Do I have to refund Duty and Taxes?

polymathone

Hello all!
First up, please be gentle, I'm new to posting on here...
I have recently sold a Kokatat drysuit to Canada via a specialised website. The buyer and I agreed a sale price of $580 (CAD),which he paid through PayPal. I paid for the postage, which came to £44.10 (incl £14.95 for remote location charges).
The buyer now claims (and sent a photo as evidence), that the suit wasn't a size Medium, and that it actually has a Small printed on the inside of the neck collar.
I should add here, that the suit was bought for my son, who is 6'0, but he quit the sailing team, before he ever even tried it on. I put in this in the sales ad, but which is coming to haunt me now. I remember buying a Medium, because I phoned up the company and told them his measurements, as well as the fact that he was still growing (he was 5'9 at the time), and they recommended a medium.
I will obviously refund the buyer's money, but he's now telling me, that I should also carry the return postage, as well as the $152.00 'duty and taxes' he had to pay to UPS.


My questions are

a) Can he do this? i.e. Make me pay all the charges he incurred. (At his request, I even put a birthday card in the parcel and marked the item as a 'gift', so that he wouldn't have to pay tax etc.)

b) On the 'return journey', can I be stung for further import/duty etc. (Should I get him to put a note on the label, that it is a 'returned item' or some such?)

c) Am I right in assuming, that I don't have to refund the money, until I've got the suit back in its original condition?

I know some of my questions may seem daft to the seasoned seller, but any help with this would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

vuvuzela

If you misdescribed it, then I think morally you should ensure he is not left out of pocket after a return. You shouldn't be hit for taxes on entry to the UK, but if you are, then obviously you have the proof it is a return and the proof of posting in the first instance.

However definitely do not refund until the suit is back with you.

dauphin

I think you should encourage your buyer to return the goods to you and to apply for a refund of the tax from the Canadian Border Services Agency.
Comprehensive details are given here:

http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/publications/dm-md/d6/d6-2-6-eng.html

It's heavy going but section 76 provides the statutory basis and further down in Appendix C there's a table showing the documentation required. (Goods Returned to Sender / Exported).
He won't be able to recover the handling fees but probably these are relatively small.

soolin

a) Can he do this? i.e. Make me pay all the charges he incurred. (At his request, I even put a birthday card in the parcel and marked the item as a 'gift', so that he wouldn't have to pay tax etc.)

I would also be wary of admitting to defrauding HMRC on an open forum like this

lil.smartie

He should get taxes back from whoever he paid them to if he proves he's sent it back. You shouldn't need to pay as you can prove you sent it and it's been returned.

Kate

dauphin

soolin wrote: »

I would also be wary of admitting to defrauding HMRC on an open forum like this

Agreed, though surely it's the Canadian Revenue which would have been defrauded had they not inspected the package? (Not that this makes it any better!)

soolin

dauphin wrote: »

Agreed, though surely it's the Canadian Revenue which would have been defrauded had they not inspected the package? (Not that this makes it any better!)

They were sent from the UK misdeclared so HMRC would take a dim view of that. The Canadian customs are even stricter and OP was lucky this was not picked up as otherwise the goods may well have been held with no recompense.

F&L

a) as stated I believe the buyer has to reclaim the duties paid. For future reference Canada has a low limit for imports even for gifts so even if the item had been a genuine gift, the recipient would still have had to pay duties. Countries like the US and Australia have much higher gift limits.

b) I had an item returned from the US and their Customs declaration form had a "returned merchandise" box which was ticked by the sender and I therefore did not have to pay any duties

c) Correct