Royal Mail £8 Internal Post Handling Fee scam?

Nilrem

Agent_Rothbard wrote: »

So I assume that if the Inland Revenue decided all income tax, capital gains tax and inheritance tax payments could henceforth only be made through a certain agency which charged an admin fee for the "service" you'd be quite happy would you?

Except HMRC haven't decided to do it with customs fees.

The person or company sending the items into the UK has chosen their carrier, and the carrier is in charge of sorting out customs fees.

IE if you use DHL to send a package into the UK for delivery via DHL, it's DHL who have to deal with customs and charge accordingly.

If you use DHL to send a package into the UK but it's a service that hands over to RM for delivery (IIRC DHL Worldmail does that), it's RM who have to deal with customs and charge accordingly.

If you use USPS to send a package it's dealt with by RM in the UK, and they again deal with customs and charge accordingly.

At no point has HMRC said "you can only use one company", it's been decided by the sender which company will be handling the packages and thus be dealing with the customs charges.

Otherwise RM have been missing out on all those handling fees I've paid for packages delivered by UPS, DHL and Fed ex in the past (and RM's fee is cheap compared to UPS and fed-ex)...

Agent_Rothbard

You are missing the point tho, an agent is appointed for the buyer without the buyer's consent and then fees are charged for a "service" that the buyer has not contracted into. It isn't possible for the buyer to make their own arrangements to remit the customs fee and VAT and omit the middle man because the default agent (Royal Fail) seizes the package anyway and holds it as a lien for his charges for a "service" that the buyer didn't want and didn't request. I'm amazed anyone can defend this arrangement.

custardy

Agent_Rothbard wrote: »

You are missing the point tho, an agent is appointed for the buyer without the buyer's consent and then fees are charged for a "service" that the buyer has not contracted into. It isn't possible for the buyer to make their own arrangements to remit the customs fee and VAT and omit the middle man because the default agent (Royal Fail) seizes the package anyway and holds it as a lien for his charges for a "service" that the buyer didn't want and didn't request. I'm amazed anyone can defend this arrangement.

did the buyer have nothing to do with the order?
HMRC will do the clearance for £0
it requires leg work from the recipient and forward planning
so if you(the buyer) dont do that,then by default you appoint the 3rd party

Nilrem

Agen...You might have a point, except that every foreign retailer I've ever used tends to have a note in their T&C or FAQ for customers outside their country stating that you may be charged taxes and handling fees, and it is your responsibility to pay them.

Therefore usually by placing the order you're agreeing with the conditions of service the delivery company the retailer has chosen to use.
Often they'll offer multiple choices for who the delivery company is, but most people tend to go with the cheapest (usually USPS or the equivalent to RM)
Therefore you've chosen to accept that you may have fees to pay.

IIRC you can, as I think has been said before ask to have the packages marked as to be cleared by the recipient, but it's a lot of work for you, and from memory can be a real pain to do unless your package is really simple or you know your tax and duty codes inside out.

Agent_Rothbard

No-one on this thread, including myself, has raised an issue about paying the VAT and import duty, the issue is that one is absolutely forced to pay an agent to remit these fees. If that isn't a coercive monopoly I don't know what one is!!!

Custardy you didn't read my post I think. It is NOT possible to make one's own arrangements to clear the goods, Royal Fail seizes them anyhow and illegally holds them as a lien for their service charge, even if the duties have been paid upfront and in advance or even if duties are not payable and have been assessed in error.

custardy

Agent_Rothbard wrote: »

No-one on this thread, including myself, has raised an issue about paying the VAT and import duty, the issue is that one is absolutely forced to pay an agent to remit these fees. If that isn't a coercive monopoly I don't know what one is!!!

Custardy you didn't read my post I think. It is NOT possible to make one's own arrangements to clear the goods, Royal Fail seizes them anyhow and illegally holds them as a lien for their service charge, even if the duties have been paid upfront and in advance or even if duties are not payable and have been assessed in error.

It seems you didn't read mine
you have simply decided its not possible
happily for you,you are wrong

shaun_from_Africa

Agent_Rothbard wrote: »

Custardy you didn't read my post I think. It is NOT possible to make one's own arrangements to clear the goods

There is a big difference between not knowing how to do something and that thing not being available to be done.

Declaring the goods yourself
As the importer you can carry out your own Customs procedures. If you want to do this, you will need to ensure the sender clearly marks the packet 'goods to be Customs cleared by the importer'.
If the packet is not marked in this way by the sender, the goods will be cleared by customs in the normal way; once goods have been Customs cleared you cannot then retrospectively apply to self clear them.

For items that have been marked for clearance by the importer, a full declaration will be sent to you to complete and return to the appropriate customs postal office.
They will calculate any import charges and write and advise you of your tax liability.
When you have paid this and the funds have been cleared, your goods will be released for delivery.
However, as a manual procedure there could be a considerable delay in the receipt of your goods.

You can obtain copies of the import declaration form and further information on the HMRC VAT Helpline on Tel 0845 010 9000

antrobus

Agent_Rothbard wrote: »

Wow, your morality is seriously skewed!!

What moral issue do you believe is at stake? I'm trying to save you from wasting your money.

adouglasmhor

custardy wrote: »

Why would they bother setting up a system when other companies do it for them?

As for the part in red,who decides if duty/VAT is payable?....................

That would be an act of Goverment and international and internal treaties. If a member of RM/Parcelfarce staff enforces a wrong call by someone in HMRC, they are still in the wrong too.

custardy

adouglasmhor wrote: »

That would be an act of Goverment and international and internal treaties. If a member of RM/Parcelfarce staff enforces a wrong call by someone in HMRC, they are still in the wrong too.

maybe so. however HMRC have the power to decide duty payable regardless of customs declaration etc
So i would expect it would be unlikely for a carrier to challenge HMRC