Tax on US goods? I think I've been ripped off

Nickra

Hi - Newbie Nickra here. I recently bought a Levi's jacket from US website Shelpers for what I thought was a reasonable $93 (£56) including shipping and handling. Today I received a card from UPS to tell me they tried to deliver the jacket but I was out and that I needed to pay an additonal £23.46 C.O.D!! For what? if this is VAT it is way too much! Can anyone explain why this bargain has now turned into an expensive luxury?

olivetti

£15 of it will probably be an 'admin fee' for collecting and paying the VAT and import duty.

flea72

customs duty, plus VAT, plus maybe customs clearance fee

all adds up

dzug1

UPS charge you a fee for collecting the VAT (and duty, if any) from you and handing it over to HMRC.

At a rough guess their fee is £15.

timmmers

Next time get it marked as a gift. Some US sites are happy to do this and it means no duty on most things.

t

flea72

timmmers wrote: »

Next time get it marked as a gift. Some US sites are happy to do this and it means no duty on most things.

t

thats a myth - its just total luck of the draw whether customs check your parcel. putting the word 'gift' on the paperwork doesnt mean anything, espec if the paperwork contains the details for a business, rather than a private individual

ok, you might find that smaller parcels get through the system more often without being checked, but dont bank on it - best to factor in the cost of the fees when buying, so that way you know if you have got a bargain, or a real bargain should you get it through customs fee free

F

dzug1

timmmers wrote: »

Next time get it marked as a gift. Some US sites are happy to do this and it means no duty on most things.

t

Myth - it doesn't - there can be VAT and duty on gifts. I think the threshold is slightly higher (£36 as against £18????) but that's all

soolin

dzug1 wrote: »

Myth - it doesn't - there can be VAT and duty on gifts. I think the threshold is slightly higher (£36 as against £18????) but that's all

As well as the obvious offence of defrauding HMRC of course.