Sending laptop from the US

rainbow_carnage

I desperately need a new laptop, but can't really afford it. My father has offered to send me his from New York. It's about £20 for International Priority Mail. However, I'm concerned that I will have to pay import duty on it.

A little while ago I bought a watch from Japan and had to pay almost £30. A laptop is worth a lot more than that, but I'm not buying it from a shop.

Does anyone know how this sort of thing works? I've looked on the HMRC website, but I'm still unsure. It says:

Goods sent as a gift are not free of import duties and import VAT. However, customs duty will not be collected if the amount is less than £7, and import VAT is not chargeable if:

• the value of the gift does not exceed £36
• the customs declaration is completed correctly
• the gift has been sent from a private person outside the EU to a private person(s) in this country
• the gift is for the use of either yourself or your family
• there is no commercial or trade element and the gift has not been paid for either directly or indirectly
• the gift is of an occasional nature only eg for a birthday or anniversary.

How can they tell if it's for personal use or if it's of an occasional nature?

And if I do have to pay, how much would it be? How does one value a second-hand laptop?

Any advice would be most appreciated.

snowqueen555

well there is often a set price for the opening and repackaging of a product, and a charge is also often based upon the insured value of the product, or determined value by those who inspect it.

i have been stung a few times, you could be paying a lot

Steve_xx

The value of the laptop, even though it is a gift, is in excess of £7, and therefore as I read it you will be liable to pay duty on it. The amount of duty is not set by item, rather I think it is set by item in accordance to which country it came from. As the value of the laptop is in excess of £36 you will have to pay VAT also, it seems.

rainbow_carnage

So basically it could be anything.

Is it just me or is this completely ridiculous? It's one thing when you buy something with a set value from overseas and genuinely 'import' it into the country. It's another when you're basically transporting your own goods.

What if it was actually my own laptop and not my father's? I still have loads of stuff at his house that I may one day want him to send to me. HMRC would tax that, too.

What do people do when they move overseas and have to send all of their belongings? Do they have to pay tax on that, also?

ecogirl_3

hmmm, thats extremely confusing. Basically your dad will have to mark it as a gift, when stating the value he will have to put a rough estimate, sometimes they check to see what the item is so you cannot put that it is under £7.00, if you do you will probably be charged and if anything happens to it lost etc) they cannot help you, theres no option but to pay it, what model and how old is it? you could have a look on ebay to see what they are going for.

Steve_xx

rainbow_carnage wrote: »

So basically it could be anything.

Is it just me or is this completely ridiculous? It's one thing when you buy something with a set value from overseas and genuinely 'import' it into the country. It's another when you're basically transporting your own goods.

What if it was actually my own laptop and not my father's? I still have loads of stuff at his house that I may one day want him to send to me. HMRC would tax that, too.

What do people do when they move overseas and have to send all of their belongings? Do they have to pay tax on that, also?

Yes, the parcel would be subject to Customs Duty and VAT and it would be subject to both on the full value of the consignment, not just the excess.

I'm not sure about you claiming they are your own goods. I guess Customs will have heard that one before. But it may be possible to say that the laptop is your own. They may ask for proof that you bought it in the UK and then ask you when you took it to the USA, and if your reply doesn't look right............

As a rule of thumb you should expect to pay around 30% of the value in duty and VAT. On top of that you might get charged a fee by whoever delivers it if they have had to open and repackage it for examination purposes.

rainbow_carnage

Steve_xx wrote: »

I'm not sure about you claiming they are your own goods. I guess Customs will have heard that one before. But it may be possible to say that the laptop is your own. They may ask for proof that you bought it in the UK and then ask you when you took it to the USA, and if your reply doesn't look right............

I have dual US/UK citizenship. I've lived both here and in the States for years at a time. I honestly cannot see why it matters where I bought something. It's not like I went on holiday there for a week and came back with 6 iPods. The reality of the 21st century is that people move around a lot. Surely they should be able to take their possessions with them.

Now I have another concern. I have an expensive camera that I bought in the States a little while ago. The warranty doesn't extend to the UK. When I bought it, I figured that if something happened to it, I could send it back to the US for repair. Am I wondering if I'm going to have to pay £400 in import duty & VAT to get it back.

snowqueen555

no not that much, you might not even get it opened, as not all stuff is opened. it is a gamble, but you have to insure it because if it gets lost you will be screwed

Steve_xx

rainbow_carnage wrote: »

I have dual US/UK citizenship. I've lived both here and in the States for years at a time. I honestly cannot see why it matters where I bought something. It's not like I went on holiday there for a week and came back with 6 iPods. The reality of the 21st century is that people move around a lot. Surely they should be able to take their possessions with them.

Now I have another concern. I have an expensive camera that I bought in the States a little while ago. The warranty doesn't extend to the UK. When I bought it, I figured that if something happened to it, I could send it back to the US for repair. Am I wondering if I'm going to have to pay £400 in import duty & VAT to get it back.

Regarding the camera repair. I would think that you would not get caught out with that since the company you send it back to would be able to explain to customs that it had been sent for repair. But you might still have to go to the trouble of explaining it and possibly reclaiming any duty paid.

You might be best to contact HMRC directly as these are interesting points.

Clowance

just to play devils advocate: you "bought the camera in the us a little while ago" therefore presumably were meant to declare it as part of your total spend when you came back from the trip when you bought it- so if duty was payable, it would be payable at that point and would probably have some sort of receipt? Customs would know you bought it outside the UK if the warranty wasn't valid here, although I suppose you could have got it in the EEC.
I totally agree that personal possessions should be exempt; if someone comes back with more than one of the same item it could be taxable though.