Import & Duty Tax Help

Mike313

Hi,
Mods please feel free to move if its in the wrong section.

I purchased an adaptor for my camera, from China on Monday, which came to the total of £111 inc shipping with Fedex.

I then received an sms earlier today, stupilating that my parcel had arrived, but it is subject to import charge of £141.45, as it was purchased outside of the EU.

Sure enough I was expecting to pay a small fee, but nowhere near that price.
In all honesty, I simply can't afford to pay the fee, and would be happy enough to leave it with customs if thats an option?

Are these fees the norm these days, or could there have been an error somewhere?

Thanks for any advice.

sheramber

What value has been put on the customs slip?

Mike313

I havent seen a copy of the customs slip.
All I have is the purchase details on my paypal account.

antrobus

Mike313 wrote: »

..I purchased an adaptor for my camera, from China on Monday, which came to the total of £111 inc shipping with Fedex.

I then received an sms earlier today, stupilating that my parcel had arrived, but it is subject to import charge of £141.45, as it was purchased outside of the EU. ...

Are you sure it's not a total of £141.45?

VAT on £111 would be £22.20, and shippers normally charge a fee for customs clearance; maybe that's £8.25.

Fedex have some info here
http://www.fedex.com/gb/dutyandtax/

Mike313 wrote: »

..could there have been an error somewhere ...

It's possible.

Mike313

Hi,

Yes definitely £141.This was the exact message:

Hello, your FedEx shipment Airway Bill # ******* has been imported from outside the EU which means it is subject to an import charge of £141.45. Please contact FedEx Express Customer Service on 03456 07 08 09 (option 4) to pay or visit fedex.com/gb/dutyandtaxnotification for more info. Reply STOP to opt out

MEM62

antrobus wrote: »

VAT on £111 would be £22.20

Not quite. Duty is paid on the landed value and VAT is paid on the landed value + duty. The calculation is;

Item value + freight costs + insurance = Value for duty
Value for duty x Duty rate = Import duty
Value for Duty + Import duty = Value for VAT
VAT x 20% = Import VAT

For parcel and mail shipments sometimes the freight charges get disregarded but not in every case. Either way the above calculation applies.

OP, you do not have to take delivery of the your item. You can abandon it but you would be writing off the purchase cost. The charges seem high to me. You might want to ask FedEx how that came to this amount. Perhaps the shipper did not prepay the shipping costs and this has been included in the amount you are being asked to pay.

Mike313

MEM62 wrote: »

Not quite. Duty is paid on the landed value and VAT is paid on the landed value + duty. The calculation is;

Item value + freight costs + insurance = Value for duty
Value for duty x Duty rate = Import duty
Value for Duty + Import duty = Value for VAT
VAT x 20% = Import VAT

For parcel and mail shipments sometimes the freight charges get disregarded but not in every case. Either way the above calculation applies.

OP, you do not have to take delivery of the your item. You can abandon it but you would be writing off the purchase cost. The charges seem high to me. You might want to ask FedEx how that came to this amount. Perhaps the shipper did not prepay the shipping costs and this has been included in the amount you are being asked to pay.

I was actually thinking to just write it off, as I simply can't afford to pay anymore.
Would I still be able to question Fedex about how they came to that total, and still chose not to take delivery? Would they be able to pursue me the outstanding funds if i chose not to accept delivery?

Thanks

MEM62

Mike313 wrote: »

I was actually thinking to just write it off, as I simply can't afford to pay anymore.
Would I still be able to question Fedex about how they came to that total, and still chose not to take delivery? Would they be able to pursue me the outstanding funds if i chose not to accept delivery?

Thanks

Usually, when goods are abandoned in a Customs bond, the duties and taxes are not collected.

agrinnall

MEM62 wrote: »

Usually, when goods are abandoned in a Customs bond, the duties and taxes are not collected.

Do you know what happens to such goods, are they sent to auction? Perhaps the OP could bid and get his adapter for a lot less than the requested charge.

MEM62

agrinnall wrote: »

Do you know what happens to such goods, are they sent to auction? Perhaps the OP could bid and get his adapter for a lot less than the requested charge.

They are usually destroyed.

Pure7865

So if you just reply with "STOP" what exactly would happen? You'd just not receive the item you ordered? Would you get back the money you spent on the item?

I bought a new PC and the total came to £1048.40 and I just got a text the same as OP's just the amount they want me to pay is £190.34. In a similar position to OP because I don't actually have a spare £190..

How come this isn't something that you're made aware of when purchasing something?