Parcel Force Custom Charges???

confusionpervails

I recently bought a 5x4 camera from Ebay (cost of £1,000.00), location Canada. I paid over £200 for it to be delivered and has arrived safely. However, I've now received a letter from Parcel Force stating I owe them £221.60 in charges raised by UK Border Agency/ HM Revenue and Customs. They say they still have the parcel (which they don't as it's already been delivered). What shall I do??? I can't believe I've been so naive in thinking I wouldn't need to pay import VAT as I presumed this would have been taken care of by the sender (hence the huge delivery cost!).

Please help

pcombo

Im surprised parcelforce actually delivered the item without any payment as they dont normally do this.

if you dont pay them they will just send it to debt collectors who will send u annoying letters.

texranger

confusionpervails wrote: »

I recently bought a 5x4 camera from Ebay (cost of £1,000.00), location Canada. I paid over £200 for it to be delivered and has arrived safely. However, I've now received a letter from Parcel Force stating I owe them £221.60 in charges raised by UK Border Agency/ HM Revenue and Customs. They say they still have the parcel (which they don't as it's already been delivered). What shall I do??? I can't believe I've been so naive in thinking I wouldn't need to pay import VAT as I presumed this would have been taken care of by the sender (hence the huge delivery cost!).

Please help

yes I am surprised they have delivered without payment. but yes you need to pay this as this is a charge Parcelforce have paid customs on your item to have it released, so this will chase you for it

unholyangel

Usually the delivery people (whether royal mail or private company) pay the custom charges and then gets them back from the customer.

As for import duty........£200 to deliver a £1000 camera AND pay duty on it? The large delivery charge was probably for insurance and overseas delivery.

Excise Duty
If you're ordering or buying alcohol and/or tobacco from a non-EU country, Excise Duty must be paid by the recipient once the goods have arrived in the UK but before the goods are delivered.
Customs Duty
If you're ordering goods from outside the EU, any Customs Duty must be paid by the recipient once the goods have arrived in the UK but before the goods are delivered.
Import VAT
If you're ordering goods from outside the EU, any Import VAT must be paid by the recipient once the goods have arrived in the UK but before the goods are delivered.

alistair.long

The £221.60 is going to be £200 vat as the item costs £1000.

If the original owner has the receipt then you can send a copy to the foreign customs and get a cashback from them,

visidigi

unholyangel wrote: »

Usually the delivery people (whether royal mail or private company) pay the custom charges and then gets them back from the customer.

Not true.

Royal Mail Group (RM and Parcelforce) require prepayment - some of the private companies now also require prepayment if the duties and taxes are above a certain amount - I suspect in the OP's case that this has simply been delivered ahead of payment due to the amount of deliveries ParcelForce are making at the moment.

Unfortunately a number of private companies have lately enforce greater volumes of prepayment due to the number of people refusing or disputing taxes payments at a later date.

mazza111

What UnholyAngel says is correct, RM or whatever handler, pays the fees for you up front. Then they will charge a handling fee for doing this. They wouldn't normally send the item out before you have paid, however at this time of the year they may do it due to the amount of packets they have, or it could have been released on error. I would advise to pay it if you have been billed for it

xxJudexx

Check the ebay post and see if the seller states they will pay the customs charges. If they don't say you could contact them and see if they will pay. You were obviously under the assumption that you had paid the huge delivery prices to pay for customs too so maybe the product wasn't as described (I don't know if delivery charges are included in SOGA). Its worth a try!

texranger

xxJudexx wrote: »

Check the ebay post and see if the seller states they will pay the customs charges. If they don't say you could contact them and see if they will pay. You were obviously under the assumption that you had paid the huge delivery prices to pay for customs too so maybe the product wasn't as described (I don't know if delivery charges are included in SOGA). Its worth a try!

it is the buyers responsibility to pay any custom fees if any for goods entering the UK from outside the EU.

arcon5

xxJudexx wrote: »

Check the ebay post and see if the seller states they will pay the customs charges. If they don't say you could contact them and see if they will pay. You were obviously under the assumption that you had paid the huge delivery prices to pay for customs too so maybe the product wasn't as described (I don't know if delivery charges are included in SOGA). Its worth a try!

But this isnt an issue for the product

unholyangel

visidigi wrote: »

Not true.

Royal Mail Group (RM and Parcelforce) require prepayment - some of the private companies now also require prepayment if the duties and taxes are above a certain amount - I suspect in the OP's case that this has simply been delivered ahead of payment due to the amount of deliveries ParcelForce are making at the moment.

Unfortunately a number of private companies have lately enforce greater volumes of prepayment due to the number of people refusing or disputing taxes payments at a later date.

And how exactly is my post "not true"? As mazza below you states, they pay them upfront for you. Then get you to pay it. Whether they want paid before or after they deliver it is entirely a different matter!

xxJudexx wrote: »

Check the ebay post and see if the seller states they will pay the customs charges. If they don't say you could contact them and see if they will pay. You were obviously under the assumption that you had paid the huge delivery prices to pay for customs too so maybe the product wasn't as described (I don't know if delivery charges are included in SOGA). Its worth a try!

SoGA is UK law though and therefore not relevant since the product was bought from Canada.