Buying from US, custom charges.

unholyangel

Hi, recently purchased an items from US as it was on sale and 50% less than it should be.

The total i paid was $22.59 ($5.10 of which was postage) which worked out at £16.05.

I got a card through from Royal Mail today saying theres a item requiring a signature and payment as the sender did not pay all postage and there is a customs charge plus the standard £1 royal mail charge for this card through the door, totalling £12.26.

Surely this cant be right? That the custom charge is almost as much as the item itself? Also, the seller never informed me of any additional fee's and had i known there would be additional fee's, i wouldnt have bothered ordering it at all as its far too expensive for what it is.

Where do i stand from a legal point of view?

I know customs can differ depending what type of item so fyi, its a protective cover for my ipod.

4743hudsonj

Try This
From
http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageTravel_ShowContent&id=HMCE_CL_000014&propertyType=document#P22_2021

2.2 Do I have to pay import duties and/or import VAT on goods sent to me?
Most goods arriving in the UK from outside the EU are liable to any or all of the following taxes:

customs duty
excise duty
import VAT
and must be paid whether:

you purchase the goods or receive them as a gift
the goods are new or used (including antiques)
the goods are for your private use or for re-sale.

IT does however go on to say

2.3 What are the limits for customs duty and import VAT?
Commercial consignments of £18 or less are free from customs duty and import VAT. For example, goods purchased over the internet with an intrinsic value not exceeding £18, will not be charged any duty or VAT but this does not include alcohol, tobacco products, perfume or toilet waters. See paragraph 2.5, 2.6 and section 3.
If you are sent a gift with a value of £40 or less, and which complies with the rules shown in paragraph 2.4, it will be free from customs duty and import VAT, but this does not include alcohol, tobacco, perfumes and toilet waters.
Customs duty becomes payable if the value of the goods is over £135 but duty is waived if the amount of duty calculated is less than £9.
There are a number of other circumstances where relief from some or all customs charges may be available. If you think your goods may be eligible for a relief you should contact the Customs Helpline for further

Customs dont just charge for items imported for under £18 so im guessing it comes under one of the categories in that second part? If not ring them and ask!

custardy

unholyangel wrote: »

Hi, recently purchased an items from US as it was on sale and 50% less than it should be.

The total i paid was $22.59 ($5.10 of which was postage) which worked out at £16.05.

I got a card through from Royal Mail today saying theres a item requiring a signature and payment as the sender did not pay all postage and there is a customs charge plus the standard £1 royal mail charge for this card through the door, totalling £12.26.

Surely this cant be right? That the custom charge is almost as much as the item itself? Also, the seller never informed me of any additional fee's and had i known there would be additional fee's, i wouldnt have bothered ordering it at all as its far too expensive for what it is.

Where do i stand from a legal point of view?

I know customs can differ depending what type of item so fyi, its a protective cover for my ipod.

Its not for the seller to tell you
they have no control over customs
FYI there is an £8 RM charge,you are reading the card wrong

Hintza

unholyangel wrote: »

Also, the seller never informed me of any additional fee's and had i known there would be additional fee's, i wouldnt have bothered ordering it at all as its far too expensive for what it is.

How is your seller meant to know what UK customs will charge you in the way of VAT, duty and clearance fees?

This is your problem alone, you should go and have a read at the customs and excise website.

unholyangel

ok first, thanks for the replies.....not sure if the latter two are meant to be rude or whether they're just appearing like they are.

hudson yeah thats the part i read, section 2.3......which is why i'm wondering why there are any custom charges at all as even with postage (which from what i've read is included in vat/custom charges) its under £18.

FYI i called Royal mail and 4.26 is VAT and £8 is their charge although that is NOT what the card says (it does state the sender didnt pay full postage and that RM charge is £1 for this) so the postman has obviously filled it out incorrectly.


EDIT: The reason i'm so confused is because i've received mail from US before and never had to pay anything as they were handled like normal mail. Does this mean if my friends want to continue to write to me and send me pictures i'll be charged at least £8 every time? Utter ridiculous.

ERICS_MUM

I understood that packages worth under £18 were not liable for import duties. Items over £18 are not always charged, I think it's done at random - it wouldn't be possible to process charges on absolutely every parcel coming in from abroad. I've been buying stuff from abroad for about 5 years and have only been charged by HMRC once.

Ordinary letters are not charged duty (but there might be under-paid postage), but if they contain something other than a letter then the sender should use a form to describe the item - a gift with a low value.

The thing that annoyed me with the one and only parcel I've ever been charged for is that HMRC charged VAT and duty on the postage costs - because they say it is part of the total cost of the item.

unholyangel

Ok, just an update for anyone who may have been in the same situation or will be.......

Spoke to HMRC and advised them that i paid £16.05 and that the only 2 possibilities i could think of for being charged is that a) customs have mistaken USD for GBP (which i've heard they do quite often) or b)that the sellers have put down what the full price of the item is and not what i paid for it.

HMRC have told me as long as i have proof of how much i paid (which i do - a paypal receipt) i can mail this into them along with a copy of the postage label and be refunded......also i noted on their website that if the mistake is theirs, they will also reimburse you for any charges you incur while sorting things out which i think is nice

Now all that remains is for me to get the package so i can find out if HMRC or the seller is at fault.

Thanks for all the help and i hope you all have a nice summer (although likely i'll be back on here moaning about being charged for something else - you know what they say, copper wire was invented by 2 scotsmen fighting over a penny) :rotfl:

dzug1

There's also the possibility that customs decided the declared value was a lie.

If so the same procedure as for a mistake should work if you can prove what you actually paid

unholyangel

Its 2 bits of plastic :S tbh if i looked at them, i'd probably think it was worth pennies lol. They keep your ipod/ipad/iphone etc scratch free though, hence why i ordered them.

But yeah what you said is basically what HMRC told me, that regardless of what the items were actually worth (even full cost) as long as i paid less than £18, i'll get a refund.

Although as previous poster said, they do count postage as part of the "final" price.

Hintza

unholyangel wrote: »

..not sure if the latter two are meant to be rude or whether they're just appearing like they are.

I presume you are referring to my post as one of those that you perceive rude?

The only thing I would add on re-reading it is that they might have made a mistake which you can check (others have covered that).

Apart from that where have I been rude?

unholyangel

In all fairness i did say i wasnt sure if you both meant it like that or whether it was just appearing that way. You know how it is, in person you can see the other persons expression and hear their tone of voice, over the internet, words can be taken several or possibly dozens of ways.

Apologies if you didnt mean it as such and yes, the postman made a mistake when filling out the card to go through my door and either the seller or HMRC made a mistake with the value of the item.

All seems to be easy enough to fix. I'm fortunate enough that i can afford the charges until they're refunded to me. A lot simpler to solve than i thought it was going to be *touch wood*