Customs charges for books from the US ?

blackberryfield

I ordered 6 printed books from the US. All educational books, and the books cost USD$115.90 (around £68) altogether (excluding postage). Books were delivered about 2 weeks ago. They were sent original by USPS and then Parcelforce delivered it to me.

Today I received a letter from Parcelforce saying they want to charge me £27.95 in international customs charges for the books, because they had checked their customs and excise parcel records and found that they'd delivered the parcel without collecting the customs fees.

I thought printed books are 0% VAT? I read through the HMRC guidelines and it says so. What should I do about this? How do I contest this with Parcelforce, and is it possible to contest this at all or do I have to just suck it up and pay it? Did Parcelforce not open the parcel when it was still in their hands, and check the contents?

System

Books are 0% VAT rated (or exempt, I haven't checked) but they still attract import duty hence the fees due. You have nothing to contest.

zee_2

I order books from amazon, and buy books from US book depositories. standard delivery is £2 50 some books ,almost new readers digest gardening / cook books are 1p plus postage direct to door ,great range of subjects and bargains.

Buzby

No VAT, but as others noted, import Duties remain. It's tough but many get through without this, and your next package may well have no issues.

blackberryfield

Can someone send me a good link, preferably an official link, about import duty being due on books please?

There are links here saying that books are duty free. That is exempt from even import taxes.. I can't post links as a new member but if you key in dutycalculator dot com... you can do a calculation for textbooks from us to uk for the value I stated and the results show there is no VAT and no import duty.

The books I ordered are curriculum books for primary school aged kids. Textbooks, workbooks and teacher manuals. Amazon doesn't do those particular ones. Seller is an educational resources company. I know some other books from US that I ordered came through without attracting a customs fee, costing the same or more in value. I just don't understand how this works. How do they decide whether to tax or not? Hit and miss?

System

Did the customs declaration state that they were educational books for children? If not then they would have been classed as normal books hence the duty.

blackberryfield

The company wrote in black marker pen in large capital letters "EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS" on one side of the parcel box. That was all I noticed. I threw the box away already as it was about 2 weeks ago it arrived. I didn't think of keeping it for the sake of having to look at their customs declaration forms on the package. Why would Parcelforce deliver it to me first, before charging customs for it? Isn't it normally the other way round? That they'd deliver only if customs have been paid or if there was no customs to be paid?

Helix

blackberryfield wrote: »

The company wrote in black marker pen in large capital letters "EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS" on one side of the parcel box. That was all I noticed. I threw the box away already as it was about 2 weeks ago it arrived. I didn't think of keeping it for the sake of having to look at their customs declaration forms on the package. Why would Parcelforce deliver it to me first, before charging customs for it? Isn't it normally the other way round? That they'd deliver only if customs have been paid or if there was no customs to be paid?

With Royal Mail you pay before they deliver but with most courier companies its fairly standard for them to deliver the item first and then invoice you later.

blackberryfield

I thought Parcelforce is Royal Mail.

custardy

blackberryfield wrote: »

I thought Parcelforce is Royal Mail.

Does it matter? You want to argue over procedure or if duty is due?

System

blackberryfield wrote: »

The company wrote in black marker pen in large capital letters "EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS" on one side of the parcel box. That was all I noticed. I threw the box away already as it was about 2 weeks ago it arrived. I didn't think of keeping it for the sake of having to look at their customs declaration forms on the package. Why would Parcelforce deliver it to me first, before charging customs for it? Isn't it normally the other way round? That they'd deliver only if customs have been paid or if there was no customs to be paid?

I don't believe that is sufficient. The way I read it is that they need to be Children's books of an educational nature and not just educational material which is a fairly generic description.
See http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageLibrary_ShowContent&propertyType=document&id=HMCE_CL_000054#P134_16188