Can I Reclaim Over-Estimated UPS Import Fees?

Pete_Savage_

Hi guys,
I've ordered a parcel from Canada, worth 80 Canadian Dollars, i.e ~£47. This should mean ~£9.40 VAT and well below the duty threshold. UPS are attempting to charge me £25 'government fees' plus their £11.50 fee (I'm not bothered about paying their fee). I have never had such a miss calculated customs charge before (nearly 3x higher than it should be). I am skeptical about handing the cash over to UPS because I still have yet to see the customs declaration, or any proof these fees are actually from HMRC. The only form I can find on Gov.uk about reclaiming fees says it is only applicable to Royal Mail or Parcelforce, so if I did pay UPS, it seems like I may never see that cash again. UPS seem to be very opaque when it comes to the details of these fees, hoping people will just pay regardless, and negotiating their 'help' pages gives me a headache.

Thanks for any previous experience in advance!
Pete

Sandtree

C285 is the form for all other couriers. 

Pete_Savage_

Brilliant thanks Sandtree! Do HMRC put up much of a fight when trying to claim back fees do you know? And what kind of timescale this will be?

Pete_Savage_

Will I be CHIEF or CDS?
On the webpage linked below, I can give an invoice as evidence, however I don't know what any of the other criterias are like eior number etc
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/apply-for-repayment-or-remission-of-import-duties-c285-chief

George_Michael

Does your figure of $80 / £47 include the postal and insurance costs as these are included for VAT calculation purposes.

PragmaticMoneySaver

If you have the invoice then it's usually quite straightforward.  I had Fedex overcharge me by 3 figures as the shipper had declared shipping as $0.00 but Fedex's "policy" is that they then use the standard shipping rates table which is astronomical and came out at over £500.

I had evidence I had paid just over $100 shipping which sent off to HMRC and they refunded the overpaid duty.  Fedex also refunded their handling charge seeing as they were incompentent in clearing the goods.  I wouldn't mind but it was shipped with Fedex in China so they knew the exact charge but chose to apply 'standard rate tables' instead.

Pete_Savage_

George_Michael said:

Does your figure of $80 / £47 include the postal and insurance costs as these are included for VAT calculation purposes.

It actually doesn't, it was an extra 10 dollars, I think the invoice software cocked up at checkout, but I certainly didn't spend another 80 quid on postage to get the VAT and duty up to 25 quid!

Pete_Savage_

PragmaticMoneySaver said:

If you have the invoice then it's usually quite straightforward.  I had Fedex overcharge me by 3 figures as the shipper had declared shipping as $0.00 but Fedex's "policy" is that they then use the standard shipping rates table which is astronomical and came out at over £500.

I had evidence I had paid just over $100 shipping which sent off to HMRC and they refunded the overpaid duty.  Fedex also refunded their handling charge seeing as they were incompentent in clearing the goods.  I wouldn't mind but it was shipped with Fedex in China so they knew the exact charge but chose to apply 'standard rate tables' instead.

I am intrigued as to how the fee got refunded? I don't see why the courier would do that, their small print must be preened to within an inch of its life to hold onto that fee! Does HMRC make them pay it back for being useless idiots or something?!
 I would love to hear these inept miney grabbing couriers are being kept in line by someone!
If I'm sending an international parcel that will definitely be subject to a customs clearance fee, why the hell is that not part of the international shipping quote?!?

Pete_Savage_

Before I pay the fees, I want to make sure I have everything I need to claim from HMRC, once UPS are paid, I imagine they are going to be very unhelpful in getting any other forms or information I need.

While typing this reply, they finally delivered me an invoice (previous delivery attempt there wasn't one) for the fees which points out the £25.22 is import VAT. They must have had the work experience kid do the VAT calculations on that day! 😆

Sandtree

Until you have seen the customs declaration that the vendor has put on the package its a little harsh to automatically blame the courier... unfortunately shops also allow the works experience kids do these things

Pete_Savage_

Sandtree said:

Until you have seen the customs declaration that the vendor has put on the package its a little harsh to automatically blame the courier... unfortunately shops also allow the works experience kids do these things

It seems it is UPS policy to remove this, or it was filled in electronically, because it was not on the parcel when the delivery driver brought it to the door, so I probably never will see it. All I know is it was declared a total of 80 canadian dollars and using 'Emissions Control Device' tax code, apparently this tax code is subject to very low fees, whether that means VAT is less than 20% or just duty would be low if it was eligible, I don't.
Do you know what I need along with the fee invoice to claim from HMRC?