Help with Customs/Import charges

sebsy

Hi everyone.

I am hoping someone could help me as I am struggling to get my head around import/customs charges for buying from overseas. Every calculator seems to have or ask for different things and none of them are as clear as they could be.

I am trying to determine how much I would have to pay in total if I purchased something from abroad, in this case, Australia.

I am looking to buy some toy figures on Popcultcha. The items cost £35.45, and the shipping costs £11.14

How do I figure out exactly what I should end up paying once I have received the Grey additional Customs Charges Card and Royal Mail £8 fee card?

https://www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad/tax-and-duty

I've read that above link but I really want to be sure I'm calculating everything correctly? Are the only charges I should face a charge of 20% of the total of the goods - which in this case is £46.59 - plus then the £8 Royal Mail fee on top? So £46.59 + 20% (£9.32) = £55.91 + £8 = £63.91?

Or am I missing any other charges?

If anyone who fully understands this could help I'd be most grateful.

Thanks.

p.s. I apologise if this is not the correct subforum to post this query in but I really couldn't see any specific one that suited this query best.

blackdog2220

your numbers look correct , basic 20% + PO fee , 

Spoonie_Turtle

Yes, because it's under £135 it's only import VAT (20%, unless it's in a lower-rated category) to worry about, no actual customs duty   if you assume the VAT will be full rate and it turns out to be lower for some reason, then it will be a nice surprise!

GabbaGabbaHey

I know that it's very unlikely, but if for any reason the seller uses a courier (TNT, DND, etc) rather than normal postal mail, they tend to charge around £15 instead of the mere £8 that Royal Mail charges. And they wait a week or so before invoicing you, just to make you think that your package has slipped under the radar :-)

jon81uk

Some retailers are also now becoming registered for UK VAT and therefore charging the 20% themselves, or using a courier who collects it upfront therefore you don't get any handling fee later. Marketplaces (eBay, Amazon, AliExpress etc) must now collect the UK VAT for everything under £135 to cut down on the number of parcels needing to collect it on entry to the UK.

sebsy

Thanks guys. I had something in my head about another addon possibly to do with what category your purchase fell in to, but seems I was reading thigs right.

I'll check with Popcultcha who they use as courier so I'll know if I'll get a £8 RM fee, or £15 from elsewhere.

jon81uk

sebsy said:

Thanks guys. I had something in my head about another addon possibly to do with what category your purchase fell in to, but seems I was reading thigs right.

I'll check with Popcultcha who they use as courier so I'll know if I'll get a £8 RM fee, or £15 from elsewhere.

There may be additional import duty (which does differ per category) but only on shipments over £135. Unless it’s alcohol/tobacco.

sebsy

jon81uk said:

Some retailers are also now becoming registered for UK VAT and therefore charging the 20% themselves, or using a courier who collects it upfront therefore you don't get any handling fee later. Marketplaces (eBay, Amazon, AliExpress etc) must now collect the UK VAT for everything under £135 to cut down on the number of parcels needing to collect it on entry to the UK.

I never thought until you said this, but I have just looked on Amazon.com. They have the 3 harder to get items on there for $10.99 each, and I can get the more common on ebay here for about £12 (the other 3 are usually £22+).

The basket when I add the 3 items shows this:

So does that mean that is the total I would pay because the VAT of 20% is done from Amazon's end, and therefore I would get no extra charges other than the Royal Mail £8 fee? Or maybe a little more depending on which courier then takes over here in the UK?

jon81uk

sebsy said:

jon81uk said:

Some retailers are also now becoming registered for UK VAT and therefore charging the 20% themselves, or using a courier who collects it upfront therefore you don't get any handling fee later. Marketplaces (eBay, Amazon, AliExpress etc) must now collect the UK VAT for everything under £135 to cut down on the number of parcels needing to collect it on entry to the UK.

I never thought until you said this, but I have just looked on Amazon.com. They have the 3 harder to get items on there for $10.99 each, and I can get the more common on ebay here for about £12 (the other 3 are usually £22+).

The basket when I add the 3 items shows this:

So does that mean that is the total I would pay because the VAT of 20% is done from Amazon's end, and therefore I would get no extra charges other than the Royal Mail £8 fee? Or maybe a little more depending on which courier then takes over here in the UK?

It means Amazon are paying the VAT for you, so no handling fee from the courier as Amazon took care of the VAT payment instead of the courier.

sebsy

jon81uk said:

It means Amazon are paying the VAT for you, so no handling fee from the courier as Amazon took care of the VAT payment instead of the courier.

Sorry to keep asking questions, just want to make sure I'm understanding everything correctly.

When you say no handling fee, does that mean no £8 Royal Mail charge or whatever charge from whatever company?

ie: does that mean I'll literally pay the £41.89 to Amazon, and then there are no more charges after that?

Would Amazon deliver the item to me the same as if I ordered the items from Amazon UK?

Spoonie_Turtle

sebsy said:

jon81uk said:

It means Amazon are paying the VAT for you, so no handling fee from the courier as Amazon took care of the VAT payment instead of the courier.

Sorry to keep asking questions, just want to make sure I'm understanding everything correctly.

When you say no handling fee, does that mean no £8 Royal Mail charge or whatever charge from whatever company?

ie: does that mean I'll literally pay the £41.89 to Amazon, and then there are no more charges after that?

Would Amazon deliver the item to me the same as if I ordered the items from Amazon UK?

That's it exactly.  The VAT is paid; there will be some identifying code on the postage label (to say VAT paid) so it just goes through customs with no extra charges.