ParcelForce Clearance Fee

shaun_from_Africa

If your seller did put the total that you paid (including the postage costs) in the box for the declared value, then you've not been ripped off by HMRC as they can only work out the charges due from the information that they are given.

Yorkshire_Pud

True enough but I still feel on the receiving end!

Live and learn and all that!:beer:

Yorkshire_Pud

Paid the PF clearance fee and VAT online and due for delivery tomorrow.

So the EMS 'express mail service' breaks down as 2 days to get from Japan to Parcelforce Coventry and 8 days to get from Parcelforce Coventry to delivery address.:eek::(

Is it the case that all EMS mail that is VAT or Duty chargeable that goes through PF Coventry is ALL cleared by PF or is it the case that some mail gets scrutinised and some gets through without charges levied even though they may be chargeable? If anyone knows.

Tracked postage from Japan to delivery address in UK £9.60.

Parcelforced payment £13.50.

Something wrong there guv uk.

Yorkshire_Pud

Today the package arrived complete with two ink stamped PAID stamps on top of the contents, luckily it was well packed inside.

The declared value and postage were detailed separately so no excuse for miscalculating the 20% Customs VAT which should be £5.64 but was charged by Parcelforce acting for HMRC at £7.73. If I claim the £2.09 VAT overpayment it will cost at least 62p for a first class stamp plus stationary and time thus eroding the amount I get back!

At £13.50 Clearance and handling charge I would expect PF to at least do a simple calculation correctly. So that's £15.59 for nothing courtesy of PF. You would think such a company would not be unduly perturbed when Vatable items arrive on these shores leading them to have to build a new complex with slate roof and special computers to collect the VAT on HMRC behalf.

As for the argument some have put forward that its cheaper than doing it yourself, yes it is and so is sending a letter from John O' groats to Lands End for 62p stamp but because of volume it becomes economical for a company to offer the service at reasonable cost, ipso facto PF with a huge volume of mail from overseas should be able to keep the price low but due to rank exploitation they won't, preferring to extort a disproportionately high fee for a little admin.

If you order goods from Amazon in USA they incorporate a handling charge including the carrier paying the VAT on the customers behalf, into the shipping costs and it doesn't even register in the shipping cost as it is so reasonable, so there can't in reality be some mythical big processing expense apart from perhaps the customers paying £13.50 to PF are also paying for the time spent processing the gifts, items under £15 etc where no VAT is payable, but this cost should just be included in the upfront postage fee paid?

Nilrem

Yorkshire Pud

Amazon.com can prepay the vat etc as they are:
A: Big enough (and have subsidiaries in the UK) to be able to have their own staff, or IT system work out the fees due before the package is ever entered into the delivery network (and the package is tracked with that information already assigned to it).

B: Estimate it (read the small print), and give you a refund if the amount they've said is more than it actually is.

Small companies can't and don't know the tax rates for all sorts of things in other countries, and don't have the systems in place to prepay the fees as it usually require them to have an office and agreement with the tax people in the country the items are going to.

The big cost is in the likes of Parcel Force receiving a package and having to work out the fees due from the labelling, including things like working out exactly what the tax code for the item is from that label, and having the secure facilities to do that working out, and then storing it until the fee is paid.

It's also worth noting that IIRC the charge for Amazon delivery with the option to pre-pay tax is a lot more than the cost of the normal delivery methods.

SlapShot

Maybe I've just been unlucky recently, but I fairly regularly buy goods from non-EU countries and in the past couple of months I've been stung on multiple occasions (representing a 100% hit rate!) for import VAT on goods with a relatively low value (typically £40-60). This hasn't been the case in the past, when I've typically had to pay for, I don't know, 1 in 10 deliveries.

I don't mind paying the VAT, fair's fair, but the parcelforce handling charge is really outrageously steep. If HMRC have stepped up collection rates, fair enough, but then parcelforce needs to get its act together with its charges.

Just wondering if anyone else has noticed this recently, and if this is a new normal?

visidigi

HMRC have tightened all channels, post, express etc are all affected

SlapShot

visidigi, thanks. Any reference for that, out of curiosity?

visidigi

SlapShot wrote: »

visidigi, thanks. Any reference for that, out of curiosity?

Work in an industry where we see the impact. The problem with Duties and Taxes was it was previously written off by most companies, despite being paid by the courier when it was a small amount.

As companies have seen a shrinking volume they have looked for ways to tie up revenue opportunities, of which this is one.

mum26

Hi, I would appreciate opinions on a similar situation please. I ordered a watch from Think Geek in the US, it arrived really quickly ( despatched 2 June, arrived 4th June! ) and was just handed over to my daughter by the courier. The next day we had a number of phone calls (I was at work), one resulted in an answerphone message from UPS saying you need to pay x amount, ring us on this number or a driver will come to the door tommorow to collect cash, the second time my daughter answered and was told the same thing (even though the parcel is in my partners name!).

There is no paperwork, breakdown or invoice for the charges on the package at all.

When i've had customs charges in the past the item has been held by the courier, they have contacted me with a breakdown of what has to be paid by a certain date then they have forwarded the item on to me after payment.

We phoned UPS and got a call centre person who wasnt sure what was going on, so I emailed through their facebook email and someone has been chasing it up, however I keep getting different stories from them!

The latest is that the package was not marked properly as needing charges paying so the delivery guy didn't know. However it is covered in stickers, one marked as NDOC (no documents for customs?) and the other luminous orange one marked C.O.D which I assume means collect charges on delivery? There is also a sticky plastic document bag attached but that was empty on delivery.

Now I'm happy to pay the VAT (item came to $63.43 including shipping which is roughly £39, UPS have worked out £8.76 VAT and £11 brokerage fee) but do I still need to pay the brokerage? It is not the amount I object to at all (and usually i'm fine paying customs charges etc, I accept that as part of buying from overseas) it is UPS sloppy attitude and rudeness.