On 20/01/2014 22:40, Tom Storey wrote: > The company I work for gets a lot of stuff shipped from the US to the > EU, and everything has to first come via .nl before being shipped > anywhere else. Stab in the dark: Perhaps the customs charges are lower > in the Netherlands, and once inside the EU you are able to ship freely > without any, or minimal extra customs/duty charges. When the goods enter the single market you pay VAT on them at the rate set by the country you are entering. If you are VAT registered then the VAT is reclaimed. Duty (as opposed to VAT) is supposed to be harmonised so there is no advantage in the goods entering via any country over any other. I suspect that your company just has the internal structures set up to make importing through one country easier.
Nigel
