Coming from abroad with many Mobile Phones - Any customs procedure?

Enterprise_1701C

You really do need to declare these, or you are going to be suspected of being a drug dealer or somesuch apart from the importation aspect.

I hope you have checked out the value of these for recycling, because if you have 31 and they are only worth 860 of those strange euro things then it may be better to leave them at home because the import tax will make a massive dent in any profits.

One other thing, you will not get away with putting some in one case and some in another. They will see that you are together and they will be seen as being one import.

jumperabv3

Enterprise_1701C wrote: »

You really do need to declare these, or you are going to be suspected of being a drug dealer or somesuch apart from the importation aspect.

I hope you have checked out the value of these for recycling, because if you have 31 and they are only worth 860 of those strange euro things then it may be better to leave them at home because the import tax will make a massive dent in any profits.

One other thing, you will not get away with putting some in one case and some in another. They will see that you are together and they will be seen as being one import.

Yes, that's totally fine.
Thanks again. I understand how it works now.

photome

jumperabv3 wrote: »

So I decided to not take all of them with me ... sue me.

WOW I was trying to be helpful because I thought you had misunderstood, then you misquote me and .......
:eek:

jumperabv3

photome wrote: »

WOW I was trying to be helpful because I thought you had misunderstood, then you misquote me and .......
:eek:

Sorry, I had the impression you were trying to sting me, my apologies.

InsideInsurance

If they were your own personal property and you've just bought them over the years and kept them as you upgrade then this wont be considered a business but will need to be within your personal import limits. If you have gotten them off friends, "found them", obtained them with the express intent to sell them then these would be business imports and there is no minimum threashold to apply.

The problem will be convincing the customs people that these are all yours over the years and not business assets. Ok, if they are 15, 14, 13, 12 etc year old models then you may get away with it as it backs up your story. If they are all iPhone 5s then they arent going to believe you that you've just kept your annual upgrade each time.

If you are entering Italy as you say then their VAT rate is 22% but there is probably no duty to pay, but ultimately it does in part depend on where you are coming from. Of cause they may be more optimistic on what the value of the phones are too so that bill may be fairly big

jumperabv3

Okay guys, so none of what you said happened .. and I mean it.

I came with my wife through Venice, Italy, yesterday. We were waiting for the bags and I saw customs but no one is there. I asked the people who work there in the airport who can I talk to about customs, and they told me no one is available.
So they asked me what I need and I explained to them and they told to simply not worry about small things and go into arrivals, and that they really don't care about it.

I was quite surprised ... perhaps it's because of Christmas they were so nice to me? I mean they don't care about small fish and only looking to catch "drug dealers" in those airports, or they just didn't want to bother with all the procedures etc? Anyway I got it and I got all the phones with me, but I'm feeling that's weird you described in this forum how important that is to declare it and for them it was just as if someone was "bothering" them with stupid and ridiculous questions....

InsideInsurance

jumperabv3 wrote: »

but I'm feeling that's weird you described in this forum how important that is to declare it and for them it was just as if someone was "bothering" them with stupid and ridiculous questions....

Most would consider that the vast majority get away with tax evasion and its probably true. The consequences of being caught when not declaring things properly are generally significantly more than the cost of playing things with a straight bat. The question therefore is always of if its worth the risk or not.

Customs are very variable, you often go through and there is no one there at all, even in the red channel. Other times you go through and they are "randomly" pulling one in ten, going through their things with a fine tooth comb and challenging them on all sorts of things.

Certainly I dont know anyone thats come back from the USA without breaching their duty free allowance and none ever caught.

jumperabv3

InsideInsurance wrote: »

Most would consider that the vast majority get away with tax evasion and its probably true. The consequences of being caught when not declaring things properly are generally significantly more than the cost of playing things with a straight bat. The question therefore is always of if its worth the risk or not.

Customs are very variable, you often go through and there is no one there at all, even in the red channel. Other times you go through and they are "randomly" pulling one in ten, going through their things with a fine tooth comb and challenging them on all sorts of things.

Certainly I dont know anyone thats come back from the USA without breaching their duty free allowance and none ever caught.

Yes, totally understandable ... but perhaps UK customs are different than Italian customs because these guys even if you approach them (and they were there) and telling them you want to do the right thing they actually tell you off and tell you to walk into the EU without worrying about the "small merchandise" you have. That's my impression.

Perhaps US flights to Heathrow are treated differently... I assume Venice is not a big airport that takes flights from the US.

jumperabv3

adam222 wrote: »

Wow its good news for me that i was thinking to buy the mobiles but near with me no one can came from the abroad..How much pieces you have?What is the actual price?

I brought 31 pieces worth around 600 pounds.