STUNG !!! Import tax

Pete.g

Just got home today to find a card from parcel force saying i'd missed a delivery and I could collect from the depot.

I won the item last week on Canada ebay it cost me $200 (£105) inc postage.

The thing is, on the card it says a fee of £32.19 is to be paid upon collection!!! Which I am totally gobsmacked about.

Ok so fair enough I expected to pay import tax, but £32 on an item costing £105? surely there must be some sort of mistake?

A mate of mine bought a 2 grand Bose home emtertainment system and it only cost hime £200 import tax.

Is this right?

Pete.

danmanchester

Ouch! Anything bought from outside the EU costing more than £18 is subject to customs import vat.http://www.hmce.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageTravel_ShowContent&propertyType=document&resetCT=true&id=HMCE_CL_001454

BFG_2

Depends on the category of goods - they sometimes have different tariffs.

Don't forget, a big lump of it will be a fixed fee for the Post Office ot TNT or whoever to collect the duty.

Check www.hmce.gov.uk for the tariffs.

Hintza

That sounds right.

VAT @17.5% will be about £18.50 (remember they use a monthly exchange rate)

Post Office Clearance Fee = £13.50

Total Payable = £32+/-

Small items attract a clearance fee of £4 +/-

Hintza

One point to remember the Post Office is the cheapest by far. If it gets into the hands of a courier I am sure they think of a number and double it!!!!

Rocker666

Yeah my partner brought a guitar amplifier on the US ebay site for £800, when it turned up with UPS they wanted a cheque for £350 to cover the tax there and then! Madness!

fisheddie

so if we are buying from out side of EU then which courier should we use for the cheapest fees? i bought a camera from HK via ebay jan this year cost around 300 pounds and UPS charged me 70 something, 17.5% VAT plus 10% custom as what they say on the form.

Hintza

Get all things sent through regular signed for post. By far the cheapest way only trouble I have had was over christams when things took month.

Hermia

I bought some cross stitch kits worth $80 as a pressie for a friend & they were send via fed-ex. I got charged £25 for the import fee!

fisheddie

what i have heard is that only electronics are charged VAT, but duty is a must for all items. which is around 10%! so 25 pounds charge on somethine only worth 40 quid is not fair. that s 62.5%

Honey9036

From my personal experience it's not only electronics which attract VAT charges. I have bought jewellery from Thailand and also the USA and have paid VAT and duty on every occasion. I have also bought vitamin supplements from the USA and have paid VAT (although not sure if duty was included too).

The best advice I could give is never to assume that VAT and duty won't be charged. At least then you won't get any nasty surprises.

Also, one thing I have found is that even though most couriers will demand cash on delivery for Customs & Excise charges, some of the bigger ones (DHL, UPS, etc) will actually deliver your goods as normal and then send you an invoice up to a month later. :eek: