Trade with the EU

VAT and handling charges for customers in the European Union:

Since the United Kingdom left the European Union on 31 December 2020, countries within the EU have begun to charge VAT on most goods supplied from the UK, including books and DVDs ordered from Platform 5 Publishing.

The charge is collected by the postal authority in each EU country and must usually be paid by the recipient before a parcel can be delivered. The postal authority can also charge a handling fee to cover their costs in collecting the VAT, often far more than the VAT collected. For example, we have seen €24 charged in Belgium for a consignment of books valued at around £30.

We strongly recommend that customers in the EU consult the websites of their domestic postal authority to be aware of the scale of charges you will be asked to pay by the postal authority before your order can be delivered.

As a result, we are trying to consolidate orders to EU-destinations to avoid sending multiple packages in respect of a single order. Where one or more items are temporarily out of stock, we will hold orders for dispatch until all items are in stock. This may cause a slight delay in dispatch of some orders, for which we apologise.

We very much regret the current state of affairs but we think it is unlikely that the situation will change in the near future.