Posting from Denmark to UK

[Simpo Two]

A tiny and irrelevant matter but I'm curious to know the truth.

I ordered a model boat kit supplied by a Danish company and some of the wood supplied was insufficient. I asked them to send me replacements - 15x 150mm strips of 0.7mm x 2mm and 15x 150mm strips of 0.7mm x 3mm. That's basically zero value, zero weight, and will fit in a DL envelope. They sent them untracked.

After a week it hadn't arrived and they blamed Brexit. After another week they say the postal service has been taken over by a new company from 1 January and they've had a lot of delays. Both may be true. However they then add: 'If using a a tracked service would give you a import customs fee of approx. 20-30 pounds I guess'.

Would import duty and customs fees on something which is really a 'gift' be £20-30?

[Sebring440]

I think I'd source these small amounts here in the UK.

[Simpo Two]

Could do, but it would probably cost £10 with postage, and if I wait for the manufacturer to replace them it's free... if they ever arrive - they now say another 1-2 weeks! Fetch me a pigeon...

But is a 'gift' of zero value charged tax and duty? 20% of £0 is £0!

[Ean218]

Strictly speaking they are correct.

The balsa is not a gift, it is part of the original commercial transaction and has a value, however small. Customs duty has a £135 threshold so would not come into it. However VAT starts at £15 of value. The value includes the cost of shipping, so if the tracked service costs £16 the package would be vatable. The VAT would be £3.20, but the carrier admin charge for collecting it could be in the £10-£25 area, depending on the carrier.

[Simpo Two]

Yep, they say 'UPS parcels must have a value cannot be zero even though it’s a “gift”. And they charge a custom handling fee to declare it as Zero.'

On the plus side... they arrived today