Confused..... (dot com)

spylad

Hi,

Sorry if this is in the wrong section.

I was shocked this morning, to find out that the government sting us all on tax for everything.... (well, not shocked, per say, just a little annoyed, a I thought I'd got a bargain)

Last week, I ordered some clothes from an online retailer in the U.S, costing $129.
Shipping was an additional $40.
Bringing the total to $169.

Now, as I found out today, I have to pay some sort of tax upon it's arrival. Grrrr =[

I've searched online, business link / HM Customs, and can't find an easy way of working out how much duty / VAT / tax I have to pay...

Can anyone help?

Thanks
Spylad

Mikeyorks

http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageExcise_ShowContent&id=HMCE_CL_001454&propertyType=document

.... this covers the basics - you need to follow the links. There used to be a table showing the various Duty / VAT rates - but that appears to have gone.

Likely you'll have to pay 3.5% Duty + 15% VAT. Also a handling fee to Parcelforce or whoever carries out the UK side of the handling / charging for HMRC. Think Ebay have a section on this if you look .... generally it's got to be exceptional value to buy outside the EU. The exchange rate + import duty / VAT makes it prohibitive.