tobaccoking.com

Chuzzle

:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

How furious am I with myself this morning. DH smoke GV tobacco, he has cut back but point blank refuses to give up completely - claims its the only fun thing he's got left now I've budgeted everything else out!!:p A 2oz pack (the largest size) will usually last him 5-6 days currently this is just over £11 a pack. I thought there must be a way of getting it cheaper so looked into buying over the internet. I found Tobaccoking.com read through their site to make sure that I wasn't going to get scammed and everything read fine. The only way to pay them is to do a bank transfer into their uk bank account. I did this and got confirmation email from them telling me payment had been received and a couple of days later I got another email saying the order was being despatched on Monday 2nd June. I'd decided to have it sent to my works address, and this morning at work I receive a letter from HMRC! :eek: They have siezed the tobacco 500g in total which is equal to 10 packs. Something to do with VAT and UK tax not being paid on it beforehand. Now I've just googled the company and found they are based in Edgeware and have been in business since 2002. Out of the 8 customer reviews on this site 4 are brill and 4 are negative! All reviews are dated this year. Oh I could kick myself for not having done this sooner. I'm now down £61 - shan't be doing that again.

Please don't tell me how foolish I've been and how it serves me right. I will be telling myself this for a very long time to come. I just thought I should let everyone know just in case someone else decides to save money and buy over the internet.

Thanks for reading my rant.

swake

Was the letter from the company saying it was seized by customs or actually from customs ?

Chuzzle

Swake - sorry I wasn't very clear. The letter came direct from HM Revenue & Customs. I can write to them within a month and then it will go to civil court action if I feel that thier decision is wrong. I'm thinking I'll just mark this down to experience and loose the £61 as it'll be a site easier. I've contacted Tobacco King via their web contact form and by email requesting a refund but I won't be holding my breathe.:o

G42

Had a look at the site. In their FAQ it clearly states that they are based in Spain and that -
"[FONT=verdana,geneva]It is the responsibility of the customer to ascertain and comply with the laws relating to the purchase and use of any tobacco goods." [/FONT]

Regrettably as you didn't comply with British law you are not entitled to a refund.

Chuzzle

Yeah I spotted that AFTER I placed the order and got the stuff confiscated. And I am kicking myself at not having taken the time to be more thorough. They have just replied to me email and stated the same thing. Ho Hum I'll have to work harder on getting DH to stop smoking!

I do wonder if it was because I put my works address for delivery that alerted the Customs more than if I'd put my home address. Oh well one for the experience book!

Chuzzle

On their front page it states the following ....

All our duty free cigarettes and tobacco products are tax paid in the European Union and carry the relevant labels and seals.

I naivly took it to mean that everything was paid up and I'd have no problem with the delivery.

Is 500g of tobacco more than the personal allowance?

Can you tell I'm not a smoker myself?

G42

Cost of tobacco £51
Carriage £10
Total £61

Customs £61

Total £122

If you don't pay the duty, you will be out of pocket by £61 and have no tobacco (cost of tobacco + carriage).

Paying the duty of another £61 will make you only £12 out of pocket as buying 10 packs in this country would have cost you £110 anyway.

Bamber19

Spain is in the EC, I wouldn't think personal allowances exist. Perhaps is different for some products (I should actually know this) but goods should be able to be moved freely within the EC without having to pay additional duties bringing them into this country.

G42

Ruthibe73 wrote: »

On their front page it states the following ....

All our duty free cigarettes and tobacco products are tax paid in the European Union and carry the relevant labels and seals.

I naivly took it to mean that everything was paid up and I'd have no problem with the delivery.

Is 500g of tobacco more than the personal allowance?

Can you tell I'm not a smoker myself?

That applies to Personal allowances when you go abroad. Importing by post is a separate issue. You may want to read this.

http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageVAT_ShowContent&id=HMCE_CL_001454&propertyType=document

G42

Bamber19 wrote: »

Spain is in the EC, I wouldn't think personal allowances exist. Perhaps is different for some products (I should actually know this) but goods should be able to be moved freely within the EC without having to pay additional duties bringing them into this country.

Should be but unfortunately not the case with tobacco and alcohol as our government taxes it far higher than many other EU countries and it doesn't want to lose the revenue. Arbitrary allowances still apply.

"When travelling from the EU* to the UK you do not have to pay any tax or duty on goods you have bought in another EU country as long as tax was included in the price when you purchased the items, the items are for your own use, and have been transported to the UK by you. This includes gifts, but does not include any item that is intended to be used as payment or to be resold.

If you bring back large quantities of alcohol or tobacco, a Customs Officer is more likely to ask about the purposes for which you hold the goods. This will most likely be the case if you appear at the airport with more than:

• 3200 cigarettes
• 400 cigarillos
• 200 cigars
• 3 kg of smoking tobacco
• 110 litres of beer
• 10 litres of spirits
• 90 litres of wine
• 20 litres of fortified wine i.e.: port or sherry "

Chuzzle

Unfortunately the letter that came from customs states that they do not accept belated payments of the taxes due.