Anyone have to pay taxes on a prize?

knitnut

I got a WEM this morning from Jackson Cheung at makeuseof.com. :j
It states "Please be aware that prizes may be shipped from the US, UK or Australia, and that you may be taxed for the item. By accepting this prize, you agree to pay any incurred taxed. if you refuse, the item will not be delivered to you."
Has anyone had to pay to receive a prize before and if so how much? I don't mind a few quid but I'm not going to fork out a lot at this time of year.
(The prize is a Chromebook 11 and worth about £225.) I can't find the competition on here for this specific prize to thank OP. Thanks people.

sax11

i think this is usually an import tax. Most of the time the sender will have this paid for when shipping. As long as it's parcelled up correctly customs won't usually bat an eyelid. You can always see how much there is to pay and refuse it if too expensive

nicky200991_2

I recently had a win from New Zeland, the boots retailed at £160 and i had to pay £22 in tax. I'm not sure if it varies though. Hopefully you won't need to pay!

grannybiker

We ordered a new tank for our older Harley and the cheapest place was the U.S. via ebay. When it arrived, there was nearly £20 to pay which was an unexpected blow that no amount of grumbling changes

I think import taxes are generally around 20%, but often things slide in un-noticed. I guess it helps if the sender says it's a gift of lower value on the declaration, but as this could be considered fraud or invalidate any insurance, probably not a good idea.

techspec

If its marked as a gift, which it is as they are giving it you free - there shoouldn't be any import tax, should there?

mjm3346

techspec wrote: »

If its marked as a gift, which it is as they are giving it you free - there shoouldn't be any import tax, should there?

I don't think it's treated as a gift it has whatever the "normal" value is for the item otherwise it offers a potential loophole for tax/duty evasion - enter a competion to win item "x", the entry fee just happens to be the price of the item and you always win it - customs would have no idea if the competition was legit or not.

emg

even marked as gifts the value has to be given and anything worth more than around £20 is liable to import taxes :-(

gw23

I think it's pot luck with import tax. I get a lot of stuff from the States & Canada, I've rarely been charged import tax. Once I had parcels arrive on two consecutive days - the same item in both and I got charged on one, but not the other. So make what you will of that!

emg

I always find I am definitely charged if something comes by FedEx but if it is through USPS/Royal Mail then I have sometimes got lucky. I always assume I will have to pay and count it as a bonus if I dont!

One-Eye

Officially, goods up to £15 are free, as are gifts between private individuals up to £35. Everything else is subject to whatever excise & customs duties apply to that class of product, plus VAT at 20%.

On a £225 Chromebook from the USA, there is no duty, VAT is £45, and Royal Mail will charge a handling fee of £8.

knitnut

Thanks everyone for your replies. I guess I'll just have to wait for it to arrive and see what happens.

UPDATE -
YAY it arrived on Saturday from UK so no tax to be paid. I've been playing on it all weekend.

:j :j :j