Rip off England: Import duties and fees
Discussion
tubbystu said:
esselte said:
g_attrill said:
£72 sounds rather high, do you have a breakdown of the costs? Worst case is 10% duty plus £15 and then 17.5% VAT?
Have they charged tax on the shipping as well?VAT goes on last and on everything, purchase cost, shipping, fees etc
Don't get me started!
On a related point.
Go to the Bitter End Yacht Club "one of the most exclusive yacht clubs in the world" a couple of miles from Necker.
Buy a litre of 47% Tanqueray there.
Shipped UK to USA in a big boat.
Then shipped in a smaller boat to Tortola.
Then in a smaller boat to Virgin Gorda.
Then put in a shop in a premium "resort".
Then a profit margin added.
$18.00 .... LESS THAN HALF UK PRICE! WTF!
If you buy on Tortola it's $13.50 AAAARGH we're taking it in the buttocks!
...and breathe.
On a related point.
Go to the Bitter End Yacht Club "one of the most exclusive yacht clubs in the world" a couple of miles from Necker.
Buy a litre of 47% Tanqueray there.
Shipped UK to USA in a big boat.
Then shipped in a smaller boat to Tortola.
Then in a smaller boat to Virgin Gorda.
Then put in a shop in a premium "resort".
Then a profit margin added.
$18.00 .... LESS THAN HALF UK PRICE! WTF!
If you buy on Tortola it's $13.50 AAAARGH we're taking it in the buttocks!
...and breathe.
esselte said:
g_attrill said:
£72 sounds rather high, do you have a breakdown of the costs? Worst case is 10% duty plus £15 and then 17.5% VAT?
Have they charged tax on the shipping as well?Just to note, there is a lower limit for the goods underneath which you don't get hit for import duty at all. Currently I believe that it's £18, unless it's a gift.
If the item is marked as a gift (and has supporting evidence inside if they decide to open the parcel e.g. birthday card, note, wrapping paper or whatever) that the threshold rises to £36.
If the type of item would be vat free here, make sure it is labeled as such on the customs declaration too.
More info at http://www.dhl.co.uk/publish/gb/en/information/shi...
ETA, if you do label the goods cheaper than they are to avoid tax, make sure you remove price labels and that the amount or type of stuff is not obviously worth a lot more, because they can re-value the stuff themselves and then charge you whatever they like.
Edited by oldbanger on Sunday 13th January 14:58
Taita said:
Just to stir it up a bit. What right does the government have to tax you on things that you bring into the country.
Just because its been around for a few hundred years doesn't make it morally right.
Just because its been around for a few hundred years doesn't make it morally right.
Import duties have been harmonised accross europe now, so the french, germans etc get equaly stung when importing from outside the EU.
http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/ch...
Edited by Balmoral Green on Sunday 13th January 16:52
I shipped my Corvette ABS computer to the US for repair last month. It cost me £18 to send by Post Office, and arrived in 3 days.
It took two weeks to come back (after despatch). It was sent by UPS, who charged upfront $80, then subsequently charged £11 "customs processing" fee, then £48 duty on the repair!! It's difficult to value a broken ABS computer, so I said £30. The repair itself cost $150.
So, in GB pounds:-
repair = £75
post out = £18
post back = £40
customs/duty = £59
£192 for a £75 repair to a unit which I owned in the first place. Still, it makes Gordon Happy.
It took two weeks to come back (after despatch). It was sent by UPS, who charged upfront $80, then subsequently charged £11 "customs processing" fee, then £48 duty on the repair!! It's difficult to value a broken ABS computer, so I said £30. The repair itself cost $150.
So, in GB pounds:-
repair = £75
post out = £18
post back = £40
customs/duty = £59
£192 for a £75 repair to a unit which I owned in the first place. Still, it makes Gordon Happy.
Have been done by customs quite a few times when importing goods, vat and whatever they see fit to impose is what i think they work by.
And the £8.00 parking fee for autosport show was a complete boner and as for the live arena...well the less said. Some fat chump and loiuse goodman yarping on.
£28 to get my eardums bleeding and watch a few motors chase round the oval...no wonder no one co-operated when fatty on stage wanted audience participation, they were all pissed off too.
Rip off britain is very much alive and kicking -us.
And the £8.00 parking fee for autosport show was a complete boner and as for the live arena...well the less said. Some fat chump and loiuse goodman yarping on.
£28 to get my eardums bleeding and watch a few motors chase round the oval...no wonder no one co-operated when fatty on stage wanted audience participation, they were all pissed off too.
Rip off britain is very much alive and kicking -us.
Mello said:
Stuff
I reckon something must be wrong there surely? Otherwise if you just took the car outside of the UK on holiday for example, they would want to be charging you for re-importing the ECU, and the rest of the car too? I know folks who have shipped their whole car to the US for rallys and such like, yet haven't had to pay stuff like that on return to the UK Balmoral Green said:
Mello said:
Stuff
I reckon something must be wrong there surely? Otherwise if you just took the car outside of the UK on holiday for example, they would want to be charging you for re-importing the ECU, and the rest of the car too? I know folks who have shipped their whole car to the US for rallys and such like, yet haven't had to pay stuff like that on return to the UK Kermit power said:
I would imagine your sister in law got the paperwork wrong?
Out of interest, how much would you have been charged under the same circumstances in other European countries? I assume you have done the research ahead of deciding that this is "Rip off England"?
Sorry, my mistake, charging £72 bullsh1t taxes on a parcel worth £100 is not a rip off. Out of interest, how much would you have been charged under the same circumstances in other European countries? I assume you have done the research ahead of deciding that this is "Rip off England"?
esselte said:
tubbystu said:
esselte said:
g_attrill said:
£72 sounds rather high, do you have a breakdown of the costs? Worst case is 10% duty plus £15 and then 17.5% VAT?
Have they charged tax on the shipping as well?VAT goes on last and on everything, purchase cost, shipping, fees etc
VAT £41.03
Admin fee £6.80
Shipping £57
Value of package $200
So, they appear to have charged duty at 24% on the $200 value, or do you pay duty on shipping too?
VAT is charged on everything, shipping, admin and value of package.
Mello said:
I shipped my Corvette ABS computer to the US for repair last month. It cost me £18 to send by Post Office, and arrived in 3 days.
It took two weeks to come back (after despatch). It was sent by UPS, who charged upfront $80, then subsequently charged £11 "customs processing" fee, then £48 duty on the repair!! It's difficult to value a broken ABS computer, so I said £30. The repair itself cost $150.
So, in GB pounds:-
repair = £75
post out = £18
post back = £40
customs/duty = £59
£192 for a £75 repair to a unit which I owned in the first place. Still, it makes Gordon Happy.
There should have been no duty to pay at all if the item was being shipped out for repair!It took two weeks to come back (after despatch). It was sent by UPS, who charged upfront $80, then subsequently charged £11 "customs processing" fee, then £48 duty on the repair!! It's difficult to value a broken ABS computer, so I said £30. The repair itself cost $150.
So, in GB pounds:-
repair = £75
post out = £18
post back = £40
customs/duty = £59
£192 for a £75 repair to a unit which I owned in the first place. Still, it makes Gordon Happy.
for the OP, worth checking they haven't worked out the duty cost to you on the $ doller price instead of the sterling, as this happens a fair bit.
steve.c said:
Mello said:
I shipped my Corvette ABS computer to the US for repair last month. It cost me £18 to send by Post Office, and arrived in 3 days.
It took two weeks to come back (after despatch). It was sent by UPS, who charged upfront $80, then subsequently charged £11 "customs processing" fee, then £48 duty on the repair!! It's difficult to value a broken ABS computer, so I said £30. The repair itself cost $150.
So, in GB pounds:-
repair = £75
post out = £18
post back = £40
customs/duty = £59
£192 for a £75 repair to a unit which I owned in the first place. Still, it makes Gordon Happy.
There should have been no duty to pay at all if the item was being shipped out for repair!It took two weeks to come back (after despatch). It was sent by UPS, who charged upfront $80, then subsequently charged £11 "customs processing" fee, then £48 duty on the repair!! It's difficult to value a broken ABS computer, so I said £30. The repair itself cost $150.
So, in GB pounds:-
repair = £75
post out = £18
post back = £40
customs/duty = £59
£192 for a £75 repair to a unit which I owned in the first place. Still, it makes Gordon Happy.
for the OP, worth checking they haven't worked out the duty cost to you on the $ doller price instead of the sterling, as this happens a fair bit.
Yes, UK import duties are a rip off. The thresholds are set far too low - anything with a value of more than £18 gets hit with tax + extortionate processing charges. My wife once bought something for £20 (including shipping) from an overseas site and got hit with £7.50 in VAT and royal mail handling charges.
In contrast, here in NZ, customs only gets involved if the total value of the duty collected is more than $50 (approx £19). If the only applicable tax is VAT, you can import something up to $400 (£150) in value with no additional charges.
In contrast, here in NZ, customs only gets involved if the total value of the duty collected is more than $50 (approx £19). If the only applicable tax is VAT, you can import something up to $400 (£150) in value with no additional charges.
I would be tempted not to pay Fedex - at the moment. They appear to have made a mistake by delivering the goods without collecting any taxes, so they should live with it. Imagine buying something in a shop and them coming to collect the VAT a month later - don't think so.
It will be interesting to see what reasoning Fedex will give as to why you have to pay, and what threats they use. In the meantime use the "manyana" principle - deal with it tomorrow.
In any case, when the goods were delivered you do remember asking if there were any extra costs to pay before you signed.
Another tip for importing goods is to get them sent to a VAT registered company. The amount on the single cheque for duties, fees, VAT etc could end up on a VAT reclaim form and all get reclaimed. In the extremely unlikely event a VAT inspection picks it up it will look like an administration mistake without penalties.
It will be interesting to see what reasoning Fedex will give as to why you have to pay, and what threats they use. In the meantime use the "manyana" principle - deal with it tomorrow.
In any case, when the goods were delivered you do remember asking if there were any extra costs to pay before you signed.
Another tip for importing goods is to get them sent to a VAT registered company. The amount on the single cheque for duties, fees, VAT etc could end up on a VAT reclaim form and all get reclaimed. In the extremely unlikely event a VAT inspection picks it up it will look like an administration mistake without penalties.
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