Buying from out side of the EU

[dan smith]

I have just got stung by royal mail and HMRC buying some bike bits from the US.

I have had lots of things posted to me in the past marked as gift and never had to pay any form of charge.

It seem like customs have tighten up their control of goods coming into the UK and are making sure anything with a value over £40 has VAT added to it, when this occurs our friends at RM also kindly add a £8 handling charge. :cry:

Has anyone else notices this become more prevalent recently or have I just been very lucky in the past?

I assume the only way around this is to state the value of the goods below £40 but this may leave the sender out of pocket insurance wise if anything goes wrong?

 

[Pyro Tim]

The computerised thing is bollox, sorry. It's been computerised for more than 10 years. The reason is that we are bumping along at the bottom, the government need every penny, so they can pay themselves handsomely (don't forget the expenses!), and cut everything else. For this reason they cannot get more tax from us, so they are going after every import. The gift thing is dodgy as hell, and not legal, and won't be accepted if it's from a company. Insurance doesn't need to be organised by the carrier

 

[dan smith]

To be honest i dont mind paying the VAT too much, thou i makes me wonder why VAT is not charged on all private sales? Is it just because it is unenforceable at the moment!?

Its more the £8 RM charge that is really annoying. :twisted:

 

[Pyro Tim]

I've got my diploma in customs procedures. I've been in logistics for 11 years. Trust me, it used to be a random selection for private importers, now they are screwing everyone.

The £8 is to pay for the person that has to deal with customs time. It's legitimate, and frankly, very cheap. I've charged some people £125 for the experience

 

[dan smith]

I've charged some people £125 for the experience

Ouch! was that to receive a £10 item j/k

 

[Pyro Tim]

No, but then you don't pay any taxes on a £10 item

It used to be my standard charge, and I even charged my old man that figure, when I re-imported his yacht

 

[lewisfoto]

Just so you know, as an ebay seller in the US, the problems, taxes, higher costs are killing me too. I have always attempted to get the lowest cost for my international buyers but USPS just doubled the price and Ebay is reluctant to provide seller protections if you do not print a shipping label directly through Paypal. This means the actual auction price is on the customs form and it is marked as merchandise. Seems like the Wild West days of the internet are in the past

 

[swannymere]

Customs used to start adding taxes at around £18, it may have changed recently. It is really hit and miss as to wether you get charged or not, but i'm the same as you in that i get pissed off by the £8 payment to PF for essentially handling your goods.

 

[Pyro Tim]

It's not for handling your goods, it's for completing additional tasks for customs. Basically data entry, but still an additional task.

Full HMRC rules are here

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

 

[matthew71]

, when I re-imported his yacht

would have loved to see how many stamps you put on that