What percent import tax for an engine from the US?
What percent import tax for an engine from the US?
Author
Discussion

stewie

Original Poster:

13 posts

228 months

Wednesday 9th July 2008
quotequote all
I'm in the process of choosing the spec for an Ultima build and would like to know what percent import tax i would pay on an engine from the US. Anybody know?

Thanks
Mark

eliot

11,995 posts

283 months

Wednesday 9th July 2008
quotequote all
$+$hipping+5%duty+17%vat+handling/agent fee
change the $ for £ and you wont be too far out.

kylemrushall

1,922 posts

233 months

Wednesday 9th July 2008
quotequote all
21.7% is what i paid, who you buying from? please be careful

LS7427ci

91 posts

220 months

Wednesday 9th July 2008
quotequote all
What engine are you looking to buy in?????

LS7427ci

91 posts

220 months

Wednesday 9th July 2008
quotequote all
Oh yes not point in lining pockets for nothing!!!!!!!!!!!

Wilder

1,509 posts

238 months

Thursday 10th July 2008
quotequote all
kylemrushall said:
21.7% is what i paid, who you buying from? please be careful
Thats way over what it should be Kyle.

Max from the USA (or anywhere)for any item in duty is 12.25%
Ok, heres how it works with any import:
You can check by ringing the classification line 01702 366077 where you can have up to 3 commodity codes check in one call (any 3 items basically).

YOU MUST BE SPECIFIC IN YOUR DESCRIPTION - even down to the block material.
(they will advise you about this when you ask them to apply a code)

You then ring the HM Customs line 0845 0109000 (nothing straight forward in this crap country is there?) and give them the code and the country of origin.
Bingo , they give you the duty rate. then take the cost of the item minus shipping and apply the duty rate - Then add the cost of shipping to the item cost, duty, and then add vat to the whole lot.
Vat MUST be paid before you get the goods released - and in fact before they are released from the bonded warehouse or dockside, and is paid by the receiving shipping agent at normally no more than 2.25% which is the standard rate charged by the company either you appoint to receive the goods in your name, or the receiving agent appointed by the company sending the goods.
They will contact you to say they have a "notice of arrival" for you and will be happy to act on your behalf -this is straight forward and normally best left to them to do just that.
Once paid, there are some other charges such as document presentation, terminal handling, and vat deferment (already mentioned) which the clearing agent will pay and you get a bill when you arrange to have them deliver the item ,or released to another delivery company. Check the cost they are charging for delivery - dont automatically accept the shippers quote for that because the best company is www.Roadferry.co.uk who will deliver any crated/palletised item up to 2 x 1.5 M3 and up to 1,000KG for £64 inc VAT.Hope this helps anyone thinking of importing anything into the country.

Edited by Wilder on Thursday 10th July 01:03

andygtt

8,345 posts

293 months

Thursday 10th July 2008
quotequote all
kylemrushall said:
21.7% is what i paid, who you buying from? please be careful
same as mine once you paid the tax and fees for everything

stewie

Original Poster:

13 posts

228 months

Thursday 10th July 2008
quotequote all
kylemrushall said:
21.7% is what i paid, who you buying from? please be careful
Amerspeed hopefully. Very impressed with the speedy e-mail reply & prices. Not decided on an engine yet. Although i would love an LS7 its out of my budget i'm affraid. i'm just in the process of trailing through the endless posts on this forum for info before i decide on my spec. Thanks for all the info guys.

kylemrushall

1,922 posts

233 months

Thursday 10th July 2008
quotequote all
Wilder said:
kylemrushall said:
21.7% is what i paid, who you buying from? please be careful
Thats way over what it should be Kyle.

Max from the USA (or anywhere)for any item in duty is 12.25%
Ok, heres how it works with any import:
You can check by ringing the classification line 01702 366077 where you can have up to 3 commodity codes check in one call (any 3 items basically).

YOU MUST BE SPECIFIC IN YOUR DESCRIPTION - even down to the block material.
(they will advise you about this when you ask them to apply a code)

You then ring the HM Customs line 0845 0109000 (nothing straight forward in this crap country is there?) and give them the code and the country of origin.
Bingo , they give you the duty rate. then take the cost of the item minus shipping and apply the duty rate - Then add the cost of shipping to the item cost, duty, and then add vat to the whole lot.
Vat MUST be paid before you get the goods released - and in fact before they are released from the bonded warehouse or dockside, and is paid by the receiving shipping agent at normally no more than 2.25% which is the standard rate charged by the company either you appoint to receive the goods in your name, or the receiving agent appointed by the company sending the goods.
They will contact you to say they have a "notice of arrival" for you and will be happy to act on your behalf -this is straight forward and normally best left to them to do just that.
Once paid, there are some other charges such as document presentation, terminal handling, and vat deferment (already mentioned) which the clearing agent will pay and you get a bill when you arrange to have them deliver the item ,or released to another delivery company. Check the cost they are charging for delivery - dont automatically accept the shippers quote for that because the best company is www.Roadferry.co.uk who will deliver any crated/palletised item up to 2 x 1.5 M3 and up to 1,000KG for £64 inc VAT.Hope this helps anyone thinking of importing anything into the country.

Edited by Wilder on Thursday 10th July 01:03
thanks but that included VAT

TuxMan

9,011 posts

267 months

Thursday 10th July 2008
quotequote all
Uk built LS ...its the only way to go !!!! does not have to be a LS7 there are some very good LS2-3 about !!! imo.

kylemrushall

1,922 posts

233 months

Thursday 10th July 2008
quotequote all
stewie said:
kylemrushall said:
21.7% is what i paid, who you buying from? please be careful
Amerspeed hopefully. Very impressed with the speedy e-mail reply & prices. Not decided on an engine yet. Although i would love an LS7 its out of my budget i'm affraid. i'm just in the process of trailing through the endless posts on this forum for info before i decide on my spec. Thanks for all the info guys.
AS are fine as you do get some aftersales service, if i had my time again i would always purchase in the UK. It may be a little more expensive but imo the quality and aftersales is far better, if you have a SBC you will need some aftersales.... hey Wayne?

738 driver

1,202 posts

222 months

Thursday 10th July 2008
quotequote all
I recently imported parts for a SBC, the guys at customs are pretty helpful and most of above seems correct. However something else to consider when buying a full engine from overseas, if something does go wrong and you have to return it, then it will be classed as a special shipment (having had oil and fuel in it)and will require specialist packing and handling to comply with new shipping rules which considerably increases the return shipping costs. Expect to initially stump up somethng around £1200-1500 just to get the motor back to your overseas builder. Yes you may get the costs reimbursed but this all takes considerable time too. If you choose to have it repaired in the UK and the original supplier send the parts FOC, the our dynamic government has decided that despite you already having paid import duty,vat etc on the full motor, they will still charge the recipient duty and taxes (on shipping as well as declared value) until the matter is resolved. There is no way around this 'pay out first and claim back later' system as your spares will not be released until you cough up.
To quote the customs office ' this system has recently been introduced to dampen all the recent importation, to try and get Britain to purchase at home and protect our economy'. So I asked the guy if he could point me in the direction of a SBC 308 degree, custom roller cam grinder in the UK? No standard reply available!!! Oh, and just a five weeks ago the current import duty figure for engine spares had risen to a whopping 10-24% (depending on the part)-- another recent government change I was advised.

kylemrushall

1,922 posts

233 months

Thursday 10th July 2008
quotequote all
738 driver said:
I recently imported parts for a SBC, the guys at customs are pretty helpful and most of above seems correct. However something else to consider when buying a full engine from overseas, if something does go wrong and you have to return it, then it will be classed as a special shipment (having had oil and fuel in it)and will require specialist packing and handling to comply with new shipping rules which considerably increases the return shipping costs. Expect to initially stump up somethng around £1200-1500 just to get the motor back to your overseas builder. Yes you may get the costs reimbursed but this all takes considerable time too. If you choose to have it repaired in the UK and the original supplier send the parts FOC, the our dynamic government has decided that despite you already having paid import duty,vat etc on the full motor, they will still charge the recipient duty and taxes (on shipping as well as declared value) until the matter is resolved. There is no way around this 'pay out first and claim back later' system as your spares will not be released until you cough up.
To quote the customs office ' this system has recently been introduced to dampen all the recent importation, to try and get Britain to purchase at home and protect our economy'. So I asked the guy if he could point me in the direction of a SBC 308 degree, custom roller cam grinder in the UK? No standard reply available!!! Oh, and just a five weeks ago the current import duty figure for engine spares had risen to a whopping 10-24% (depending on the part)-- another recent government change I was advised.
lots of recent changes!!! thats interesting, our goverment seem very effective at raising as much tax revenue as they can, i wish they controlled a lot of other things as effectively!!

eLSerbera

361 posts

226 months

Thursday 10th July 2008
quotequote all
Scare mongering bd said:
I recently imported parts for a SBC, the guys at customs are pretty helpful and most of above seems correct. However something else to consider when buying a full engine from overseas, if something does go wrong and you have to return it, then it will be classed as a special shipment (having had oil and fuel in it)and will require specialist packing and handling to comply with new shipping rules which considerably increases the return shipping costs. Expect to initially stump up somethng around £1200-1500 just to get the motor back to your overseas builder. Yes you may get the costs reimbursed but this all takes considerable time too. If you choose to have it repaired in the UK and the original supplier send the parts FOC, the our dynamic government has decided that despite you already having paid import duty,vat etc on the full motor, they will still charge the recipient duty and taxes (on shipping as well as declared value) until the matter is resolved. There is no way around this 'pay out first and claim back later' system as your spares will not be released until you cough up.
To quote the customs office ' this system has recently been introduced to dampen all the recent importation, to try and get Britain to purchase at home and protect our economy'. So I asked the guy if he could point me in the direction of a SBC 308 degree, custom roller cam grinder in the UK? No standard reply available!!!
Oh, and just a five weeks ago the current import duty figure for engine spares had risen to a whopping 10-24% (depending on the part)-- another recent government change I was advised.
Him Speak with forked tongue!

Just a few that I checked today:
Car Gearbox - 4.5% duty + 17.5% VAT no change recently
Spark engine parts - 2.7% duty + 17.5% VAT again no change recently
Transmission shaft components - 4% duty + 17.5% VAT again no change recently

I ask what bloody parts were you importing and what commodity codes!?

craig7l

1,135 posts

295 months

Thursday 10th July 2008
quotequote all
http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/dds/cgi-bin/t...

search till you find a suitable code as theres thousands.

CanAm Dave

939 posts

253 months

Thursday 10th July 2008
quotequote all
My new transaxle was only 2.7% duty.

Regards Dave

Wilder

1,509 posts

238 months

Thursday 10th July 2008
quotequote all
738 driver said:
I recently imported parts for a SBC, the guys at customs are pretty helpful and most of above seems correct. However something else to consider when buying a full engine from overseas, if something does go wrong and you have to return it, then it will be classed as a special shipment (having had oil and fuel in it)and will require specialist packing and handling to comply with new shipping rules which considerably increases the return shipping costs. Expect to initially stump up somethng around £1200-1500 just to get the motor back to your overseas builder. Yes you may get the costs reimbursed but this all takes considerable time too. If you choose to have it repaired in the UK and the original supplier send the parts FOC, the our dynamic government has decided that despite you already having paid import duty,vat etc on the full motor, they will still charge the recipient duty and taxes (on shipping as well as declared value) until the matter is resolved. There is no way around this 'pay out first and claim back later' system as your spares will not be released until you cough up.
To quote the customs office ' this system has recently been introduced to dampen all the recent importation, to try and get Britain to purchase at home and protect our economy'. So I asked the guy if he could point me in the direction of a SBC 308 degree, custom roller cam grinder in the UK? No standard reply available!!! Oh, and just a five weeks ago the current import duty figure for engine spares had risen to a whopping 10-24% (depending on the part)-- another recent government change I was advised.
By sea this return to the USA should be no more than £500 and takes 10 -14 days. You also need to use a special commodity code which is a temporary export (repair and return) which means you will not be charged duty or vat when it is returned.

Wilder

1,509 posts

238 months

Thursday 10th July 2008
quotequote all
The max duty on ANY item in the world imported into the UK is 12.25% nothing can be more than that.
You will find that a lot depends on the item and its threat to the UK manufacturing, so clothing will be at the top of the scale where as as Dave said parts for his engine were a more reasonable 2.7%

738 driver

1,202 posts

222 months

Friday 11th July 2008
quotequote all
On an 1100 quid, bare Dart block (plus £212 US road/sea shipping) the initial import fees including Import Duty on the declared value, plus shipping charges, handling charges, deferment charges and then VAT on the whole lot came to £597 and a few pence!
I took the matter up with customs (on the same 0845 number above)and the figures were broken down in line the previously posted percentages.
The only way to reduce the charges was to convince custome these were 'engine spares on a vehicle already imported and declared'
You are correct, sea freight is much cheaper in both directions but, when bringing it into the UK, in the customs office own word's, 'theres a bit of a scam going on there'. As unfortunately, if you request shipping to port only (liverpool in my case) the shipper automatically hands over the goods to a handling agent. The UK handling agents are an uncontrolled industry and therefore charge whatever they wish. To add insult to injury they automatically pass your goods onto a storage facility who charge a minimum £25.00 per day whilst you resolve the customs issue. Its a bit of a no go-er for an individual but the rules are different for a business if you can import that way, (again words straight from the HMRC staff).
Very recent personal experience, no fork tongue, what would I achieve??????????
The quickest way to return a motor for warranty is via air freight but again, from the Uk there are numerous hurdles (specialist handling, security and packaging being much more than the whole cost of sea freight). See Actuary's post recently for futher confirmation.

Lousy labour government, trying to cover its poor performance with excess revenue on everything!!!

738 driver

1,202 posts

222 months

Friday 11th July 2008
quotequote all
Hey elSerbera hows your residual, it'll fit in well if you are a labour man.....or woman?.