Buying goods from the US- -----import tax.?

[qooqiiu]

Last week i bought some earphones from a US company that sells via Amazon.

The price was £219

Shipping and handling was £41.

They were delivered buy FEDEX....i received a call two days after delivery from FEDEX saying that i owe them £46 in tax! WTF!

I had no idea that i was liable for any further payment. I'm very pissed off about this, i intend to send them back.

My question is, if i send them back will i still have to pay the TAX FEDEX that they say saying i owe?

Hope someone can help me with this one.

Thanks..

[belleair302]

You will have to pay a local sales tax of somewhere close to 7% locally in the USa and then a second tax here in the UK of 17.5%. If buying online get the seller to write on the box and Fex Ex box the internal package is a GIFT....and has no value. Thus no tax.

Am sorry to say the selles know nothing about international business tax.

[Mr_B]

When i bought some stuff from the US, it was 10% import duty, 17% vat and a fee from Parcelforce of around £15 for collecting the tax !And they don't let you have the parcel until you pay up.
I can't see you getiing your money vback.

[Deva Link]

qooqiiu said:

Last week i bought some earphones from a US company that sells via Amazon.

The price was £219

Shipping and handling was £41.

They were delivered buy FEDEX....i received a call two days after delivery from FEDEX saying that i owe them £46 in tax! WTF!

I had no idea that i was liable for any further payment. I'm very pissed off about this, i intend to send them back.

My question is, if i send them back will i still have to pay the TAX FEDEX that they say saying i owe?

Hope someone can help me with this one.

Thanks..

Sorry, but more fool you thinking you could evade VAT! Fedex are doing you a favour by paying the tax an your behalf - they could hold on to the goods and not deliver them until you paid.

Regarding sending them back - there must be a way of recovering the tax but that's probably outside of Fedex's remit, and, some of the charge may have been admin, which they would presumeably also levy again if asked to process a refund.

I would just chalk this down to experience.

belleair302 said:

You will have to pay a local sales tax of somewhere close to 7% locally in the USa and then a second tax here in the UK of 17.5%.

There's normally no sales tax if shipped out of the suppliers state, never mind country. In this case £46 just seems like VAT on the total. Or it could be VAT on the goods plus maybe a £10 admin charge.

belleair302 said:

If buying online get the seller to write on the box and Fex Ex box the internal package is a GIFT....and has no value. Thus no tax.

It would be madness for them to do that - they'd end up in jail. No supplier of any standing will do that. There's also the possibility that Customs will ignore it and just assess a value, which could be quite a lot higher. Happened to me when a supplier sent 2 promotional T-Shirts with $0 value and then I got a bill off Fedex.

Edited by Deva Link on Sunday 18th May 20:09

[LuS1fer]

The import duty depends on the type of goods. A car is 10% but car parts are 3.5%. If it's a low value item, they don't bother as it's not worth it but the delivering company pays the 17.5% VAT on your behalf and pays a customs fee of £10-£15 for clearing it through Customs on your behalf. They then reclaim this from you either on delivery or by notifying you to pay the fee by credit card in advance and it's then delivered. Sometimes, they do nothing and you have to guess and track it down yourself.

[nickyboy]

A gift does not make it tax free, gift allowance is £34 compared to a commercial allowance of £18. The rate you pay is the duty rate (3.5% ish normally) then you pay Vat on the combined value and shipping rate so even if you pay £30 for the goods and £300 for shipping you still pay vat on £330. This was brought in a year or so ago for that exact reason so you can have the shipping cost as price of the goods.

Fed-Ex deliver it to you without the charges to meet their delivery commitments, DHL and UPS do the same although UPS collect on delivery. Now you have recieved it you have to pay it i'm afraid you cant just send it back. It is up to you as the importer to make yourself aware of any extra costs on entry to the UK. It will say that int he small print of where you bought it from.

[qooqiiu]

Deva Link said:

Sorry, but more fool you thinking you could evade VAT! Fedex are doing you a favour by paying the tax an your behalf - they could hold on to the goods and not deliver them until you paid.

Regarding sending them back - there must be a way of recovering the tax but that's probably outside of Fedex's remit, and, some of the charge may have been admin, which they would presumeably also levy again if asked to process a refund.

I would just chalk this down to experience.

I guess thats what il have to do.
Thanks for your reply, i appreciate it very much.

[eliot]

qooqiiu said:

Last week i bought some earphones ...
The price was £219
Thanks..

Well if your'e the sort of person to spend £219 on earphones, you can afford to pay the tax.

You live and learn, sometimes you will get away with it, sometimes not. But basicly as others have said good$+shipping+duty+vat+handling. Swap the $ for £ and you wont be far out.

[logie]

Because the goverment is skint they have cracked down on this big time. Before, they check 1 in 6 parcals and from what i hear, now its 1 in 2 they check.

Because people are getting great deals from USA & China, goverment want there peice it seems.

[GreigM]

You wont get a refund for sending it back - they are seen as distinct transactions and as far as the govt is concerned the item was imported so the tax/duty is due.

[Fatboy]

One thing to check is that Fedex have declared the pice in sterling correctly - I know of a couple of people where fedex accidentally declared the price in dollars (say $40) as the price in sterling (i.e. tax on £40 rather than £25), thus charging the wrong amount of tax, so well worth double checking.

[S3K04]

Sorry to bump up this old thread,

I am due to receive a gift from a family member in America. How will customs know the value of the item and whether it is more than the £34 gift allowance? Is every package opened?

Thanks

[anonymous-user]

S3K04 said:

Sorry to bump up this old thread,

I am due to receive a gift from a family member in America. How will customs know the value of the item and whether it is more than the £34 gift allowance? Is every package opened?

Thanks

I think the sender writes it on the package (the value).

[Stu R]

S3K04 said:

Sorry to bump up this old thread,

I am due to receive a gift from a family member in America. How will customs know the value of the item and whether it is more than the £34 gift allowance? Is every package opened?

Thanks

It goes on the shipping documents. Be sure to mark it as gift just in case, but on low value items you're fine anyway.

[FaineantFreddy]

As above, they will have to fill out a small sticker which goes on the outside of the package stating whether it's a gift, commercial goods or whatever and stating the value.

Usually small items sent in plain packaging, which look like they've come from an individual won't be inspected but don't rule it out.

Use USPS or regular mail when shipping from the US if possible and the goods are not high value as it's more likely to be taken on face value (i.e. what's on the customs sticker).

HTH

[S3K04]

It is a laptop, which is duty-free as far as I know but VAT chargeable

So its just luck if your item is opened / inspected...

Edited by S3K04 on Monday 13th June 12:39

[S3K04]

It is a laptop, which is duty-free as far as I know but VAT chargeable

So its just luck if your item is opened / inspected...

Edited by S3K04 on Monday 13th June 13:53

[Stu R]

S3K04 said:

It is a laptop, which is duty-free as far as I know but VAT chargeable

So its just luck if your item is opened / inspected...

Edited by S3K04 on Monday 13th June 12:39

Laptops are indeed zero rated for duty. You will, however get stung for VAT at 20%, plus a fee from whichever courier you use for clearance and handling. Don't use USPS for that sort of thing.

[300bhp/ton]

belleair302 said:

You will have to pay a local sales tax of somewhere close to 7% locally in the USa and then a second tax here in the UK of 17.5%. If buying online get the seller to write on the box and Fex Ex box the internal package is a GIFT....and has no value. Thus no tax.

Am sorry to say the selles know nothing about international business tax.

Yeah but that's not strictly legal.....

[300bhp/ton]

qooqiiu said:

Last week i bought some earphones from a US company that sells via Amazon.

The price was £219

Shipping and handling was £41.

They were delivered buy FEDEX....i received a call two days after delivery from FEDEX saying that i owe them £46 in tax! WTF!

I had no idea that i was liable for any further payment. I'm very pissed off about this, i intend to send them back.

My question is, if i send them back will i still have to pay the TAX FEDEX that they say saying i owe?

Hope someone can help me with this one.

Thanks..

I'd write to Fedex and say that should their have been an additional charge they should have collected it at the time of delivery and it's their fault.