Duty Free question - buying expensive watch

kimineycricket

Hi all,

I am looking to secretly buy a Tag Heuer watch in Heathrow duty free as a wedding gift for my husband-to-be. I have saved up most of the amount in Capital Bonds Vouchers I’ve saved for the past 2 years which has bought the price down to something fairly affordable.

I have been in contact with Watches of Switzerland at Heathrow Airport who have said they will accept these vouchers and I’m planning on picking it up either on a work trip in Oct or when we go back for our wedding in Dec (which may be harder to pick up as he will be travelling with me).

My questions:

• If I purchase duty free from Heathrow on the way back to Australia is there anything I need to know? Will I need to declare it? Could I face paying extra tax? The total value is likely to be over £1000. The gift is going to be a surprise so I don’t want any problems which might give it away.
• I also have a business trip to the US in October – this would be easier for me to buy the watch as he wont be with me. But will I have any problems taking this to the US and back again? Also will I have any hassle taking it again to Australia??
• Does anyone have any experience with haggling with Watches of Switzerland? Do you think I could get a discount on the duty free watch as well??? Might as well try my luck! J

Thanks for any help…I’m stressing a little bit as I want it to be a complete surprise for him on our wedding day and don’t want a customs officer giving it away…hopefully he’s not reading this post! lol

littlereddevil

Do check out the price of the watch in different sources as duty free is not always as cheap as you think.

Red_Cat

Have you considered buying the watch at Duty Free in the US?

It might be worth researching the DF stores there to see if they keep the watch you are after.
But, check conditions on the guarantee/warranty. I bought a watch from Dubai and it malfunctioned after 18 months. I didn't check the warranty when I bought it, but was lucky in that was a worldwide one and lasted 2 years.

The UK customs website is a bit unclear on duty:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/customs/arriving/arrivingnoneu.htm#4

But it looks like you will have to pay on items costing more than £270 or £390, but I can't see what makes the difference in a particular case.

whatmichaelsays

Isn't there a "buy now, collect on your arrival" facility at Heathrow?

kimineycricket

Hi All,

Thanks for all your quick replies

I have vouchers which I can use at Watches of Switzerland which will bring the price down considerably, also would prefer to buy duty free as it brings it down slightly more.

I can organise collection at heathrow easy enough...but I want to give it to him at our wedding in Australia.

My question is more related to customs and will I need to declare it on entry to Australia? or if I buy on my US trip, will I need to declare it when returning to the UK and then again when flying to Australia for the wedding?

Thanks

Pollycat

As the watch is way over the limit you are allowed to bring into the UK under 'gifts' you will have to declare it when you bring it back into the UK.

Check out the link provided by Red Cat - as the value is over the £390 per person allowed, you will have to pay duty on it.

Be aware:

If you bring in any single item worth more than your allowance, you must pay duty and/or tax on the full item value, not just the value above the allowance.

So you are not really buying the item duty free, are you?

You really need to find out how much duty will be payable on an item worth £1000.
I'd email HMRC and ask.
They have masses of different rates of duty.

You might find it puts the price of the watch up to make buying it 'duty free' not a viable option.

If you bought it on your first trip out, paid duty on your return then took it back out with you, I wouldn't have thought you'd have to pay duty again - but that's just my opinion.
At the very least you'd probably have to produce the paperwork to show that you'd already paid duty on it when you first bought it back into the country - especially as it will still look new.

I'd suggest checking directly with Australian customs re whether you have to declare it to their customs on entry.

Of course you are not FORCED to declare the watch on arrival back into the UK but that would be breaking the law.
Personally, I'd never mess with HMRC - they can be scary.

phatbear

Pollycat wrote: »

Personally, I'd never mess with HMRC - they can be scary.

We're all teddybears really its all a front.


Now comes the slight glitch.

When you buy items airside, with the exception of cigs/booze etc the items arent actually duty free they are usually duty paid but discounted at the rate of vat/duty. Therefore you should be able to buy what you want airside and then pick it up when you re-arrive in the uk.

bosjack

My maths might be wrong but if the watch costed 1000GBP

Cost of Watch 1000.00GBP
Duty 45.00GBP
VAT (17.5%) 182.87GBP

Total 227.87GBP Duty and VAT.

This if you declare the watch.

sunshinetours

EDIT - forget that misread the question!

kimineycricket

Thanks all, this is really confusing...

@Phatbear - let me see if I understand...So what it seems is anything other than alcohol etc is not really duty free. The item is labelled 'duty free' when in fact it is just discounted to the % of VAT/duty?? So in fact duty has been paid on the item.

Would the receipt then reflect this so it would be ok to take overseas without having an extra levy??

kimineycricket

Hi all,

I emailed Watches of Switzerland in Heathrow and they say I need to declare the item on entry to Australia and pay duty on entry. There goes my idea of it being a surprise gift So what exactly is the point of duty free if you have to pay duty on it at the destination?! I don't get it!

Does anyone have any other ideas on how to do this?? Thanks