Contesting import duty, will I ever win?

maxlan

Hi,
I bought a CD for $10 with $5 postage on top. (They actually only charged for the CD not the postage, but I have an invoice for $15. About £10)
I've just got a note from the post office saying I have to pay £13.94. £8 fee + £5.94 "customs charge".

I think they've made a mistake, the goods are demonstrably under the £15 VAT limit and the £135 duty limit.
( Unless I misunderstood something on https://www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad/tax-and-duty )

Is the process to get a refund straightforward or am I about to enter one of those nightmare scenarios of government stupidity where no-one ever wins??
If someone made a mistake filling in the forms at the sender end, and somehow it's priced at $29.99 will I win because I only paid £7 ? (It's the only explanation I can imagine for paying VAT on it.)

unholyangel

You'll get the tax refunded if you send HMRC (used to be their mount pleasance address but not sure if its maybe changed) your invoice - however they wont refund the handling fee charged by royal mail.

You could try contacting HMRC first and seeing if you can get it changed without paying (and perhaps avoid the handling fee). But if you pay it then submit a claim for a refund, as I said above it will only be for the tax element and not the handling fee.

foxtrotoscar_2

unholyangel wrote: »

You'll get the tax refunded if you send HMRC (used to be their mount pleasance address but not sure if its maybe changed) your invoice - however they wont refund the handling fee charged by royal mail.

You could try contacting HMRC first and seeing if you can get it changed without paying (and perhaps avoid the handling fee). But if you pay it then submit a claim for a refund, as I said above it will only be for the tax element and not the handling fee.

Mount Pleasant I think?

shaun_from_Africa

Where was the item shipped from?
As you quote $, I'm assuming that it was the US or Canada but I just wanted to make sure that it wasn't a company based there but who ships from somewhere like the Channel Islands.

custardy

maxlan wrote: »

Hi,
I bought a CD for $10 with $5 postage on top. (They actually only charged for the CD not the postage, but I have an invoice for $15. About £10)
I've just got a note from the post office saying I have to pay £13.94. £8 fee + £5.94 "customs charge".

I think they've made a mistake, the goods are demonstrably under the £15 VAT limit and the £135 duty limit.
( Unless I misunderstood something on https://www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad/tax-and-duty )

Is the process to get a refund straightforward or am I about to enter one of those nightmare scenarios of government stupidity where no-one ever wins??
If someone made a mistake filling in the forms at the sender end, and somehow it's priced at $29.99 will I win because I only paid £7 ? (It's the only explanation I can imagine for paying VAT on it.)

declared value will over rule what you paid, I would think Im afraid.

maxlan

Yes, it looks like shipped from the USA. Last 2 letters on tracking number are "US"

maxlan

unholyangel wrote: »

You'll get the tax refunded if you send HMRC (used to be their mount pleasance address but not sure if its maybe changed) your invoice - however they wont refund the handling fee charged by royal mail. .

That's what I expected, but I went on Royal Mail's support chat service and I have a transcript of a conversation where they tell me they will refund their fee too. I have made sure I have a copy of that which I can wave at them later if it turns out to be a "training issue" :-)
There is a form to do the reclaim and instructions :
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/vat-customs-dutyimport-vat-relating-to-imports-by-post-bor286

maxlan

I went to the sorting office to see if it was a simple customs mistake, that I might have a chance to win. No, the sender has shipped one CD for 14.95 and declared two on the customs declaration, with a total price of $30 or so. I'd have a hard time proving that actually I only got one, so I suppose I'll have to let it get sent back. And send another one with the customs form properly completed.
This is the price you pay for wanting a physical copy of your music.....

unholyangel

foxtrotoscar wrote: »

Mount Pleasant I think?

Thanks, I couldn't remember whether it was pleasant or pleasance, started typing "hmrc mount..." in google to check and the predictive thing said pleasance!

custardy wrote: »

declared value will over rule what you paid, I would think Im afraid.

They go by amount paid over declared value - I've had a USA sender put the RRP in USD which ended up me being charged far more in fees than I paid for the product (which was well below the limit). Got it refunded by sending the invoice along with the packaging it arrived in to HMRC. Although they'd also strangely tried to charge me as if it was in GBP rather than USD, good thing I didn't order from japan.

HMRC wont refund the handling fee though because its not them who charge it.

Frances63

I've had a similar issue. Bought a second hand top for $20 from USA. Had to pay £12.67 VAT today to get the parcel!

$20 at today's rate is £14.91(but of course customs have their own rate!)

I would never have bought the top had I known it would cost me this much. I'm so angry. The charges are clearly excessive, nearly as much as the item was worth!

Thanks for your post due to which I can see it's not worth pursuing as the bulk is the £8 post office handling fee, which won't be refunded.

takman

Frances63 wrote: »

I've had a similar issue. Bought a second hand top for $20 from USA. Had to pay £12.67 VAT today to get the parcel!

$20 at today's rate is £14.91(but of course customs have their own rate!)

I would never have bought the top had I known it would cost me this much. I'm so angry. The charges are clearly excessive, nearly as much as the item was worth!

Thanks for your post due to which I can see it's not worth pursuing as the bulk is the £8 post office handling fee, which won't be refunded.

So you have actually paid £4.67 in VAT and not £12.67 if that includes the £8 fee.