Customs charge on imported item help

[Mark M]

I bought someone from the states and I have recieved a card from Royal Mail to say that there is a customs charge of £12.25 to pay. I dont mind paying the customs charge at all but the item is only worth $30 and I thought all you had to pay was the VAT? 30/1.5(ish) = £20 therefore Vat = £3?

RM are shut now until Monday so cant get through to ask them.

 

[tom_e]

you pay VAT, import duty and there own charge of £8 or something stupid for them being nice enough to do their job

 

[6thElement]

I bought someone

 

[Rroff]

I bought a couple of t-shirts from the states and they wanted something like £9 for £30 worth of t-shirts rip off.

 

[Mark M]

oops lol

 

[Mark M]

you pay VAT, import duty and there own charge of £8 or something stupid for them being nice enough to do their job

What a jip! Thanks for the help though.

 

[Mr-White]

i thought the laws had changed a little for the better with regards to importing items ?

MW

 

[turtle1000]

You were unlucky to be picked up on something with such a low value, but that handling charge is annoying

 

[stoofa]

You should not have been charged import tax as your items were less that £105 which is the new limit that came into effect on 01-12-08
A link confirming this limit can be found here:

http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channels...cument&columns=1&id=HMCE_PROD_008654#P36_6903

This above link also explains how you go about claming back tax if you have paid too much.

By all means speak to RM and explain.
However if you are in a hurry for these items the quickest option would be to pay now and then claim the tax back.

You should however to pay VAT on your items.
As you've only been charged £12.25 I'd guess that is the VAT and the RM handling charge, in which case you've not actually been charged Import Duty.

To a post above - it's not a rip off, its simply a way to give UK businesses an advantage and the same thing happens in most countries.
If there was no import duty on items outside of the EU then everything would be bought from abroad and UK businesses would crash and burn.
You need to look outside at the big picture and not just at the annoyance of having to pay duty on the £150 worth of goods you might buy in from the US.

 

[Rroff]

Yah but something inline with the costs would be more appropriate...

What I bought wasn't available in the UK and I paid ~1/3rd the item value.

 

[lord filbuster]

Blame royal mail. If it's a low value item, most of the cost is their handling fee.

 

[Lopéz]

Regardless of value, you will still pay VAT and a handling charge. The handling charge is because the item has been cleared for you by RM on their deferment account.