Excessive Import Tax and potential illegal UPS charges

asmld13

We bought some items through Etsy, some bedroom furniture drawer handles.
UPS then delivered them with the news that we were due to pay import tax. Shock - where did that come from!!
 It took some digging to find out what had happened, but even then it still felt like daylight robbery.

So for $56 ($52.18 product cost and then delivery cost), which equates to about £45, we were charged an import VAT tax of £19.86 - which is about 44% import tax!!!! The UK Govt website states that this should be max 20% - so we have no idea how they got this calculated. Assuming I’ve read the site details correctly. 

On top of that USP then added a charge of £11.50 for the privilege. How can they justify applying a charge that I have not agreed to, have had no knowledge of up front, an am just expected to pay?

questions/thoughts. Any help would be appreciated. 
1. How to claim back VAT for personal use purchases ?
2. How legal is the USP charge? If I did not contractually agree to this, what legal basis do they have to stand on? What are my rights to claim this back?

Is my understanding of the following correct? I’m not a lawyer or legal expert.
- under the Unsolicited Goods and Services Act 1971 (updated in 2000), it is a criminal offence of a company to send unordered goods or services in the hope that the recipient will pay due to ignorance. The section 2 of this act specific outlaws the company bringing legal proceedings, invoke any collection procedure in attempts to collect the payment.

Also, the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, Regulation 39 and 40 outlined that the company has to get consent from consumer prior and additional charges has to expressly agree in advance, for example, it cannot be something automatically bill you additional fee unless you unclick/opt out.

unforeseen

Neither apply, pay up

soolin

Nope you have misunderstood and are not due anything back. If you import items from outside the EU (currently EU is still applicable) the. Duty tax handling etc is due once the total with postage exceeds £15. The courier the. Add a handling charge for making payment and handling the import on your behalf. 

As you were importing goods you were expected to know the tax situation in your country, it is impossible to expect a seller to know all the applicable laws for every country they sell to.

This is possibly one of the most common threads we get on here , have a search through the various forums and have a read. 

davidmcn

asmld13 said:

UPS then delivered them with the news that we were due to pay import tax. Shock - where did that come from!!

From the centuries-old principle that you pay duties on items you import. I know it can be easy to lose sight of that if you buy something "off the internet", but that's what you're doing.

unholyangel

1. You need to be VAT registered - it is only those who aren't VAT registered who end up paying VAT. 
2. Presumably you knew you were ordering from outside the UK. The alternative would be for you to have went & cleared the items in person yourself (which would probably cost a lot more than £11.50). 

They may have miscalculated - I've had it happen before where the sender declared a made up RRP as the value. Compounded by them declaring in $ and whoever assessed it taking that figure as £ (at a time the exchange rate was around $2 for £1). The item would have been below the limit if it had been correctly declared - I received a refund of the tax but not the handling fee charged by royal mail. 

You need to send the packaging to HMRC - call the relevant helpline and they'll give you the address (it may have changed since I did it). 

ssparks2003

asmld13 said:

I’m not a lawyer or legal expert.

The above piece is about the only but you got right in you entire post.

You purchased the goods without checking how the import part would be handled, assuming that the world will revolve around you. And the seller duly sent the order via UPS but of course did not pay the duties etc due because that was the agreement that they had with you. So you get to pay it this end instead. 

mattyprice4004

Shock - where did it come from? I hope that's a joke...  
VAT and duty are due on all imports over a certain amount - just because you didn't know this and haven't done your homework doesn't make it less true.

You pay VAT on all sorts every day on lots of products, and this is no different. If you were a business you could claim back the VAT, but this is no different to paying VAT on fuel or a new laptop; you bought something and VAT is due. 

In future you need to do your homework before just 'assuming' the price on a website is the price you pay - if it's coming from outside the EU and is worth more than £15 you will likely be charged VAT on the way in to the UK. 

It may be safer from you to only buy from the UK in future. 

DoaM

Over a certain value, isn't there also import duty* as well as VAT?

* depending on the nature of the goods

[Deleted User]

I'm sure some people think the entire internet is just UK only and any shop front with a .uk domain is also in the UK. I'm also sure some people think clearing items through customs costs nothing and the companies that clear on their behalf should do it for free!

mattyprice4004

DoaM said:

Over a certain value, isn't there also import duty* as well as VAT?

* depending on the nature of the goods

Yes - at £135. But I found that 99% of people won't want to spend hundreds abroad - so usually it's just VAT that's due.