import tax on item bought on usa website

donglefan

i received a card from royal mail which advises that in order for them to deliver a parcel from the usa, they charge me £11, of which £8 is their handling fee and £3 is import tax.

if they calculate the import tax as £3, @ 20%, that means the item is valued at exactly £15.
from hmrc website, tax is only payable on items valued at more than £15
https://www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad/tax-and-duty

any idea what is going on here please?

antrobus

donglefan wrote: »

i received a card from royal mail which advises that in order for them to deliver a parcel from the usa, they charge me £11, of which £8 is their handling fee and £3 is import tax.

if they calculate the import tax as £3, @ 20%, that means the item is valued at exactly £15.
from hmrc website, tax is only payable on items valued at more than £15
https://www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad/tax-and-duty

any idea what is going on here please?

Well £15.04 is more than £15 and that VAT on that would be £3.

How much do you value the goods at?

donglefan

thank you. when i bought the goods in usd, the value was $18.97.
i think if the customs thought the goods value was 15.04, they would have charged £3.01?