Is it worth appealing a customs charge?

mrxry

2 things I am wary of, one I will be told theres no argument or two even if I pay it and item is dead on arrival I wont get customs charge back (less worried about return costs as Ebay item)

What has happened was I wanted a computer part that is not sold anywhere in Europe, not even America cand only the factory in Japan sells it, Item is worth £120.

Got slapped with a £58 customs charge and £20 in fees.

The item in question has older versions available in the UK but not this specific item, I spoke to Parcelforce on the phone who said that if its not sold in the UK then charges shouldnt apply but I assume even if that was the case it will be a nightmare to prove it since older models exist.

BrentMeister

mrxry wrote: »

2 things I am wary of, one I will be told theres no argument or two even if I pay it and item is dead on arrival I wont get customs charge back (less worried about return costs as Ebay item)

What has happened was I wanted a computer part that is not sold anywhere in Europe, not even America cand only the factory in Japan sells it, Item is worth £120.

Got slapped with a £58 customs charge and £20 in fees.

The item in question has older versions available in the UK but not this specific item, I spoke to Parcelforce on the phone who said that if its not sold in the UK then charges shouldnt apply but I assume even if that was the case it will be a nightmare to prove it since older models exist.

Dosent matter whether the item can or cannot be purchased in the UK.

You purchased an item from outside of the EU and therefore have to pay the relevant charges.

marliepanda

I wasn't aware of a rule that it had to be sold in the UK to attract a customs charge. I order a lot of things not sold in the UK and quite often pay customs.

What was the postage amount on this item. 20% of £120 means a £24 charge, so I cannot see how they have got to £58.

bod1467

Import duty plus VAT? And £20 handling charge?

marliepanda

bod1467 wrote: »

Import duty plus VAT? And £20 handling charge?

Shouldn't be any duty on £120

According to https://www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad/tax-and-duty under £135 = no charge.

Thats why I asked about the postage. Postage from Asian countries is usually crazy cheap but I suppose for a large item with a tracked postage cost it could come to more than £15...

Even at £150 (allowing £30 for postage which is crazy haha) the duty is only 2.5% so that'd be £30 VAT, less than a tenner for duty, if that, they don't charge it if its under £7, I'm stilling coming up short as the OP says £58 customs AND £20 fees, which suggests total payment asked for of £78?

ERICS_MUM

This might be a silly suggestion but has the VAT been charged on the correct amount of sterling ? Does the customs form taped to the parcel by the exporter show the price in Japanese Yen and does the sterling figure correspond ?

mrxry

Haven't got the package in possession so can't say.

The item was £120 inclusive of postage, my thoughts are that older models (though more expensive to produce) have a RRP of around £250 and as the item has just been released they will compare it to the closest item available in the UK which is double the cost, the tracking did mention about something being changed/updated when it arrived in UK so maybe they think its been undervalued to avoid tax.

cant remember what the charge was for but the £20 was £12.50 for one thing and £8 for another.

marliepanda

mrxry wrote: »

Haven't got the package in possession so can't say.

The item was £120 inclusive of postage, my thoughts are that older models (though more expensive to produce) have a RRP of around £250 and as the item has just been released they will compare it to the closest item available in the UK which is double the cost, the tracking did mention about something being changed/updated when it arrived in UK so maybe they think its been undervalued to avoid tax.

cant remember what the charge was for but the £20 was £12.50 for one thing and £8 for another.

Most of the time they will just look at the declared amount on the customs form, they don't open many parcels and don't start comparing other prices unless they have cause to. They wouldn't think it was marked under value unless it was say marked as zero or very very low value.

It's unusual to have 2 fees on one parcel, parcelforce has those two prices but it's one or the other, shouldn't be both.

Without the parcel in hand I'm not sure, but a £250 with would make more sense of a £58 customs charge. Still not sure why you have two fees though.

unholyangel

mrxry wrote: »

Haven't got the package in possession so can't say.

The item was £120 inclusive of postage, my thoughts are that older models (though more expensive to produce) have a RRP of around £250 and as the item has just been released they will compare it to the closest item available in the UK which is double the cost, the tracking did mention about something being changed/updated when it arrived in UK so maybe they think its been undervalued to avoid tax.

cant remember what the charge was for but the £20 was £12.50 for one thing and £8 for another.

From experience I know you can get a refund of taxes/duty - just need to send the invoice along with the packaging to HMRC @ mount pleasant or mount pleasance (something like that). But they won't ever refund the handling fee's - even if the charges were levied by a mistake on their part.