Import Duty on camera

bertandmaud_2

I'm looking to buy a new camera, and have found what I want on a website in Hong Kong (have checked feedback etc). However, as they ship all over the world they are rather vague about import duty. How much would be payable on a £200 camera, and how would it be charged and collected? Hope this is in the right part of the forum!

Guardsman

Some people get charged and others pay nothing. I have only bought a couple of items from HK and USA off ebay and the price I paid was the advertised price on ebay

http://www.sloanefox.freeserve.co.uk/importukduty.htm

balmk

Hello, if you should get charged import duty, it would be at the prevailing rate of VAT (currently 20%) of the value of the item, plus any handling charge (around £12-£15) imposed by the delivery agent. The delivery agent will pay Customs on your behalf (hence their handling fee) and will then require you to pay them before they will deliver the item.

From the Customs site:

"Import VAT
VAT is a tax normally charged on the supply of goods (and services) made by a VAT - registered business in the UK. For goods brought in or sent to the UK from the EU there's no extra VAT to pay unless you're ordering or sending purchased goods from one of the EU Special Territories, such as Jersey or Guernsey, in which case you'll have to pay import VAT.
The EU 'Special Territories' are The Aland Islands (Finland), The Canary Islands (Spain), The Channel Islands (UK), The French Overseas Departments of Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique and Reunion and Mount Athos also known as Agion Poros (Greece).
Goods imported to the UK from outside the EU are subject to import VAT, unless they are brought in as part of your duty free allowances.
Import VAT rate
The percentage charged is the same VAT rate that applies to similar goods that are sold in the UK.
The import VAT percentage rate is applied to the total value of the goods. In the case of goods brought in this is the sterling equivalent of the price paid abroad, as shown on the receipt. In the case of goods posted from outside the EU, it is the amount on the Customs Declaration, which includes the price paid for the goods, the cost of transport, postage and packing, insurance and any duty that may be payable."

This link may also help:

http://www.dutycalculator.com/new-import-duty-and-tax-calculation/

Hintza

Somewhere between £50-£60. What happens when it breaks?

You need to save over a third before it starts to make any sense.

paddyrg

balmk wrote: »

Hello, if you should get charged import duty, it would be at the prevailing rate of VAT (currently 20%) of the value of the item, plus any handling charge (around £12-£15) imposed by the delivery agent.

Strictly speaking, imports attract duty plus VAT plus fees. Duty is not the same as VAT.

ecogeorge

Don't forget it is .... value of camera + carriage cost x20% vat.
Import duty according to duty rate (need to look that up)
May be a handling charge by the receiving courier, -parcel force do charge.
rgds George.

paddyrg

newsgirl wrote: »

I've recently bought a camera from a Hong Kong firm called Digital Rev. No import duty to pay, they pay it. If it's them we were delighted with the service, they even phoned us to make sure they had the correct delivery address. Highly recommend. Order came within about two days so they must import to the UK and hold stock in this country in anticipation of orders.

However, if it's a Canon with a moneyback offer, you can't take advantage of that because the offer is for purchases from UK suppliers. Despite that, it was hundreds of pounds cheaper than buying in the UK.

Sounds like a 'grey import' - just beware that manufacturers may not honour any guarantees.

InsideInsurance

paddyrg wrote: »

Sounds like a 'grey import' - just beware that manufacturers may not honour any guarantees.

Its not a grey import as you are actually buying it from HK. Grey import would be a merchant buying products intended for a different market but selling them here.

There are a number of HK based companies that use a variety of tactics to get you your items without attracting VAT or Duty, normally by marking them as a gift or trade sample and falsely declaring the value. Some also offer to refund you the cost should your parcel be caught despite their attempts. Whilst their activities with customs are clearly illegal a fair number do truly honour their refund policy

As others have said, you do need to balance the potential savings against the loss of statutory rights, challenges if faults develop and possible issues with warranties. Even if there is a world wide warranty (eg Canon lenses for dSLR cameras) they may require evidence of legitimate import (ie if you avoid the taxes you void your warranty=

paddyrg

InsideInsurance wrote: »

Its not a grey import as you are actually buying it from HK. Grey import would be a merchant buying products intended for a different market but selling them here.

Order came within about two days so they must import to the UK and hold stock in this country in anticipation of orders.

Does whether you pay a UK or HK address make any difference if it was HK stock imported to the UK for dispatch?

vaio

yep, VAT and any duty are applied at the point of import so if it's already in the UK then nothing to pay on top of purchase price.

More generally, we buy bits for work from china and power tools from the states, I'd say that more than half get through without attracting the beady eye of HMRC and shoes box & smaller almost always get through. Not a huge sample I grant you, we get maybe one shipment a month