Buying from the US ? Import tax question

scooter · Nov 20, 2011

Hi , I would like to buy a set of the Race face turbine chainrings and they are for sale from xtreme bikes & sports on e-bay at £-68.40 plus £4.43 postage.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RaceFace-Turb ... 2569787f48

This works out around £30.00 cheaper from any UK dealers that ive found,
so my question is- if i buy from the US will i get stung with an import duty tax when they arrive?
I have heard of some instances where peole have had to pay tax and is sometimes just as much as the item itself ?

Has anyone ever had this happen to them or can anyone give me a definate answer? I just want to save a few quid at the touch of a button, but it just seems to good to be true?

Thanks scott.

firedfromthecircus · Nov 20, 2011

Yes, you should be charged tax if it is over the allowance, which I think the govt just brought down to £15.

More info here.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/customs/post/index.htm

the great roberto · Nov 20, 2011

Tax

On top of what HMRC take, there is the courier or PO's "tax" usually £8.

And if the seller declares the value inc. the postage cost, HMRC include that in their "valuation"

I recently bought a nice new pair of waterproof spd boots for the winter.

£20 +£30 postage. (still less than the UK price of £110).I would have been happy to pay HMRC tax on the £20.But the idiots in the US put down the value as £50 ( or whatever it was in $). Then there was the £8 for the post office. Still a good deal, just not quite what I was hoping for.

scooter · Nov 20, 2011

Ok thanks,
I just done a bit of research and it seems the only way to avoid it is for the seller to label the item as a gift with no reciept in the package. Seems a bit risky if it gets lost etc but id be up for it if the seller was?
Somehow i dont think the seller would be willing to do this and risk his business just to save me a few quid.

If i knew someone in the US then i could get it posted to them and they could send to me packaged as gift etc, But i dont know anyone so thats that i guess

Thanks guys.

Whatleymeister · Nov 20, 2011

Put up a thread for a US retrobiker to help you like you have said. I see threads like that all the time on here and as a pretty stand up bunch, someone always steps up to help

Buying from the US ? Import tax question

scooter

Retro Guru

firedfromthecircus

the great roberto

Senior Retro Guru

scooter

Retro Guru

Whatleymeister

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