Customs Charges on Camera Gear?

[Andy M]

I bought an old MF camera system from The US on eBay and have been trying to track it down today. For the last couple of days it had vanished off the face of the earth - having left The US, but not having arrived in The UK.

It now appears it's due to customs (groan!). It looks like I'm going to be hit with customs charges...bugger!!

---

Parcel number: xxxxxxxx
Status: Held

Parcel tracks

Date Time Location Tracking Event

04-06-2007 22:02 International Hub AWAITING CUSTOMS CHARGES
04-06-2007 21:34 International Hub Arrived in destination country
02-06-2007 08:50 Delivery Agent - NEW YORK -PTT Left origin country
01-06-2007 14:10 Delivery Agent - UNITED STATES AMERICA Collected from customer

---

The gear is worth approx £1,250 - does anybody know the likely customs charge?

Or even better, is there any chance creaky old film gear may not be liable to customs? (didn't think so...)

[nerfherder]

From HMRC, the duty rates are:

Film Camera - 35mm SLR = 4.9%
Camera lenses = 6.7%

Both attract VAT at standard rate (17.5%).

Edited by nerfherder on Tuesday 5th June 00:05

[mybrainhurts]

Find the goods category on the Customs website.

That gives you the duty rate.

Add duty, then add VAT to the total.

I think they will 'decide' the value of the goods, and this might not be the figure you have in mind,

[Andy M]

So, 1250 x 104.9 = £1311.25

£1311.25 x 117.5 = £1540?

£1540 - £1250 = £290 import tax?

[nerfherder]

Andy M said:

So, 1250 x 104.9 = £1311.25

Sort of.

Duty = £1250 * 0.049 = £61.25

Andy M said:

£1311.25 x 117.5 = £1540?

No, you don't pay VAT on the duty (but you do pay it on the postage).

VAT = £1250 * 0.175 = £218.75

Total = £61.25 + £218.75 = £280.

Edited by nerfherder on Tuesday 5th June 00:12

[mybrainhurts]

nerfherder said:

No, you don't pay VAT on the duty

You sure...?

You pay VAT on fuel duty....

[nerfherder]

mybrainhurts said:

nerfherder said:

No, you don't pay VAT on the duty

You sure...?

You pay VAT on fuel duty....

Hmm, no, I'm not, and it's late... I'm sure the HMRC site gives the definitive answer somewhere, but it's £280 if you don't and £290 if you do.

Edited by nerfherder on Tuesday 5th June 00:50

[mybrainhurts]

I'm sure Gordon wouldn't let that slip out of his grubby, grabbing fist....

[nerfherder]

mybrainhurts said:

I'm sure Gordon wouldn't let that slip out of his grubby, grabbing fist....

And you're right.

http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/ch...

HMRC said:

24.2 What items must I add to the value for duty to arrive at the value for VAT?
You must add all of the following unless they are already included:

• ) all incidental expenses such as commission, packing, transport and insurance costs incurred up to the goods’ first destination in the UK;
• ) all such incidental expenses where they result from transport to a further place of destination in the EC if that place is known at the time of importation;
• ) any customs duty or levy payable on importation into the UK; plus
• ) any excise duty or other charges payable on importation into the UK (except the VAT itself).

[Andy M]

£300

What a fakcin liberteeeee....

[nerfherder]

Andy M said:

£300

What a fakcin liberteeeee....

Yeah - I can't really see the justification for import duty, other than the fact that every country's government has been doing it for centuries.

I once imported two subwoofers from the US that came to about £1200 in total, and the shipping company calculated the duty and VAT for one and forgot to multiply it by two

[Andy M]

Arrgghh!

Buggers are still waiting to assess the value, and decide what charge to inflict.

Once they've done this, I then need to wait a further 2+ days for a letter with a magical code which can be used to pay the generous tax, then wait another day or two for delivery.

<bleep!>

I might just tell them to send it back and buy a UK camera...

[spitfire-ian]

Thinking of import duty, I once bought a car part from an American company for about half price of the part over here. Turned out the part was made in this country so it was just sent straight to my door from the factory

[Graebob]

Import duty is a joke. I work with parcels and everyone who is honest gets stung. You would not beleive the amount of $10 "Gifts" that I deliver, which weigh around 10-15kg and are wrapped in a tightly sealed box

[Andy M]

Am so pi55ed off by this now.

Ruddy customs still can't make up their minds what to charge me, and are holding onto the camera. Then, once they've finally decided I then have to wait for Parcel Farce to send me a letter - a task which will take 2+ days.

Anybody have any ideas on how long customs are likely to take? They're totally uncontactable, and Parcel Farce are, as expected, zero help!

[Graebob]

Andy M said:

Am so pi55ed off by this now.

Ruddy customs still can't make up their minds what to charge me, and are holding onto the camera. Then, once they've finally decided I then have to wait for Parcel Farce to send me a letter - a task which will take 2+ days.

Anybody have any ideas on how long customs are likely to take? They're totally uncontactable, and Parcel Farce are, as expected, zero help!

Parcel "Farce" are who I work for

Seriously though, customs are our biggest headache. The procedure is, once the parcel is cleared at customs, Parcel Force pays the duty for you, and then customs release the parcel to us. We then ship it to your nearest depot, and a letter is sent at the same time to you detailing the charge and a unique identifier for us to process your payment. Once you pay the charges back to us, we then put the parcel out for you. You can imagine (and are probably feeling) how popular this system is with customers, but it's the most efficient way really.

You can help by keeping on to the customs people, and as soon as the parcel is cleared, you should be able to get a 13 digit reference number starting with 8300. Ask for this number specifically, if you can, as it's the payment reference. Ring your local depot (if you leave a message here with the town which you live in or the first half of your postcode, I'll be able to find the phone number tomorrow for you) and pay the customs charge then (speak to a normal person, don't do it through the computer operated thing), before you receive your letter. At this point ask for your Parcel Force tracking number (sometimes called a UPI). Then, as soon as the parcel arrives in the depot, it will be put on a pick list and delivered the following day. We can't leave parcels in a safe place any more, so if you're going to be out leave a note on the door for the driver (me ) or when you pay the customs charge, arrange to have it delivered to where you work.

Edited by Graebob on Wednesday 6th June 21:11

[Olivero]

Graebob said:

Andy M said:

Am so pi55ed off by this now.

Ruddy customs still can't make up their minds what to charge me, and are holding onto the camera. Then, once they've finally decided I then have to wait for Parcel Farce to send me a letter - a task which will take 2+ days.

Anybody have any ideas on how long customs are likely to take? They're totally uncontactable, and Parcel Farce are, as expected, zero help!

Parcel "Farce" are who I work for

Seriously though, customs are our biggest headache. The procedure is, once the parcel is cleared at customs, Parcel Force pays the duty for you, and then customs release the parcel to us. We then ship it to your nearest depot, and a letter is sent at the same time to you detailing the charge and a unique identifier for us to process your payment. Once you pay the charges back to us, we then put the parcel out for you. You can imagine (and are probably feeling) how popular this system is with customers, but it's the most efficient way really.

You can help by keeping on to the customs people, and as soon as the parcel is cleared, you should be able to get a 13 digit reference number starting with 8300. Ask for this number specifically, if you can, as it's the payment reference. Ring your local depot (if you leave a message here with the town which you live in or the first half of your postcode, I'll be able to find the phone number tomorrow for you) and pay the customs charge then (speak to a normal person, don't do it through the computer operated thing), before you receive your letter. At this point ask for your Parcel Force tracking number (sometimes called a UPI). Then, as soon as the parcel arrives in the depot, it will be put on a pick list and delivered the following day. We can't leave parcels in a safe place any more, so if you're going to be out leave a note on the door for the driver (me ) or when you pay the customs charge, arrange to have it delivered to where you work.

Edited by Graebob on Wednesday 6th June 21:11

Wow, you sound like a good chap. I have sworn that I would never use PF again after one too many screwups. It is good to hear the other side of things. You really should be in an advert.

[Andy M]

Thanks for the offer of help Graebob

An update:

I asked a mate of mine who knows pretty much every single person in The UK to find somebody who works in Parcel Force for me, and he had a name and number for me within half an hour - a very nice lady who works in head office. Within an hour of my call the camera was out of customs and making its way to my local depot office where I'll be able to collect it from tomorrow.

Cost, inc of PF's charges: £265 (ouch!)

And yet more 'bad luck' fell upon me when it comes to Customs, my bloody spot meter has been nabbed by them too so I'm awaiting the damage with that too.

I've had a handful of bad bad experiences with Parcel Force (including a £1,500 mountain bike gone missing), but the lady in head office was extremely helpful and conscientious.

[Andy M]

Parcel Force have lost my camera

The woman at head office is being very helpful, but is having no luck in tracking it. What a bloody farce!

[V8LM]

I think PF charge a fee for them clearing an item through customs for you. Not that you asked them to or anything.