Customs charges

[bonehead]

Not sure if people are aware of these recent charges for customs.

I had a small plastic part delivered in the week from the USA. Part was $20 and the seller marked it as $20 even tho I asked it to be asked as gift or $10.
Customs stopped it and tried to charge me £31.02. The parcel was marked as $71.05 including postage as it arrived with in 36 hours of paying so I guess they used speedy postage which thankfully they didn't charge me other than the cost of item.

Anyway I contacted customs and said that the charges were rediculous for something which only cost $10. They then said anything with a value over £15 now will incure full import worth postage on top.

As a good will gesture they dropped the charges as the parcel was priced incorrectly.

Looks like anything you now get from the USA has to be a value of less than £15 or you will be stung!!!
bonehead2017-05-13 08:46:10

 

[andrewsm]

wow, greedy s&*ts! Always was an issue but got worse now. I had trouble years ago with radios from USA. Cant remember the rate but I think 20% rings a bell. So even as a gift are they applying this?

 

[bonehead]

They didn't say but I wouldn't be surprised. Luckily my part was tiny so didn't look and value but I guess if you was buying say a control panel it would be hard to value at $10.

Makes it hard to buy spares for pinball machines now as most needed parts are in the USA.

 

[aeroflott]

From gov.uk: https://www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad/tax-and-dutyVAT

You pay VAT on goods sent from non-European Union (EU) countries and EU special territories (eg the Canary Islands) if they’re:

• 
  gifts worth more than £39
• other goods worth more than £15
• alcohol, tobacco products and fragrances (eg perfume, eau de toilette and cologne) of any value

Customs Duty

You’ll be charged Customs Duty on gifts and other goods sent from outside the EU if they’re above a certain value.

The value includes:

• the price paid for the goods
• postage, packaging and insurance

Type and value of goods	Customs Duty
Anything under £135	No charge
Gifts worth £135-£630	2.5%, but rates are lower for some goods - call the helpline
Gifts above £630 and other goods above £135	The rate depends on the type of goods and where they came from - call the helpline

 

[cosine]

It's been like that for a while now, commercial items are subject to VAT if they are over £15, gifts over £39, customs duty kicks in at £135, and varies depending on what you're importing and where it's coming from. Essentially, it's a license to print money.

EDIT: and aero beat me to it

cosine2017-05-13 09:50:03

 

[andrewsm]

You can put no value down on the items but then you wont get any insurance if it gets lost. A gamble

 

[Purity]

I have had this myself this week.

Got a parcel from the US marked as a gift and $40 (£38)

For some reason the seller sent it by speedy delivery and paid $90.95 so the total invoice value was $140.95

I recevied a bill for £22.66 for VAT, and a £12 admin fee, so at total fee of £34.66

When I queried this, they said that it is based on the total value of the item (value of item + postage + insurance), and also they pay VAT themselves on the transportation, so that's passed onto the recipitent.

Sucks!

Purity2017-05-13 11:00:31

 

[prof peach]

It's getting horrendously expensive to import things from the States now. Roll on a Free Trade Deal!

 

[Bensonrad]

So they charge import duty on the actual postage cost as well??

I had a CP delivered the other week, I asked the seller to mark as $15 gift, which he did (as item was $40), actual postage was a horrendous $85, but I didn't get charged anything extra on top, thankfully.

 

[bbz149]

f@ckers have always charge import on
the Postal cost!! That’s why I always get a friend in the US to forward it onto
me! f@ck c@ntstoms!!!!!

 

[Purity]

It's a bit confusing when you read about it online.

The link that Tony shared is what I looked at recently which says:

"You’ll be charged at the VAT rate that applies to your goods. VAT is charged on the total value, including:

the price paid for the goods
postage, packaging and insurance
any duty you owe

Customs Duty

You’ll be charged Customs Duty on gifts and other goods sent from outside the EU if they’re above a certain value.

The value includes:

the price paid for the goods
postage, packaging and insurance

So it looks like they add it altogether and then charge you on that, even if the value of the item (on its own) is below the threshold
Purity2017-05-13 11:18:05

 

[Bensonrad]

That's a bit of a blow, so there is no real way of getting anything from the states then without huge charges as the postage cost will always be on the post label.

 

[edget2000]

I managed to get a Buck Rogers upright off ebay years ago for $50 but because shipping it to the UK was $500 I still got stung over £100 in charges. I never understood how they could still do you for postage/delivery costs.edget20002017-05-13 11:45:31

 

[Nes4life]

I hit this with a cap kit of all things. Getting customs charged on postage cost is out of order in my opinion.
Until there's a free trade agreement I won't be buying from the US.

 

[GadgetFreak]

A free trade agreement will not change personal import charges, its only for business!
It use to be that USA stuff would get through and China stuff would get stopped but in recent years this has swapped around. I was buying micro boards from the USA that cost £15, duty was only £3 but the post office added another £8 for handling!

The other thing that has changed recently is that fleabay purchases of around $70 or below using the global shipping program didn't use to charge import fees, now it seems that any purchase using this option adds import fees.

 

[phillv85]

I've just accepted anything I buy these days will cost me money when it arrives on these shores. It's now a bonus if something gets through uncharged.

 

[bonehead]

Just get the seller to mark the parcel $15 or below. You take a chance it doesn't get lost in the post but better than paying customs in my opinion.

 

[ColinD]

I just had some pcb's worth under £15 from China and DHL nailed me.... They don't seem to care and said total invoice value was around £28... It clearly showed the value of the items and the shipping costs !!

Somehow I don't think I'll get the £16 I had to pay back !!

 

[MDK]

Pretty much anything that I've bought from Japan recently (last 12 months) have all been hit with customs charges and 1 item from Hong Kong actually opened as it was marked down low.

Unlike before I could have a 10kg plus box of stuff sent over with no issues

 

[bonehead]

I phoned ups and said I wasn't paying the customs as it was rediculous.
They said to send a copy of the purchase email which I got the seller to send me saying it was only a $15 purchase.
Customs then dropped all charges and the parcel was then delivered next day.

Don't just accept the charges!!!!!