buying from abroad.

bigmike20vt

bigmike20vt

bigmike20vt

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Joined
23 May 2006
Posts
9,080
Hi.
sorry if this is an obvious question . I did Google but got mixed results.
if I buy something from china for under £50 do I have to pay import tax etc ? I always thought under £130 or so it was tax free but AliExpress states tax may be added.
 
you don't have to pay import tax under £135
you have to pay VAT (Ali already accounts for VAT in their prices - whether this actually goes to HMG is another matter, but not your problem :cry: )
 
SuperElectric said:
Aliexpress is great, just spent nearly £400, no import duty or VAT! It's like magic...
Click to expand...

I bought something for 400 from USA and I did get hit with tax.
The tax was lower than expected. Then I saw the declared value. If it was full value the tax would have been obscene.
 
tamzzy said:
you don't have to pay import tax under £135
you have to pay VAT (Ali already accounts for VAT in their prices - whether this actually goes to HMG is another matter, but not your problem :cry: )
Click to expand...
ok to hell with it... i have just ordered an R36 Ultra games console with 256gb storage...... silly purchase and i really dont need it but was only £31, so hopefully no hidden fees.

i need to find something for the wife / my lad to get me for xmas / birthday if not i will get even more socks! :D
 
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The new Chancellor us going to scrap the small parcel tax free malarkey because of Chinese fast fashion etc. Modern slavery, climate change, profit.
 
I just bought a s/h lens from a chap in Canada. I was shocked to find out even s/h items now attract VAT if they are valued over £39. I have no idea how they justify taxing s/h goods, that's just obscene greed.
 
If you travel abroad, buy something and stuff it in your suitcase for the flight back, do you have to pay charges?
 
bigmike20vt said:
ok to hell with it... i have just ordered an R36 Ultra games console with 256gb storage...... silly purchase and i really dont need it but was only £31, so hopefully no hidden fees.

i need to find something for the wife / my lad to get me for xmas / birthday if not i will get even more socks! :D
Click to expand...
Just so you realise, that R36 is probably a clone and not a real one :p
 
ci_newman said:
Just so you realise, that R36 is probably a clone and not a real one :p
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really? i am not upto speed with these little handhelds from abroad. i didnt realise they were cloned, barely seems worth it for such cheap items i assumed that was limited to branded stuff that was more expensive. ultimately is the hardware the same (chipset etc) or is it likely to run like crap?
 
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tom_e said:
Legally yes.
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Will they actually find it though ? i have travelled through airport security lots of times with equipment thats cost a bit and they havnt stopped me ? Albiet it wasnt new equipment, but it still had a highish price tag on it, how would they know you have purchased it from said country and not just brought it over with you from your originating country to use?



When ever i have gone over i think the secuirty people were more worried about cables/ bag of cage nuts i was carrying over to do some work over anything else (firewalls etc), thats been the majority of time thats wanted them to ask me to open my case.

They dont even bother checking bags with laptops in, apart from pushing it through the xray machine.
 
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GravyMonster said:
That depends on how closely the guy is paying attention to the scanner.
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:p

Given that heathrow (busier airport) and some medium sized airports and even smaller airports generally have a mixture of letting me through with no bag checking , or just checking what the cables are, i think i could easily go through with 2 laptops instead of my one

If they ask why you have two laptops, just say you need two for work, one as a main laptop and one for building network equipment

they dont seem to question IT related work.


If you had a laptop in its retail box, then they may check abit further
 
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Travelling on business you have sufficient ID to prove legitimacy of expensive hardware equipment you are carrying,
otherwise with a good bit of AI on the scanner, they could do a hardware inventory counting you on your way out to compare with the return.

no loophole to avoid vat on Aliexpress ... those halcyon days pre-brexit

bigmike20vt said:
birthday if not i will get even more socks!
Click to expand...
nothing wrong with a nice wardrobe of ulvang socks to keep the feet warm toasty around the house/bed, had some factory 2nds still going,
or wool sock for winter outdoors ..... they have ruined toblerones.
 
jpaul said:
no loophole to avoid vat on Aliexpress ... those halcyon days pre-brexit
Click to expand...

it depends, if you buy an item that costs more than £135 exc VAT, Ali does not automatically collect the VAT, so it either gets processed at customs and you get stung with the VAT + additional charge...or you don't
depending on what kind of item it is...the vast majority of the times, you won't pay the VAT at customs
and if you are unlucky, the item value is usually under-declared so you'd end up paying less anyway

DJMK4 said:
If you had a laptop in its retail box, then they may check abit further
Click to expand...
i brought back a boxed 1080ti from USA back in the day
no questions asked, no VAT to pay :cry:
£570 all in...brilliant buy lol
 
gamble on >£135 then ? Had had some criterion blu-rays from USA a few years back subjected to the onerous UPS processing charge that all-told added 50% on ticket price.


Aliexpress purchases : my account seems corrupted with this common problem, their web-site in any browser is only showing me welcome deals,
but when you checkout purchase fails because it realises you are not a first time purchaser
(search aliexpress showing welcome deals why reddit )
 
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