To finish,
If Brexit, with or without agreement, VAT is not supposed to be paid but customs do. And if it is done without agreement, they will be quite high I think. And until a few weeks / months pass, shipments can be slow, let alone the new procedures to be created.
The positive is that the pound is likely to be devalued against the euro. How much, depending on the disaster generated, I say.
If we live in EU, better wait for the situation to be clarified and for the cheaper modules. And we will have all the advantages!
I posted this in the past. When Brexit happens, export from UK to EU and vice-versa are likely to fall under default rules, according to the Harmonized System Codes (HS Code 2017). The code for the amplifier is likely to be that one
851840 Amplifiers; audio-frequency electric
With UK in the EU, the non pro end user pays VAT in the country of purchase and is just like a local customer. The pro intermediary doesn't pay VAT, but charges it (and reports it) when it resells it to an en user in his own market. Basically the tax happens where the added value happens. There's a bit of administrativia, mostly the intrastat declaration but that's it (
https://www.vatglobal.com/reporting-obligations-vat-guides/what-is-an-intrastat-declaration ) - that's what an open market is.
Now, if/when UK is out, it is a mess.
Typically, each pair of countries/regions (say US - EU, UK - EU, CN - EU, etc) can have different rates on the same items depending on the direction. That's what is negotiated under trade agreements. So, typically a package sent from US to EU will be subject to a customs duty dependent on its code number. There is some ambiguity in the code and some things can fall under several different codes. Optimizing codes as to lower fees is an actual job.
As far as the UK is concerned, it will have no agreement with the EU (under a hard brexit) and default tariffs will apply. Those default tariffs are usually higher to much higher than what is negotiated between countries/areas that have agreements (that's the whole purpose of agreements...)
So tariffs will definitely go up...
And so will administrativia in a mind-blowing way. Products will have to be exported with the correct codes, under the correct rules, and that will have to be checked at the border. That's a huge load but that's the law.
Regardless of what the tabloids say, goods may be delayed at the border, not because the EU wants to take revenge or the UK wants to limit imports, but simply because there will be a ton of paper work, business are mostly unprepared, customs staff is reduced, etc... etc...
There will be issues with exporting stuff with a wrong code, no code at all (although the shipper will usually catch missing codes) or under value - this is typically what happens when you hear stories of people buying a $10 trinket and ending up paying $200 in fees/fines/taxes. If there is something wrong, your customs/post office may end up charging you a "stopping" or a "processing" fee. That used to apply mostly to China/US grey imports to EU, this will now happen with UK exports too.
But, legally, you
will not avoid VAT.
Assuming the code is correct, you will end up paying (if the import is legal)
(base price + shipping price + duty fees + insurance fees)*(1+applicable VAT rate)
Assuming incorrect code (say, unprepared UK small business), it would be
(price + shipping price + duty fees + insurance fees + processing/stopping fee)*(1+applicable VAT rate) + eventual fine.
That's a very quick summary - harmonized codes and rules are so complex that there are even AI startups in the field to make things more manageable...
What most people don't realize is that we'll be going from "sell to a German as you would sell to a Brit, no hassle" to that nightmare for absolutely everything (if done legally, barring any emergency measures such as the ones that could be taken for medicine).
And if that wasn't bad enough, the whole current supply chains are set up to work with no friction, almost no inventory, and that is going to create an very large number of practical issues.
Lastly, large businesses are mostly ready, because they are usually all set up for dealing with out of the EU customers, they will just whine about added costs and delays (or relocate). Small to medium businesses, not so much.
As far as where the pound is heading, if you know, congratulations, you will soon be very rich