Taxes when shipping from US ?

deanos

yes around that figure

LazyD

Thanks for your replies, I supppose that's better than the prices here but, damn this exchange rate!

Is it likely to get better or worse in the upcoming weeks and months?

Juliep

If i was to buy an item from ebay in Hong Kong costing me between £1-£2 with free postage, what charges would i looking at paying when i receive my parcel.

Thanks

deanos

Juliep wrote: »

If i was to buy an item from ebay in Hong Kong costing me between £1-£2 with free postage, what charges would i looking at paying when i receive my parcel.

Thanks

None as its under the £18 threshold

LazyD

Thanks for your replies deanos, valuable information for me, cheers.

I just thought of something else, my aunt lives in US, I could get it shipped to her house (free domestic shipping over there) and then sent here. I don't know if I can save money this way or not, is this an option?

I mean, I was under the impression that the only reason that these companies mark the item at it's full value and declare everything is that if the package gets opened and found to be a normal retail sale they could get investigated and fined, is that the case? So what I'm thinking is that maybe my aunt marks it as a gift, or just doesn't mark it and we end up paying just the import tax?

If I'm not making any sense let me know please! Thanks.

dottylotty

LazyD if you can get the company to mark it as a gift this will save you from some sort of tax, not sure which.
As to customs n excise its pretty much hit n miss as to what they charge. Have heard some horrific stories, but then I had my wedding dress sent from USA last year, and only charged £60 for it, that was customs plus £12 from royal mail.
Dont use fedex!! They cost a fortune

deanos

If you get it marked as gift then you have to declair the value as £36or under otherwise it will be taxed as the gift threshold is £36 , this means you wont have it insured properly so if it goes missing you will only get £36 back.

Also if its not declaired properly the receiver is liable to prosecution not sure HMCE will do that but its on there website about it

Browntoa

http://www.e-consultancy.com/news-blog/366718/tax-needn-t-be-taxing-online-imports-to-become-tax--free.html

A new ruling on import tax will benefit thousands of online UK shoppers and businesses.
But, as always with tax, there are certain strict rules...
So talking tax is definitely not the most exciting thing in the world, but as soon as you mention a tax break, everyone gets interested. Well, just as a recession – and Christmas – is looming, the lovely people at HM Revenue and Customs have decided that online consumers won’t have to pay customs duty on anything bought outside the EU for less than £105.
We’ll see this come into effect on the 1st December, benefitting thousands of internet shoppers and internet-based businesses.
The duty-free limit will also be extended to online purchases less than £18, (anything above this amount will still get stuck with VAT), but it’s still important to know where you stand in this financial minefield, as import duties vary wildly, depending on the type of goods.
Randomly, gold or silver jewellery sits at a 2.5% rate, whereas imitation jewelry runs at 4%. Books are exempt of tax, but CDs currently aren’t, unless they cost less than £7. Anything from the EU is already exempt from Customs duty or import VAT – but you can’t buy alcohol or tobacco unless you pre-arrange excise duty in advance.

It can all get a little bit confusing, but all you really need to know is that for most of your online Christmas shopping, if it costs less than £105 – that’s around US$150 – then it’s probably not going to get attacked by the taxman.

Nath_2

Browntoa, I have just received a package from the NFL website in the US with a cost of $70 but I have still had to pay Import VAT even after what you have helpfully provided above. My question is who do i contact to get a refund on for the Import VAT or have i read this wrong?