Shocked over import VAT Customs

peroja

hello

a friend of mine i know in person who lives in puerto rico has sent me a birthday gift. (my birthday is on the 1. Juli). he sent me a very old film camera from around 1970 and clearly declared it as "gift" but in the content fields he put 800$ for insurance reasons, in case the birthday present gets lost or damaged. i did not pay anything for it and it really is a gift.
now i recieved a note from parcelforce claiming £12.38 customs duty, £101.57 import VAT and £8 clearance fee.

i am shocked! first of all why do i have to pay import VAT for a 40 year old camera for which i have paid nothing and which is clearly declared a gift? and customs duty??? what for?

the sneaky thing with the clearance fee has been discussed here over and over again and i do not agree on that as well.

what can i do? i can prove with a copy of my passport that the 1 juli is my birthday and i can prove that the sender is also my personal friend and did NOT sell me the old camera. he just wanted to make me happy with a little gift....

please held and advice
thank you

Tropez

The $800 declared value of the item is far in excess of Customs regulations on the importation of items that are gifts.


2.5 Gifts

Goods sent as a gift that are over £40 in value are liable to import VAT. Customs duty also becomes payable if the value of the goods is over £135 but is waived if the amount of duty calculated is less than £9.
To qualify as a gift:

• the customs declaration must be completed correctly
• the gift must be sent from a private person outside the EU to a private person(s) in this country
• there is no commercial or trade element and the gift has not been paid for either directly or indirectly
• the gift is of an occasional nature only, for example, for a birthday or anniversary.

Note: if you purchase goods from outside the EU to give as a gift to a relative or friend, whether or not addressed to that person, is treated as a ‘commercial consignment’ for which the import VAT relief threshold is £18 (paragraph 2.3 refers, but please note that with effect from 1 November 2011 the £18 threshold will be reduced to £15).


As he misrepresented the value of the item, it is unlikely that you will have any recourse unless you could somehow convince them it was an "honest" error but based on what you've said it doesn't sound like he was being honest I'm afraid.

trukdiver

peroja wrote: »

hello

a friend of mine i know in person who lives in puerto rico has sent me a birthday gift. (my birthday is on the 1. Juli). he sent me a very old film camera from around 1970 and clearly declared it as "gift" but in the content fields he put 800$ for insurance reasons, in case the birthday present gets lost or damaged. i did not pay anything for it and it really is a gift.
now i recieved a note from parcelforce claiming £12.38 customs duty, £101.57 import VAT and £8 clearance fee.

i am shocked! first of all why do i have to pay import VAT for a 40 year old camera for which i have paid nothing and which is clearly declared a gift? and customs duty??? what for?

the sneaky thing with the clearance fee has been discussed here over and over again and i do not agree on that as well.

what can i do? i can prove with a copy of my passport that the 1 juli is my birthday and i can prove that the sender is also my personal friend and did NOT sell me the old camera. he just wanted to make me happy with a little gift....

please held and advice
thank you

What sort of camera was it? (Hasselblad?) There are not many cameras around that are worth $800!

I had a similar problem a few years ago and contacted Customs. I got a letter from the sender explaining the situation. HMRC refunded the VAT but I wasn't able to get the clearance charge refunded.

soolin

Must be an extremely rare camera, the auction houses I attend have box loads of good makes and usually sell by the dozen for around £10.

mamabuddah

sounds like one of "those" items that get sent in the post insured....then the sender and recipient hopes the item gets "lost"....nice claim....

agree with other posters $800 for an "old" camera...must be a "real" friend....


if you're saddened by this loss....I have a Polaroid camera from about 1975 if you're interested....I can let you have it for about £200....bargain....then get your friend to "Paypal" the money to me....

trukdiver

soolin wrote: »

Must be an extremely rare camera, the auction houses I attend have box loads of good makes and usually sell by the dozen for around £10.

Some cameras seem to be going up in value. I noticed Rollei TLR's going for more than they did when film was still popular!

paddyrg

It'll teach your friend to tell the truth on official paperwork in the future, eh? Or did he imagine those stickers were just decorative? Silly sausage.

trukdiver

paddyrg wrote: »

It'll teach your friend to tell the truth on official paperwork in the future, eh? Or did he imagine those stickers were just decorative? Silly sausage.

I've sent stuff back to the UK in the past, including a camera. It was my own property and I was sending it back to save weight while backpacking. I still insured it for the replacement value but I didn't declare the insurance value on the customs form.

shaun_from_Africa

I still insured it for the replacement value but I didn't declare the insurance value on the customs form.

Which is perfectly legal and it is done this way by many businesses.
As part of my job, I have to fill out shipping invoices on a regular basis and there is a column for the items value and at the bottom of the form it states "Value for customs purposes only".

Most of the goods I send are broken or unserviceable aircraft components & their customs value is normally about 25% of the "book price" for a working item.
However, they are still insured for the 100% of the book price as this is what we would have to pay to replace anything that was lost.

It's a bit like the common comment on Antiques roadshow.
"It's worth about £2000, but for insurance purposes you should cover it for £2500"

rapido

peroja wrote: »

he sent me a very old film camera from around 1970 and clearly declared it as "gift" but in the content fields he put 800$ for insurance reasons, in case the birthday present gets lost or damaged.

Sorry, but that's the funniest thing I've read in a long time!

Personally I would just not pay and have the item returned to sender. Or alternatively you could write to Customs or have your friend write to them explaining the situation.

I would advise that he doesn't sound like a very good friend to overinflate the amount knowing that you will pay a fortune to receive it.

soolin

trukdiver wrote: »

Some cameras seem to be going up in value. I noticed Rollei TLR's going for more than they did when film was still popular!

Ohh, maybe time for me not to ignore the mixed camera lots then....