Fedex charging "Import Duty" + Direct Payment Processing Fee on food gift parcelled by family

mskadu

Hi all,

A family member used Fedex to parcel us some dry food on the occasion of Diwali from India, a couple of days ago. Today I received the parcel and along with it a text informing me that it was "subject to import charge of £96.27 GBP". Of which 12 quid were being charged under "Direct payment processing fee"

This is nearly twice the size of the cost of the item. And this is not a commercial import (under the guise of being a gift!) Is this something I can contest?

KatrinaWaves

What amount was declared on the parcel? Gifts over £35 do attract a charge, for that amount to be levied you're looking at a declared cost of £400...

misstype? Confusion over currency declared?

mskadu

The amount declared was 2600 Indian rupees (INR). That's approx £28 ��

So clearly something that I should not have to pay for. I am guessing I call FedEx to dispute these charges?

powerful_Rogue

Was it classed as a gift on the Customs declartaion?

Also might not have been classed as a gift by customs, so the £15 limit may have been applied rather then £39.

George_Michael

Something doesn't make sense with your figures.
You say that the goods were declared at £28 but the import charges of about £96 was almost twice the value of the goods (which would make the value about £48.

mskadu wrote: »

"subject to import charge of £96.27 GBP". Of which 12 quid were being charged under "Direct payment processing fee"

This is nearly twice the size of the cost of the item.

mskadu wrote: »

The amount declared was 2600 Indian rupees (INR). That's approx £28 ��

mskadu

That's what gotten me confused

powerful_Rogue

mskadu wrote: »

That's what gotten me confused

Was 'Gift' mentioned on the Customs Dec or not?

mskadu

Oh sorry, forgot to mention. The Customs Dec says "Sending for personal purposes - no commercial value. Value declared for customs purposes only."

I suspect this comes from some sort of pre-populated drop in the software couriers use.

powerful_Rogue

mskadu wrote: »

Oh sorry, forgot to mention. The Customs Dec says "Sending for personal purposes - no commercial value. Value declared for customs purposes only."

I suspect this comes from some sort of pre-populated drop in the software couriers use.

If it doesn't say 'Gift' then you're out of luck i'm afraid.


https://www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad/gifts

Paul_DNAP

mskadu wrote: »

Oh sorry, forgot to mention. The Customs Dec says "Sending for personal purposes - no commercial value. Value declared for customs purposes only."

I suspect this comes from some sort of pre-populated drop in the software couriers use.

And indeed, it is customs that have used the value of the items, to calculate the import duty - I'm afraid there's not a lot you can do with that on the customer declaration.

KatrinaWaves

Okay so if the amount declared was £28 as you state, how much was shipping? as a charge on a value of £28 should be roughly £6 (the £12 is standard however) so id be expecting a charge of around £20 tops.

You can appeal if you are unhappy with the valuation and have proof of contents.