Import Duty on Internet Orders

Babbler

I phoned FEDEX for an explaination. They stated the following:

They do not set the charges (which I figured). However they said that the import vat is calculated on the total INCLUDING postage charges (so you pay VAT on postage). Then there is a £7 or close adjustment fee?!? Which is why my bill came to £20 for a £22 item. Am gutted!

Im doing research before I pay to see if that is the case as it didnt happen with Parcelforce - the VAT was only on the goods.

FEDEX are blaming the duty people. Hmmmm... have got 30 days to look into it...

mrwibble

Duplicate post

mrwibble

Babbler wrote: »

I phoned FEDEX for an explaination. They stated the following:

They do not set the charges (which I figured). However they said that the import vat is calculated on the total INCLUDING postage charges (so you pay VAT on postage). Then there is a £7 or close adjustment fee?!? Which is why my bill came to £20 for a £22 item. Am gutted!

Im doing research before I pay to see if that is the case as it didnt happen with Parcelforce - the VAT was only on the goods.

FEDEX are blaming the duty people. Hmmmm... have got 30 days to look into it...

A VAT charge of £12.88 implies a total for toy, duty and courier (excluding collection charge) of £73.60 (£12.88 / 0.175) - given your toy value of £22 that would mean a courier fee + duty of £51.60 - that implies a lot of courier charge. Don't worry about 30 days - you should be able to claim from HMRC way back - just don't expect your collection fee back.

Sarita

Andy_G wrote: »

This should clear up any confusion :rotfl:

http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageVAT_ShowContent&id=HMCE_CL_000102&propertyType=document

Seems most books are not VAT exempt but all are import duty free.

Don't forget the Royal Mail £8 charge if the book(s) is/are over £18

Hi Andy, what £8 charge is that? and is that for the wholesale price or the retail price? would appreciate more info - am soon being sent books from abroad which retail at £28 each.
thanks
sarita

Andy_G_3

Sarita wrote: »

Hi Andy, what £8 charge is that? and is that for the wholesale price or the retail price? would appreciate more info - am soon being sent books from abroad which retail at £28 each.
thanks
sarita

The £8 charge is an administration fee charged by Royal Mail to handle the item that has incurred customs fees.

You will pay £8 per package that has incurred custom fees.

The £8 is not related to the cost of the item(s) in the parcel.

NekoMalik

Quite an old thread, but it makes more sense reviving this than starting a new one...

I've ordered some t-shirts from America for Christmas, they arrived, paid customs etc and now I need to send three of them back for exchanges.

Question is, as I've already paid the fees for them, when I get the replacements do I have to pay again? Can I claim back the fees on the original order as I'm sending them back, or will the vendor have to mark the package as an exchange?

I'd rather not pay twice for the same clothes it was expensive enough the first time around!

harryhound

Is this the time to point out that the tax free entry of packages of value up to 18 quid from the Channel Islands has already gone down to £15 and next April will go down to £0.00.
That should cause chaos for the Post Office - I need to charge you £2 VAT plus £8 handling charge on this £10 consignment???????

"P1ss off, they can keep their birthday present"

I've just mailed a calendar to a relative for Xmas - inspite of the tube having removable plastic end caps and being marked "printed paper", I still had to go through a pantomime of filling in a customs declaration form.

Perhaps next year I could create my own calendar on one of those customised photoshops and then send them my credit card details and trust them to print out their own copy locally?

Chouette

I've been charged a £10 administration fee on top of a £3.45 VAT charge that I owe FedEx. Woopdedoo. That's almost 300% of the original charge, and 50% of the total value of the item.

I don't mind paying the VAT, but I will be interested to find out how FedEx justify such a disproportionate admin charge :doh:

JasonLVC

These admin charges couriers and RM charge cause quite a lot of unhappiness, let me try and explain how it all works.

Goods entering the UK from outside the EU will be subject to import duty and VAT (except where duties and VAT for an item is set at 0%, such as books).

They are held by HMRC in a warehouse at port of entry and are not released until the duty and VAT are paid. The courier/RM are tasked to deliver this item to you and so will pay HMRC the duty and VAT in order to release the goods from the warehouse.

The mechanism HMRC require of the courier/RM is a thing called a Deferrment Account which is a bank guarantee covering a set amount of duty/VAT, this allows HMRC to release the goods to the courier/RM without having to physically pay cash up front becuase the bank guarantee assures HMRC they can get their money should the courier/RM default on paying.

Bank guarantees cost money and reduce the ability of the courier/RM to borrow, there is also paperwork for each and every single item that comes into the UK such as bills of laden, shipping notes, etc that track parcels coming in and leaving the UK.

So whilst the £8 fee is a bit of a rip-off, the alternatives are to go and drive to Heathrow/Portsmouth and pay HMRC yourself, fill out the forms and bring your own £25 toy back home....or pay the courier/RM to do that for you but incur the additional price.

I agree that at some point, these fees need to be challenged as the majority of the process is computerised, even the forms are and so there's not a room with 100 staff in all processing these things, but there is a cost to administer the process for sure so maybe this is the next big banking fees battle - what is a reasonable fee for all this?

snorthcote

I have just had a demand from DHL for unpaid tax and duty on a parcel from Qatar from my Daughter containing Christmas gifts for her 7 year old niece. At no point did DHL tell them in Qatar that their gift was over the UK limit and that the recipient in the UK would be responsible. So I now have to pay £22.33 for something that wasnt for me, just because my name was on the paperwork. I despair at the country we live in. I wont be signing for any other parcels from abroad!!