Can DHL pay UK duty on my behalf without my agreement?

Sandtree

Maccygee said:
Can they pursue me for this? 

Yes, they have a statutory right to do clearing and charge the importer. 

Whilst HMRC may have guidance, not law, about prior contact the reality is that neither HMRC nor DHL want vast amounts of goods being held in bonded warehouses waiting for customer contact about if they are going to pay the taxes or not hence its common process to deliver first and collect monies after.

Some may have sympathy for your ignorance on excise duty, that was payable pre-brexit, its one to pay up on and to factor in next time you are ordering remotely.

mattyprice4004

Maccygee said:

HeinzVarieties said:

Maccygee said:

HeinzVarieties said:

Maccygee said:

I bought some wine online having forgotten about the impact of Brexit. 3 weeks after it arrived I got an invoice from DHL for the duty plus their admin fee. HMRC say that a courier contacts the buyer in advance and if the duty isn't paid, the goods are returned to the country of origin. DHL didn't contact me and the fees weren't mentioned when they delivered the goods. Given the option I would have refused delivery, returning the goods would've been cheaper. I had no contract with DHL to pay this on my behalf, or for their admin fee. My dealings were only with the supplier who chose DHL as their courier. I've contacted them to say so and have had an intimidating reply and threats of debt collection companies. I did offer to pay half if they provided proof of payment and if they waived they're fee but since then have had another demand for the full amount in the post. Can they pursue me for this? 

Can't see why they'd turn down your generous offer of clearing it through customs for free and them paying half the duty/VAT on your plonk.

I was attempting to resolve it in an affordable way, I made the purchase during my chemo and had been off work 6 months. It would've been cheaper for me to refuse delivery but seeing as they've gone ahead and paid it I offered to meet them half way. I thought that was reasonable. 

It's not.  You as the importer are liable for any duty and VAT that is due.

Is that you DHL?

Ahhhh, this old chestnut! I did wonder how long we'd have to wait for this gem to pop up.

Just because someone disagrees with you does not mean they work for the company in question. 
You imported the stuff, you have to pay the fees for doing so - not knowing the rules / how it works is no excuse, sorry. 

I also work for DHL, in case you were wondering - in fact everyone who disagrees with you do, and we're all sat in the staff room together wondering when to send 'the heavies' around for payment. 

mattyprice4004

Maccygee said:

Thrugelmir said:

Maccygee said:

I didn't give my agreement to DHL to pay HMRC on my behalf. HMRC guidance is that the courier contacts the buyer and asks for the duty to be paid. If it isn't the goods are returned. Did I not have the right to refuse delivery? 

Unusual set of circumstances. Due to the cliff edge of Brexit. Smaller value transactions were released rather than held. In normal times the goods would be held until customs cleared. 

A battle you are not going to win. If the matter results in court action your bill is going to be even higher. 

Thank you. I am worried about the potential for increased costs but I'm also concerned that this practice isn't lawful. They've effectively created a credit agreement with me and added on their own fee so they're profiting from this process. 

They're not profiting, if you knew the process you'd understand why they charge for it. 
Look up the manual clearing process and you'll see why it's not a free service to have the courier do it for you. 

It's your responsibility to know the Customs laws and method of import of the country you live in - no one else's. 

Nearlyold

Sandtree said:

Maccygee said:
Can they pursue me for this? 

Yes, they have a statutory right to do clearing and charge the importer. 

Whilst HMRC may have guidance, not law, about prior contact the reality is that neither HMRC nor DHL want vast amounts of goods being held in bonded warehouses waiting for customer contact about if they are going to pay the taxes or not hence its common process to deliver first and collect monies after.

Some may have sympathy for your ignorance on excise duty, that was payable pre-brexit, its one to pay up on and to factor in next time you are ordering remotely.

Good point, though I'm not even sure it's intended as "guidance" for the carrier on HMRC's part, there is no requirement for the carrier to contact the customer prior to delivery to offer the choice of paying the customs/excise fees or having the goods returned to sender - the legislation is predicated on the assumption the customer is already fully aware of the costs of importing.

The legislation simply says the carrier may retain the goods until the customer has paid any customs/excise/handling fees due, it's up to the carrier to decide.

HeinzVarieties

Thrugelmir said:

HeinzVarieties said:

Thrugelmir said:

Maccygee said:

I didn't give my agreement to DHL to pay HMRC on my behalf. HMRC guidance is that the courier contacts the buyer and asks for the duty to be paid. If it isn't the goods are returned. Did I not have the right to refuse delivery? 

Unusual set of circumstances. Due to the cliff edge of Brexit. Smaller value transactions were released rather than held. In normal times the goods would be held until customs cleared. 

A battle you are not going to win. If the matter results in court action your bill is going to be even higher. 

There's nothing to suggest that this was ordered around the time of Brexit. My read is that the OP bought this recently and just forgot that VAT (and potentially excise) would be levied on stuff from the EU.

There's been a number of posts on this topic previously. I've imported for over 20 years and never had goods released prior to settlement of the charges due.  Import charges have been around a very long time. 

I've had it happen a couple of times, many many years before Brexit so it certainly wasn't that

There was no particular reason why they were billed after delivery either. One was a CD just above the (at the time) tax threshold and one was some cigars (that attracted a few hundred quids worth of excise/duty/VAT.)  Both with different couriers and probably a good year apart.

cx6

i would also point out that refusing delivery does not absolve you from paying