Customs charges - Parcelforce

Philip2019

Hi,

Apologies’ if I am posting in the wrong section. A few months ago, we purchase a vintage bag from France and last month it was sent to US for a restoration job. We had sent it through DHL with no problem and the company send it back through USPS. It was held in custom from 2/7/2019 and it got released today with a Customs charges raised event showing in Parcelforce tracking.

From what I understand, once the item reaches the local depot and then they will raise an invoice for the custom charges to be paid and then dispatch for delivery. I read the following on the gov.uk -“You don’t pay VAT or Customs Duty when your things are sent back to you – they must be described as ‘personal belongings’ on the customs declaration.”
I am not sure what document did the company attach with it or what description they did mention but as the customs charges are raised, they didn’t do something right.
Is there a way I can claim this back from HMRC?

Keep_pedalling

Any import duty and VAT will have been calculated on whatever was declared by the company why sent the bag back. You will not be able to claim PF’s admin charges back but you should be able to claim back any import duty you have to pay.

You should not have to pay VAT on the value of the item either, but it may be payable based on the cost of restoration.