Incorrect customs charge

notmyrealname2000

Hi. I've checked through a few threads to see if my question has been answered but couldn't find it. My father took my ear buds back to Australia from UK to get them fixed under warrantee (long story of why they wouldn't do warranty in UK). He has now sent them back to me but customs thinks they have been purchased or a gift so HMRC through the post office is charging me £50!! I can't appeal it, I just have to pay the money and fill out a BOR286 form.
Anyone know my chances of getting a refund if I fill in a BOR286 form with customs? I can prove purchase was in 2023 in Australia and one replacement done in 2024 in UK. 
Hope someone can advise. Thanks

MyRealNameToo

notmyrealname2000 said:

Hi. I've checked through a few threads to see if my question has been answered but couldn't find it. My father took my ear buds back to Australia from UK to get them fixed under warrantee (long story of why they wouldn't do warranty in UK). He has now sent them back to me but customs thinks they have been purchased or a gift so HMRC through the post office is charging me £50!! I can't appeal it, I just have to pay the money and fill out a BOR286 form.
Anyone know my chances of getting a refund if I fill in a BOR286 form with customs? I can prove purchase was in 2023 in Australia and one replacement done in 2024 in UK. 
Hope someone can advise. Thanks

You ideally need to show the original import, the export and then the reimport paperwork to show UK VAT has already been paid and they only left the country for warrant repair. 

You should also enclose the warranty invoice to show nothing was paid for the repair as had it been a paid for repair then VAT would be due on the repair. 

Some companies do international warranties, some do national warranties, even if its international it can be difficult because specifications vary slightly by country (eg which 4G/5G bands are operational in phones) so UK may not have parts for a US model. Have had the pain of national warranties before unfortunately.

GabbaGabbaHey

notmyrealname2000 said:

I can prove purchase was in 2023 in Australia

Can you also prove that duty/tax was paid when you originally imported them into the UK from Australia?