Importing from outside the EU - Fedex 'other taxes'??

nuonknight

Hi there, I have recently purchased, as an individual quite a lot of trading cards for my own personal use from the USA. Ahead of their delivery FedEx have sent my an estimate to pay, Import duty and tax are two charges that are pretty self explanatory, but they have also hit me with a substantial 'other taxes; charge.  When I called HMRC to discuss this today they had no explanation and neither to FedEx other than telling me they will send me a full breakdown of the charges. This extra levy makes it not worthwhile from a financial point of view so is a bit of a kick in the teeth.  Has anyone else experience this additional levy from FedEx and have you managed to challenge it successfully?

KatrinaWaves

How much are we talking? If it’s £10-15 it’s their handling charge for clearing customs for you. 

Sandtree

Depending on the items classification you would normally expect to have Duty, VAT and Handling to pay for.

If you say how much the items were in the original currency, postage inc any insurance and the breakdown of the tariffs its generally fairly easy to work out whats going on.

nuonknight

This has left me completely stumped. And the £97 seems completely unfair!

KatrinaWaves

If you answer the questions about the value then people may be able to help. A tax Bill of £200 suggests the value of these cards is in excess of £1000? 

nuonknight

The value of the items In ££ is about £900

Flight3287462

nuonknight said:

The value of the items In ££ is about £900

How much was shipping?

nuonknight

Shipping was about $70

visidigi

It all depends on what the shipper put down as the value.

Charges are based on product declared cost and the shipping charges.
The £12 is the handling fee for FedEx Pre-clearing.

MattMattMattUK

Duty is charged on the total of goods, shipping and insurance.
VAT is charged on the total of goods, shipping, insurance and duty.
On that basis the tax charge, likely being VAT would indicate that the value of the goods (goods, duty, shipping and insurance) is £1,134.60 either as declared, or as estimated by customs if they do not agree with the declaration. 

I import regularly for business and have never had an "other taxes" line on an invoice, however all my costs go onto account so they are never estimated, only final and come with a full breakdown by duty code. You might find that it is just the way the costs are broken down on their system.

You will likely need to pay, wait for the final and complete invoice, then argue the case if there is an issue.

nuonknight

Hi it seems like there has been at least one mistake then as the value of the goods is is $1,134.60 NOT £1,134.60.