Urgent Help Needed RE Customs Charges

fedupconsumer

update spoke to the company and they have accepted its their error and will correct it via fedex. Since I have paid the taxes on this one already im confident will not result in any further charges. The company were very helpful indeed and are pulling out the stops i hope to help . Ill keep you apprised cheers all.

drc

Doesn't customs also include postage costs in the under £18 figure?

I've bought things from the US a few times and always make sure that they are under £18 in total (including postage).

I think postage is not counted only when the item is marked as a gift. I may be wrong but I am sure I read this somewhere on the HM Revenue and Customs website. Could that be why the duty to be paid is so much more than you expected?

fedupconsumer

drc wrote: »

Doesn't customs also include postage costs in the under £18 figure?

I've bought things from the US a few times and always make sure that they are under £18 in total (including postage).

I think postage is not counted only when the item is marked as a gift. I may be wrong but I am sure I read this somewhere on the HM Revenue and Customs website. Could that be why the duty to be paid is so much more than you expected?

I dont quite know drc the issue is that the company have made a mistake with the airway bill number. I dont think they charge for the postage at all its only the goods themselves that get charged which in this case is under £10 in value so should not instigate any charges.

JohalaReewi

Value for customs calculations includes shipping and insurance costs on top of the value of the goods. However, items marked as a gift don't have postage included.

Duty is charged on the price paid for the goods including any local sales taxes plus postage, packing and insurance costs. However, postage is excluded from the calculation for duty on gifts sent by post except for Express Mail Service (EMS).

See section 3.1 of the HM Revenue and Customs information...
http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageTravel_ShowContent&id=HMCE_CL_000014&propertyType=document

golddustmedia

The customs letter/notice will have a contact phone number (if not ask royal mail for it), contact them. I was advised by them import duty is collected on ALL duty payable items (e.g. cigarettes etc) and VAT is charged on items OVER £18.

You need to be clear whether the charges you've paid are VAT or Tax duty. If VAT you should be exempt as each parcel is less than £18, incidentally VAT IS payable on 2nd hand goods as I discovered!

It's likely that FedEx or Royal mail have charged you an admin fee for holding the parcel and paying the tax on it for you in lieu of you paying them.

fedupconsumer

just a little update no one is taking responsibility for the error at all. The company dont seem to care and im not forking out the extra cost for a mistake they made i have asked them as a goodwill gesture to pay these costs due to their dispatcher error they blankly refused. Any other angle i could try would be greatly appreciated.

C_Ronaldo

fedupconsumer wrote: »

just a little update no one is taking responsibility for the error at all. The company dont seem to care and im not forking out the extra cost for a mistake they made i have asked them as a goodwill gesture to pay these costs due to their dispatcher error they blankly refused. Any other angle i could try would be greatly appreciated.

thought it was sorted

fedupconsumer

C_Ronaldo wrote: »

thought it was sorted

far from it they are refusing to pay for their mistake blaming fedex when it was their original mistake that led to it. Im now at the end of my tether with it im not paying for their mistake full stop they are liable for the cost not me. Big time sos message peeps what way can i go now?

Wig

You haven't said what the charges on the second parcel are listed as, what are the charges for?

Have you already paid these charges? How did you get the package without paying them?

fedupconsumer

Wig wrote: »

You haven't said what the charges on the second parcel are listed as, what are the charges for?

Have you already paid these charges? How did you get the package without paying them?

I paid the import vat and customs duty on the first parcel, the issue really is that i have paid the customs duty for the overall value of the goods and the import vat. The company concerned made an error at dispatch as it was part of the same order but they should have placed the same airway bill number on the 2nd parcel not a different one thus incurring a secondary import vat and customs duty. Not only that they incorrectly invoiced it which made it look as if the value of the parcel was greater than the contents which was only worth £9.78 well bellow the £18.00 threshold. I was invoiced for these extra charges a few weeks later due to postal strike. Been onto the company concerned they have admitted their mistake (have fax in hand with it on too) and have contacted Fed ex but have heard nothing from either party. Contacted the company to expeidiate things up I dont know what to do they have accepted it was their mistake and that i should not pay any charges. Yet they now are refusing to take any responsibility i have asked them to pay the charges as a goodwill gesture but they seem to think it now on fed ex to solve it.