Electronic store's in Budapest

there is one in Mammut on -1, you can check on Budaors (there are loads of hipermarkets there) but also try to do a round on Erzsebet korut (tram 4 and 6) cuz there are some good small shops with good quality electronics

Andy_nor wrote:

Anyone know of any?

I only know of Media Markt at West-End really. It seems a bit overpriced, though they do have lot's of products....

Media Markt has to be one of the worst shops ever. Limited choice,  they often don't have the latest stuff and it's very overpriced. It's better really to get stuff mail order and have it shipped (or bring it yourself by car or plane).

try extreme digital as well

Thanks for the good suggestions so far.

Extreme Digital seems like a legit website to order from; so I'm considering buying what I'm after from that place (the product was about 15000HUF cheaper there compared to media markt's price).

Also, anyone know how they deal with the VAT here in Hungary when you buy something from another country e.g ebay or amazon? Back in Norway I had to pay 25% VAT of the product price when the product value exceeded 7500HUF - this did not include the shipping cost, only the product value. That is, if the product costed 7499HUF and the shipping was 500HUF making it a total price of 7999HUF I did not need to pay any VAT on it since they only take into consideration the products value and not the shipping. I guess there's something similar here? If anyone could explain it somewhat in-depth it would be really nice.

all the best,
andy

Andy_nor wrote:

Also, anyone know how they deal with the VAT here in Hungary when you buy something from another country e.g ebay or amazon? Back in Norway I had to pay 25% VAT of the product price when the product value exceeded 7500HUF - this did not include the shipping cost, only the product value. That is, if the product costed 7499HUF and the shipping was 500HUF making it a total price of 7999HUF I did not need to pay any VAT on it since they only take into consideration the products value and not the shipping. I guess there's something similar here? If anyone could explain it somewhat in-depth it would be really nice.

all the best,
andy

The principle in VAT is where the item is "consumed". While this is a bit stupid for physical objects like headphones, the principle is still the same. If you get a NEW item posted to Hungary, then you will pay HU VAT as you "consume" it here, regardless of where it came from with the EU. This would not be the same if you bought it over the counter, in a shop, paid the VAT as normal, in say Austria and physically transported it back to Hungary, as you would be deemed to have "consumed" it there.

Amazon, particularly, enforces these "consumption" rules rigourously. For example, in the UK, there's no VAT on children's books, but if you ship them to Austria, where there is VAT, you will be charged VAT on the goods.

If you shipped to a non-EU country where they use VAT, the entire price is would charged VAT at the appropriate rate, including VAT on the shipping costs as this would represent the entire market value.

Ebay is something different. This is often people selling personal stuff second hand (and I mean personal, not businesses selling second hand stuff commercially). In which case, no local VAT is payable (as it was already paid by the original purchaser).

When it is imported into Hungary, and it appears to be second hand, did not come from outside the EU, then no local VAT is payable.

Quite often there's a limit on if it's worth the tax authorities collecting the money. In the UK, it's about £18, even for new goods. So as long as the item is below £18 (interestingly, about the price of a CD), no VAT would be payable.

The costs rocket up if an agent is used to collect VAT. For example, courier or Post Office. They can charge huge amounts for doing the customs clearance. So long as it is in free circulation in the EC, non-commercial, second hand and personally sent from another EC country, there's no VAT to pay.

One thing worth mentioning is that postage is generally VAT free. THis is different from courier, which is a service, and therefore subject to VAT.

Finally, Norway is not in the EU so the rules there could be different. VAT is a minefield. The rules are so complex, littered with weird rulings, strange applications, very few people understand them completely.

If you know the exact model you are after, webshop aggregation sites like argep.hu, depo.hu or olcsobbat.hu can be good.

When you pick out the cheapest option, you'd need to do a quick search in public forums for any "catches". For example PixMania is a "probabilistically scam" site: you either get what you ordered and it works and everything is fine, or you don't: You may get a broken or used item, an inferior product, or nothing at all, and then they trick you out of any refunds, make you pay back-shipping to France, annoy you with automated e-mails, etc.

fluffy2560 wrote:

Andy_nor wrote:

Also, anyone know how they deal with the VAT here in Hungary when you buy something from another country e.g ebay or amazon? Back in Norway I had to pay 25% VAT of the product price when the product value exceeded 7500HUF - this did not include the shipping cost, only the product value. That is, if the product costed 7499HUF and the shipping was 500HUF making it a total price of 7999HUF I did not need to pay any VAT on it since they only take into consideration the products value and not the shipping. I guess there's something similar here? If anyone could explain it somewhat in-depth it would be really nice.

all the best,
andy

The principle in VAT is where the item is "consumed". While this is a bit stupid for physical objects like headphones, the principle is still the same. If you get a NEW item posted to Hungary, then you will pay HU VAT as you "consume" it here, regardless of where it came from with the EU. This would not be the same if you bought it over the counter, in a shop, paid the VAT as normal, in say Austria and physically transported it back to Hungary, as you would be deemed to have "consumed" it there.

Amazon, particularly, enforces these "consumption" rules rigourously. For example, in the UK, there's no VAT on children's books, but if you ship them to Austria, where there is VAT, you will be charged VAT on the goods.

If you shipped to a non-EU country where they use VAT, the entire price is would charged VAT at the appropriate rate, including VAT on the shipping costs as this would represent the entire market value.

Ebay is something different. This is often people selling personal stuff second hand (and I mean personal, not businesses selling second hand stuff commercially). In which case, no local VAT is payable (as it was already paid by the original purchaser).

When it is imported into Hungary, and it appears to be second hand, did not come from outside the EU, then no local VAT is payable.

Quite often there's a limit on if it's worth the tax authorities collecting the money. In the UK, it's about £18, even for new goods. So as long as the item is below £18 (interestingly, about the price of a CD), no VAT would be payable.

The costs rocket up if an agent is used to collect VAT. For example, courier or Post Office. They can charge huge amounts for doing the customs clearance. So long as it is in free circulation in the EC, non-commercial, second hand and personally sent from another EC country, there's no VAT to pay.

One thing worth mentioning is that postage is generally VAT free. THis is different from courier, which is a service, and therefore subject to VAT.

Finally, Norway is not in the EU so the rules there could be different. VAT is a minefield. The rules are so complex, littered with weird rulings, strange applications, very few people understand them completely.

What's the VAT rate they operate with in Hungary if I buy some new headphones from a shop that's located in e.g England, France or Norway? In Norway I had to pay 25% on top of the product value if I bought some new electronics e.g a phone from the USA and got it shipped to Norway. Thanks for the detailed explanation

Andy_nor wrote:

...
What's the VAT rate they operate with in Hungary if I buy some new headphones from a shop that's located in e.g England, France or Norway? In Norway I had to pay 25% on top of the product value if I bought some new electronics e.g a phone from the USA and got it shipped to Norway. Thanks for the detailed explanation

Bunch of things then, all complex unfortunately....

1) If you buy the headphones in the UK yourself, personally, when you are physically there, then it's the local UK rate of 20%. In France, it's 19.6%. Transporting it back to HU, physically by yourself (or in fact, anyone else who bought it for you), there'd be nothing to pay.

If you buy it mail order from the UK, ship to Hungary, the retailer (e.g. Amazon) would charge you the Hungarian VAT rate for the item (25%).

Norway is not in the EU, so if you were physically there, bought the headphones in a shop with duty free sales, you could get your local Norwegian VAT refunded upon departure, assuming a suitable mechanism for VAT free refunds at say, the airport. The proof of non-residence is usually something like a residence permit from another country.

Story is that if you want it cheap, buy it personally in Luxembourg yourself as the VAT is 15%.

2) If you import any item into the EU from the USA, import taxes (rate depends on the item imported - could be zero) will be applied to the item value AND shipping (as the item value and shipping constitutes the entire item price without VAT). Then, on top of that, VAT would be added at the country rate where the item was imported. In Hungary, the rate VAT rate is 25%. If you shipped the item from the USA to Norway (even though not EU), it's very likely the same scenario would apply but with Norwegian VAT rates.

If you were in the US, bought the items there, put them in your bag, brought them physically back to the EU yourself, then so long as it's below the exemption limit (around EUR 300), then you would not have to pay VAT on personally bringing the item into the EU.

Of course, depending on your honesty index, you could just not declare it when arriving but that would be naughty. If doing such an dreadfully evil and terribly naughty thing, throw away the packaging before putting it in your luggage. If someone else is in the US, they could bring it back for you and do the same (but would also be equally naughty).

VAT and the EU. Rubbish isn't it?

Hi all

I found Conrad Electronics really good, and much cheaper than the West End shop.

It's near the Octogon.

Cheers
Brendan

fluffy2560 wrote:

VAT and the EU. Rubbish isn't it?

And as of 1 January 2012 Hungary will have the highest VAT rate in the EU (if not the entire Planet) at 27%.

klsallee wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

VAT and the EU. Rubbish isn't it?

And as of 1 January 2012 Hungary will have the highest VAT rate in the EU (if not the entire Planet) at 27%.

I can see shopping in Luxembourg (15%), or even Austria (20%), will be on the increase. No-one in working in the government of Hungary appears to have heard of Laffer's curve or the term Reaganomics.

fluffy2560 wrote:

No-one in working in the government of Hungary appears to have heard of Laffer's curve.

I was thinking the same.