Import Duty & VAT on an Item Bought Abroad

lawrenson

Hi,

I bought an item in the USA that cost $700 (roughly £350).

Although it hasnt arrived yet, today I got a letter from parcelforce requesting
£42 in import Duty and £73 in VAT, plus of course the Parcelforce fee.

Although I expected the Import Duty and the Fee, the VAT is a bit of a surprise.

The item isnt new - its 3rd or 4th hand, and was made for 1 year only in 1993. Its an ornament.

Does anyone know if I really have to pay VAT on it please?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Cheers,
Karen

spender

Unfortunately VAT is probably payable. I have been caught when I bought ski wear, I attach a link (I hope) that explains it
http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageTravel_ShowContent&propertyType=document&resetCT=true&id=HMCE_CL_001454

clrat25

stopped buying clothes for my daughter from gymboree for the same reason - customs stopped them and i had duty to pay on them - now wait till i'm going over there on holiday and buy them in person, or get them shipped to family who will forward them as a 'gift', you don't pay for those

JasonLVC

clrat25 - The EU has imposed additional 'punitive' duties on clothing/trainers from the USA due to the USA imposing certain extra duties on EU goods - it is a tit-for-tat thing that goes on all the time so avoid clothing for a while.

Lawrenson - Any item imported from outside the EU into the EU will be subject to both import duty and VAT at point of entry (ie, the UK) whether new or second hand - if this didn't happen then EVERYTHING would be cheaper to bring in from overseas and the strictly controlled EU market would probably collapse.

Out of interest, this website will tell you what the import duty on an item is - then take the cost of the goods, add the duty and then VAT at 17.5% to get the real purchase price so that you'll know the rough cost.

http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/dds/cgi-bin/tarquer?Lang=EN