UPS wanting to collect unpaid Import Tax

pratstercs

Hi, I was wondering if anyone can help me here?

Last month, I bought an item worth ~£70 from California. It was shipped via UPS and delivered no with no problems whatsoever.
Then, yesterday I recieved a letter from UPS, claiming I owed them £22 in import duty that the driver should have collected upon delivery :eek:

Is this legal, and will I have to pay it? It is their mistake that it was not collected when it was delivered, and can they still demand it to be collected now?

Thanks for the advice in advance!

System

pratstercs wrote: »

Is this legal

Yes.

pratstercs wrote: »

and will I have to pay it?

Yes.

pratstercs wrote: »

can they still demand it to be collected now?

Yes.

pratstercs

But surely it was their job to collect it upon delivery (as stated) and such cannot demand it be paid after the fact?

texranger

pratstercs wrote: »

Hi, I was wondering if anyone can help me here?

Last month, I bought an item worth ~£70 from California. It was shipped via UPS and delivered no with no problems whatsoever.
Then, yesterday I recieved a letter from UPS, claiming I owed them £22 in import duty that the driver should have collected upon delivery :eek:

Is this legal, and will I have to pay it? It is their mistake that it was not collected when it was delivered, and can they still demand it to be collected now?

Thanks for the advice in advance!

Yes you will have to pay this, when you order goods from other countries you always run the risk of import duty/tax if your item is in a consignment that is stopped by custom.

the Courier (UPS) would have paid this to have the goods released, so natually and legally they are asking you the recipient for this tax which that have paid on your behalf.

The could of refused to pay this and then you would have recived a letter from customs to inform you that this item was with them and requires a tax of £22 to be paid before they release this and then you would have tyo arrange the collection of this, so most couriers pay this and then just bill the recipient for the tax paid. it makes things easier for you

muskoka

Put it like this. If they sued you, tbey win hands down & then you'd have to pay their legal fees too. If I was you, I'd just pay it. They're not diddling you at all. Its the UK taxman AGAIN

custardy

pratstercs wrote: »

But surely it was their job to collect it upon delivery (as stated) and such cannot demand it be paid after the fact?

whoose job?
you imported it from America
you made no preparations to clear it through customs
so now UPS are asking for the monies they paid for you to HMRC
its legal
some carriers hold the goods,some deliver and invoice
either way,you are due the taxman money

texranger

pratstercs wrote: »

But surely it was their job to collect it upon delivery (as stated) and such cannot demand it be paid after the fact?

NO, they have paid this tax on your behalf it is you who are legally obligated to pay this tax, so they can invoice you, some couriers wont allow drivers to handle cash.

custardy

texranger wrote: »

NO, they have paid this tax on your behalf it is you who are legally obligated to pay this tax, so they can invoice you, some couriers wont allow drivers to handle cash.

and rightly so IMO
some random comes to the door with a box and tells you that you owe them £22 to get it

pratstercs

custardy wrote: »

and rightly so IMO
some random comes to the door with a box and tells you that you owe them £22 to get it

He came to the door, gave me my box and didn't say anything about a tax. Now 3 weeks later, they send me a letter saying they forgot, and now I owe them. It's the delay I have a problem with

arcon5

pratstercs wrote: »

He came to the door, gave me my box and didn't say anything about a tax. Now 3 weeks later, they send me a letter saying they forgot, and now I owe them. It's the delay I have a problem with

a) as already said, it's irresponsible to allow drivers to collect money. Many people would refuse this. I'm surprised the driver should have done this tbh. Infact I would be surprised if the driver even knew the tax was due.

b) would you have had cash available on delivery? I bet many wouldn't! how would you react if he then said 'sorry, we're keeping to parcel until you cough up'?

c) you imported goods, tax is due, stop whining and pay it. the courier did you a favour by paying HMRC so the parcel was not held up. Now pay them what's due.

Think of it like this... you got to keep the morning, earning interest (albeit a neglible amount) for a few extra weeks.

I don't know why your being so awkward about this. Royalmail for example would have delivered a card to say you have to collect it from their depot and pay -- would you rather this?

I wonder if couriers stopped clearing parcels how customers would react.

pratstercs

arcon5 wrote: »

a) as already said, it's irresponsible to allow drivers to collect money. Many people would refuse this. I'm surprised the driver should have done this tbh. Infact I would be surprised if the driver even knew the tax was due.

b) would you have had cash available on delivery? I bet many wouldn't! how would you react if he then said 'sorry, we're keeping to parcel until you cough up'?

c) you imported goods, tax is due, stop whining and pay it. the courier did you a favour by paying HMRC so the parcel was not held up. Now pay them what's due.

Think of it like this... you got to keep the morning, earning interest (albeit a neglible amount) for a few extra weeks.

I don't know why your being so awkward about this. Royalmail for example would have delivered a card to say you have to collect it from their depot and pay -- would you rather this?

I wonder if couriers stopped clearing parcels how customers would react.

OK, thanks, I see your point. I was just rather unhappy, as many would be, to get a letter saying you owe someone a completely unexpected £22, well after everything else regarding it wad finished.

Thanks everone for your help