pay Customer VAT “PC-VAT” flags shown.

Orders bound for the United Kingdom

UK-bound orders shipped from outside of the UK whose expected customer-paid product price for the corresponding consignment is greater than or equal to £135.01 (excluding all other customer payments such as shipping, insurance, and taxes) are flagged as “Pay Customer VAT “PC-VAT” required” orders in Merchant Dashboard or Merchant Plus dashboard, starting December 31, 2020 11:00PM UTC. Merchants are required to use specific carriers that provide Delivered at Place Plus (DAP+) services to fulfill these types of orders. Carriers that provide DAP+ services can pay VAT on behalf of customers to customs, so long as the merchant remits the VAT to the carriers.

This flag is visible under the Orders > Unfulfilled Orders or Orders > History page. For example, on the Orders > History page, this flag shows under the View Product (SKU) column for the relevant orders:

As shown in the screenshot above, carrier selection for merchants shipping from Mainland China using WishPost and from outside of Mainland China and outside of UK will be different. Specifically:

1. For merchants shipping from Mainland China using WishPost:

Merchants are required to utilize one of the following WishPost logistics channels that provide DAP+ services to fulfill this type of order:

• EQ-Express Parcel GC
• EQ-Express Parcel SC

2. For merchants shipping from outside of Mainland China and outside of the UK:

Merchants must select a Confirmed Delivery Shipping Carrier for UK-bound orders that will provide DAP+ services when shipping this type of order. For a full list of Confirmed Delivery Shipping Carriers, please see here.

To comply with UK VAT changes starting January 1, 2021 when the UK leaves the EU VAT system, there are a number of other related requirements when fulfilling UK-bound “Pay Customer VAT “PC-VAT” required” orders (along with all UK-bound orders) from outside of the UK. Please see this article for more details.

 

API-related information

What are the API-related changes that merchants should be aware of?

ERPs should prepare to intake the following new API field:

pay_customer_vat_required (This is True when it is a “Pay Customer VAT “PC-VAT” required” order, and False when it is not).

Merchants should confirm whether the ERP they work with has intaken the above new API field.

The following API endpoints will be affected:

• api/v2/order
• api/v2/order/multi-get

Specifically for UK-bound “Pay Customer VAT “PC-VAT” required” orders, starting December 31, 2020 11:00PM UTC, merchants shipping from outside of Mainland China and outside of the UK are required to include certain order/fulfillment information (i.e. customer-paid price) when generating shipping labels. The required information can be found in Merchant Dashboard / Merchant Plus dashboard and via API. To learn more, please visit this article.