Import Tax

[pcg79]

Sorry to sound retarded, but how much is import tax, over what price does it kick in, how do they charge it, does it depends on what country its coming from?

Oh and if there is *anyone* that goes to college in London, that was looking at BW at lunch time, reply on here ;p

 

[GDW]

Someone else asked this recently in another thread. If you buy something from any country outside the UK then you run the risk of being charged VAT at 17.5% of cost along with a nominal admin fee. That is my understanding of it. Ive been told that any purchases under £20 are ignored by the customs and excise. So if you want too buy 10 CDs or DVDs (from play .com for example)order them seperately and not together (as long as p&P is free or cheaper than paying the VAT)

Im in a good mood for a change so I will find out exact details tomorrow for you.

/edit

Whoops appears there is more toit than I realise. This is from the other thread I was talking about


/Quote ....More like 35%

Import duty is 17.5% and VAT is 17.5% - you pay both on all imports that are not "personal effects" (i.e. stuff you already own that you're bringing back from a country). Oh, and freight duty. I've just had to pay £240 for a set of wheels in import duty, tax and freight agent costs - mind you thats good considering they're worth well over £2000 and were declared for £250

They were "used" apparently.

You might get away with declaring it as a gift, so long as the other party is game. It's a risk though/end of quote


....ill still check it out for you though tomorrow


...

 

[Ono]

Rule of thumb if you are getting stuff posted from outside the EU.

Get the supplier to mark as Gift with value at approx US$30.


The limit is actually £18 before Customs can sting you but they rarely do unless it for anything under £30 in my experience.

Then there is a post office admin fee to go along with the levy.

I recently got stung for £23 on a couple of games I imported from the States cos the tossers marked the full value (US$165 ).



Oh, and if you are bringing something back yourself from abroad - just make sure it looks second hand (ie. remove receipts and unbox it) or just shove it up yer arse.

 

[xane]

http://www.hmce.gov.uk/

 

[Durzel]

Thats all very well for DVDs etc, but start importing expensive electronics and declare them with stupidly low values (£30 for a brand new Alpine stereo) and Customs will just seize it.

The rule of thumb is - yes, mark it as a gift but if you suspect its something Customs could easily find the true value of (especially if its sold in the UK) then go careful.

 

[tris-]

Originally posted by Durzel
Thats all very well for DVDs etc, but start importing expensive electronics and declare them with stupidly low values (£30 for a brand new Alpine stereo) and Customs will just seize it.

The rule of thumb is - yes, mark it as a gift but if you suspect its something Customs could easily find the true value of (especially if its sold in the UK) then go careful.

very good piece of advice, its not something you would think of like that if your all excited and just want that thing you seen so badly.

 

[GDW]

Ok ive found out a bit more, in fact its all been answered already. The import tax thing is incorrect though. Its really just VAT.

 

[ManDevil]

I managed to get away with, not paying any import tax on my 'Panasonic Q', by having it marked as a returned repaired DVD player.

 

[xane]

Originally posted by ManDevil
I managed to get away with, not paying any import tax on my 'Panasonic Q', by having it marked as a returned repaired DVD player.

You do realise C&E give rewards for reporting VAT fraud ?

 

[stu]

1) The tax you pay is VAT, that's what 'import tax' is

Edit: scratch that, you're talking about getting stuff from outside the Single Market aren't you

2) HMCE know all about the "mark it as a $30 gift" idea (they're not dense after all). Basically don't take the piss and you'll be ok. Try and import hundreds of pounds worth of kit marked as a $30 gift, and they'll probably sit on it for a couple of months, then bill you for the trouble.

 

[Durzel]

To give you a real world example, a "friend" allegedly imported something recently whose value was declared as 46,000 ¥ (£244.68 at todays rates) but actually cost close to £2000. Said friend also claimed they were "used" when they were actually brand new. Allegedly.

Because of the size/weight of the package marking it as a "gift" was not an option.

This close personal friend had the following charges applied:

Freight agent charges

UK Import Handling - £46.90
UK Customs Clearance - £35.00
ICD Presentation - £15.52
B/L (Bill of Lading) Fee - £27.50

TOTAL: £124.92

Customs charges

V.A.T Charges - £68.64
Duty Charges - £8.86
Administration Fee - £5.00

TOTAL: £82.50

35% of £244 is £85.40, therefore its fairly obvious that said friend was charged 17.5% VAT and 17.5% Duty (how they dress it up is irrelevant).

Customs actually chose to seize and inspect the package, and charged my friend an extra £35 - which he was most displeased about. They eventually cleared them - probably because it wasn't something they could easily find the true value of.

The moral of the story - if it had been a TV, or something else Customs could easily have recognised it would most likely have been seized and/or my friend would've been forced to pay arrears in duty/VAT for the market value.

 

[stu]

Your friend is wrong.

If the VAT charge was quoted at £68, then the value of the item was increased above that declared by HMCE, probably as a punishment for you, sorry, your friend (you = lamer btw) trying to scam them.

VAT = 17.5% (in the majority of cases, certainly here). There's absolutely no way that Customs can overcharge you on VAT and then declare it - for the obvious reason that you can turn round and say "you've overcharged me on VAT - refund plz".

 

[Durzel]

I don't even know why I went to the trouble of saying "a friend" when I mentioned the same import in another thread. Oops.

 

[Durzel]

Originally posted by stu
Your friend is wrong.

If the VAT charge was quoted at £68, then the value of the item was increased above that declared by HMCE, probably as a punishment for you, sorry, your friend (you = lamer btw) trying to scam them.

I definitely wasn't overcharged VAT or duty, since I would've seen the appropriate surcharges on my HMCE invoice.

Either way, £86 is roughly what I expected to pay for a shipment declared at £250 - since it is 35% of the value.

 

[pcg79]

Rawr

Thanks all for your replies.

I'd be looking to buy some clothes from the States, to the value of maybe $50 (excl PnP) - the stuff wouldnt be available here in the UK (but if it was it would probably be about £50). So... I would need to get the seller to mark as a gift OR pay 35%?

 

[stu]

Originally posted by Durzel
I definitely wasn't overcharged VAT or duty, since I would've seen the appropriate surcharges on my HMCE invoice.

Either way, £86 is roughly what I expected to pay for a shipment declared at £250 - since it is 35% of the value.

VAT is 17.5%

If you were charged £68 VAT then the package was valued by HMCE at about £390. There are 0 other explanations for this.