Import question
Discussion
I buy quite a few high value items from the US, and recently I have been being clobbered by the Customs and Excise on Import Duties.
Question one: A friend told me they track how much stuff and the value of what you import - anyone know if this is true?
Question two: If I started buying from within the EU would I still pay duties? I have been told both yes and no. Anyone know the answer?
Cheers for any help.
Question one: A friend told me they track how much stuff and the value of what you import - anyone know if this is true?
Question two: If I started buying from within the EU would I still pay duties? I have been told both yes and no. Anyone know the answer?
Cheers for any help.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
I can answer 1) for you.
The package should have the value of the item declared on it. However customs and excise can decide to open your package to check contents. In the case were they think the item is worth more than stated, or the value wasn't stated in the first place, they will use the UK RRP price (if available) to figure out how much VAT you owe.
imperialism2024 said:
Would it be cheaper to take a quick trip across the pond, pick up the watches, and bring them back? I'm not too familiar with how much you would pay in import duties, etc etc...
Er, should be exactly the same, whether you have it shipped or collect.
From the EU, you should NOT need to pay import duty I think, and can opt to pay VAT in the UK rather than the equivalent in the EU country that you purchase from. You have to do the maths yourself to work out which option is better for you depending on local price and taxes.
pdV6 said:
Would it be cheaper to take a quick trip across the pond, pick up the watches, and bring them back? I'm not too familiar with how much you would pay in import duties, etc etc...
Er, should be exactly the same, whether you have it shipped or collect.
only if you declare them. If you buy them over there wear them back and post the box back in one package and the gurantee receipt in another what are the chances of
(a) being stopped
(b) customs twigging it is a new watch and paying you pay the duty ?.
scorp said:
The package should have the value of the item declared on it. However customs and excise can decide to open your package to check contents. In the case were they think the item is worth more than stated, or the value wasn't stated in the first place, they will use the UK RRP price (if available) to figure out how much VAT you owe.
This is only partly true I'm afraid. The value should be declared on the package as part of your overall customs declaration. The value must represent the price you paid (or the price payable) for the item. In other words they want to tax you on a commercially established price and not one that is affected by any relationship you might have with the seller. In the absence of a commercial price then you have to create one using 1 of 5 valuation methods that are defined in the GATT valuation code under the WTO's customs rules. (there are in fact 6 methods, but the first one is the price you paid). These are embodied in EC law in the Community Customs Code, and EC Regulation covering Customs and trade atters. This regulation and the GATT protocol specifically excludes using reference pricing, or the resale price in the detsination market as a basis for valuing the goods for import purposes.
On your second question, the EU is a common customs area and there is no cross-border customs duty to be paid, assuming the item is already in what's called "free circulation" in the community (i.e. it is a tax paid item). So you can move what you like about the EU without paying more customs duty (excise duty of course is a national tax and may well be payable). There is of course the VAT charge and the VAT must be paid in at least one member state. Typically if a consumer buys an item in another EU member state then he will pay VAT at their rate. As a business you may well buy stuff VAT free and account for the VAT at home - but I don't think that's what you're up to.
BTW I used to work at a mailing office and on a red channel at an airport and all the lovely comments about mailing boxes and wearing the watch, mailing bits back etc are all very well. But Customs knows only too well that this goes on and it is only a lack of resources that mean you can get away with it.
angusfaldo said:
BTW I used to work at a mailing office and on a red channel at an airport and all the lovely comments about mailing boxes and wearing the watch, mailing bits back etc are all very well. But Customs knows only too well that this goes on and it is only a lack of resources that mean you can get away with it.
not sure why my comment was lovely, but thanks for the compliment :-).
I'm sure that customs to realise it goes on, but I never see anyone at the green red channels and I would hope that what precious resuorces they do have are more targeted at drugs etc.
BTW what happens if you get caught with a watch or other high value item you have purchased overseas ?. do you just have to pay the tax due or are you liable to be fined, locked in the stocks etc.
ledger said:
BTW what happens if you get caught with a watch or other high value item you have purchased overseas ?. do you just have to pay the tax due or are you liable to be fined, locked in the stocks etc.
It depends really. There's two kinds of customs offences - reckless and knowing. If you get it wrong through stupidity or lack of knowledge you're still guilty but the treatment is less severe (imagine someone puts a few grams of coke in your pocket without you knowing as you approach the green channel...)
But if you commit an offence knowing (for example you shove a half kilo pack of coke covered in clingfilm up your butt) then you're in for a bit of a ride (so to speak
) With watches the querk is that there is no customs duty on them, even if imported from outside the EU. IIRC there's only a standing charge of 50p on a watch (but it may well have changed, it's been a while since I was in the job). It's the VAT that is the killer.
If you smuggled a watch they'd probably just charge the duty and be done with it. Maybe they'd penalise you but I very much doubt you'd end up with any kind of charge or warning - unless you had a record that they were interested in.
I said lovely because I just remembered the expressions on the faces of the travellers we visited at home, having opened their empty Rolex watch boxes at the sorting depot. When we asked for the import VAT the crestfallen expressions were always a picture. I can see now that my attitude at the time may not have been very friendly...can I repent now??
angusfaldo said:
having opened their empty Rolex watch boxes at the sorting depot. When we asked for the import VAT the crestfallen expressions were always a picture. I can see now that my attitude at the time may not have been very friendly...can I repent now??
no burn him for he is evil !!!!.
What is the import VAT on an empty Rolex box ?, do you not have to prove that there was also a watch ?.
ledger said:
no burn him for he is evil !!!!.
What is the import VAT on an empty Rolex box ?, do you not have to prove that there was also a watch ?.
Yes, but the fools would usually put their purchase invoice in the box too - so thay had something for insurance purposes...
It wasn't usually hi-tech investigation that caught out these peeps
angusfaldo said:
no burn him for he is evil !!!!.
What is the import VAT on an empty Rolex box ?, do you not have to prove that there was also a watch ?.
Yes, but the fools would usually put their purchase invoice in the box too - so thay had something for insurance purposes...
It wasn't usually hi-tech investigation that caught out these peeps
aaah I see. Though the odds of getting away with it must still be pretty high. Only a tiny fraction of incoming mail from the US must be opened.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
Angusfaldo has pretty much answered this, but perhaps to clarify for VAT - assuming you're buying as a private individual consumer from a business established in another EU state, you buy an item from e.g France and pay French VAT on it. There is not likely to be UK VAT due on this as you have already paid VAT in the member state from which you purchased the item.
usual caveats apply..
Antwerpman said:
Another possibility is to find the EU country with the lowest import duties and taxes for these types of items and import them via that route. Once the duties are paid for entering the EU that is the end of it and you can move goods as freely as you like
But the customs duties are standardised for the EU in the common customs tariff. So the rate (as accorded by the Harmonised System tariff code) is the same when imported from a non EU country into ANY member state.
The only rate difference is import VAT - the EU rates range from about 16% to about 23% (unless you are moving goods subject to excise duty, anti-dumping charges, counterveiling duties, quota charges, other surcharges or specific duties etc, which is unlikely)
I'd be interested to know where you got your information from for this - it is very wrong.
Ok - my god this is confusing - so let me see if I have got this right:
If I buy from within the EU I don't have to pay VAT.
I don't have to pay Customs duty.
I may have to pay Excise Duty.
What is the difference between Customs Duty and Excise Duty? How much is Excise Duty?
Many thanks for the help so far.
If I buy from within the EU I don't have to pay VAT.
I don't have to pay Customs duty.
I may have to pay Excise Duty.
What is the difference between Customs Duty and Excise Duty? How much is Excise Duty?
Many thanks for the help so far.
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