Customs Fees on Medical Devices

CloudBecoming

born_again said:

Does not exactly get glowing review.

agreed, but it does seem to work for some people and the company let you return it within 30 days if it's not good for you, so I thought I'd try it. That said the fees that Royal Mail have notified me about mean I'm teetering on deciding not to accept delivery.

CloudBecoming

Woodstok2000 said:

It seems to fit best under Code 9019, which includes massage apparatus.  That would have 0% import duty from the EU, but it would incur 20% VAT, so maybe that's what your invoice is for?  Does the letter specify exactly what the 'customs fees' are?

If it's import duty, contact HMRC and argue that the device under code 9019 should be 0 rated.

If it's VAT, you'd need to understand why they haven't applied your disabled persons exemption (per the form you filled out).

Woodstok2000

That was the commodity code that I first identified as the best fit so it's reassuring to know that you also identified that one. There's no letter, just a card from Royal Mail, headed “Sorry, there's a fee to pay before we can deliver your item”. A printed sticker on the card states “reason: there is a customs charge” and then “amount due: £48.61”. I took “customs charge” to mean customs duty but now I'm wondering whether Royal Mail might also refer to VAT on goods from abroad in the same way.

In the event that I am being charged VAT, are people often successful in challenging that when they should be exempt? I'm really tempted to refuse delivery for the item because it was already more than I could really afford any way. 

QrizB

CloudBecoming said:

I took “customs charge” to mean customs duty but now I'm wondering whether Royal Mail might also refer to VAT on goods from abroad in the same way.

It's likely that the total price also includes a Royal Mail handling fee.

Re. posting links, you'll be able to do so once you're no longer have the "newbie" tag after your screen name. That's typically based on the number of posts, rather than the time elapsed since you registered your account; we've had forumites with 10+ years but only a handful of posts caught out in the same way.

CloudBecoming

QrizB said:

CloudBecoming said:

I took “customs charge” to mean customs duty but now I'm wondering whether Royal Mail might also refer to VAT on goods from abroad in the same way.

It's likely that the total price also includes a Royal Mail handling fee.

Re. posting links, you'll be able to do so once you're no longer have the "newbie" tag after your screen name. That's typically based on the number of posts, rather than the time elapsed since you registered your account; we've had forumites with 10+ years but only a handful of posts caught out in the same way.

Yes, you're right - the amount includes a £8 Royal Mail handling fee. Sorry - I thought I had already said that.

Woodstok2000

CloudBecoming said:

Woodstok2000 said:

It seems to fit best under Code 9019, which includes massage apparatus.  That would have 0% import duty from the EU, but it would incur 20% VAT, so maybe that's what your invoice is for?  Does the letter specify exactly what the 'customs fees' are?

If it's import duty, contact HMRC and argue that the device under code 9019 should be 0 rated.

If it's VAT, you'd need to understand why they haven't applied your disabled persons exemption (per the form you filled out).

Woodstok2000

That was the commodity code that I first identified as the best fit so it's reassuring to know that you also identified that one. There's no letter, just a card from Royal Mail, headed “Sorry, there's a fee to pay before we can deliver your item”. A printed sticker on the card states “reason: there is a customs charge” and then “amount due: £48.61”. I took “customs charge” to mean customs duty but now I'm wondering whether Royal Mail might also refer to VAT on goods from abroad in the same way.

In the event that I am being charged VAT, are people often successful in challenging that when they should be exempt? I'm really tempted to refuse delivery for the item because it was already more than I could really afford any way. 

Sorry, I've no experience here but there is a form you can use, it looks quite straightforward although you do have to pay the fees first to get the parcel and then claim them back so theres no guarantees you'll get your money.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/633c0416d3bf7f187d0ddcb2/BOR286-English-09-22.pdf