Duty free or is there import tax to pay

bucksman

I travel to Europe regularly, and I have been looking to buy a new camera in Europe for my own use.  I can see it is possible to claim the VAT back whilst in the airport in Riga or Vilnius, but then do I need to declare this when I return to England, i.e. use the red channel at the airport?

Keep_pedalling

Yes you will. Hardly worth it for a camera especially if it goes wrong, and you find the manufacturer treats it as a grey import and won’t provide a warrantee. . 

DullGreyGuy

bucksman said:

I travel to Europe regularly, and I have been looking to buy a new camera in Europe for my own use.  I can see it is possible to claim the VAT back whilst in the airport in Riga or Vilnius, but then do I need to declare this when I return to England, i.e. use the red channel at the airport?

How much is the camera?

You are allowed to bring in £390 of goods that are travelling with you that you have bought overseas. If the camera is more than £390 then you will have to pay import duty and UK VAT on the item or if you are bringing anything else back with you then it will eat into that allowance. 

So yes, red channel, use the phone to contact Customs who'll eventually turn up to charge you the taxes. 

bucksman

Thank you for your quick response, back to the drawing board on this then

phatbear

You can use the online pre-arrival declaration, which should give you a preferential rate and you the wouldnt need to find an oh so handsome customs officer to declare the item, this depends on the value of the item though

DullGreyGuy

bucksman said:

Thank you for your quick response, back to the drawing board on this then

Latvia's sales tax is 21% and the UK's is 20%, duty may well be 0% and so it could be slightly cheaper than the list price in Latvia and so it comes down to how much cheaper it is there than it is in the UK and if that is worth the potential challenges on the warranty situation. Some companies do provide global warranties, and it's not a grey import as you aren't a retailer, but you can research that before buying it. 

Certainly I've done it before but that was because the item was 35% cheaper overseas (in the country of origin) than it was in the UK and so even with posting and import costs it was still much cheaper.

bucksman

Looks like a purchase here is more sensible, and non-declaration is a risk

NoodleDoodleMan

The one and only time (for many years) I've been stopped by Customs on entering Britain was at a cruise ship disembarkation in Southampton.

The officer opened our luggage and focused in(no pun intended) on my camera kit and asked if I had receipts for the various items.

I pointed out that it been purchased several years before in the UK, was clearly not new, and that particular model was discontinued a few years earlier.

I suspect he knew this in advance but was just on a "jobsworth" exercise as more ranking senior inspectors were milling around.

bucksman

NoodleDoodleMan said:

The only and only time (for many years) I've been stopped by Customs on entering Britain was at a cruise ship disembarkation in Southampton.

The officer opened our luggage and focused in(no pun intended) on my camera kit and asked if I had receipts for the various items.

I pointed out that it been purchased several years before in the UK, was clearly not new, and that particular model was discontinued a few years earlier.

I suspect he knew this in advance but was just on a "jobsworth" exercise as more ranking senior inspectors were milling around.

Interesting - thank you for sharing