There's a supplementy thing as well inbetween duty and VAT to account for transport costs from port of entry to the door of the importer (used to be around £7ish a few years ago) that has VAT charged on as well (adds on about a squid of cost).
Got stung by customs. Charges seem high.
- Thread starter bliss
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Soldato
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- 4 May 2004
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AFAIK it's only childrens clothes that are VAT free.
It's not applicable to children's clothing but is to adults.
OP: from that breakdown I wouldn't complain too much as I don't think they've charged you enough! The handling fee is the cost of clearing the goods through customs and paying the import fees themselves.
Associate
Gifts vs purchases
Things that are sent as gifts internationally will not usually incur duty or VAT. So when you receiove packages from friends marked as a gift you should not get stung.
Before everyone asks the shippers of commercial goods to mark everything as a gift to avoid the costs - this is fraud, and frowned upon by HMRC and criminal prosecutions can (and do) follow.
So that answers that.
Things that are sent as gifts internationally will not usually incur duty or VAT. So when you receiove packages from friends marked as a gift you should not get stung.
Before everyone asks the shippers of commercial goods to mark everything as a gift to avoid the costs - this is fraud, and frowned upon by HMRC and criminal prosecutions can (and do) follow.
So that answers that.
£12 charges on items + shipping of £30 isn't enough? It does look like i missed import duty possibly but it's still a high charge for what it is. The handling fee sounds like a bunch of BS tbh and an easy way to make money.
Why don't customs hit everybody and then lower the charges? It's like specific people are made an example of.
Associate
Exactly
Stops us buggering up the economy by buying everything outside the EU for cheaper.
It's been like this for a long long time.
It is protectionism and is looking after our economy.
Buy here if you don't like import duty
Stops us buggering up the economy by buying everything outside the EU for cheaper.
It's been like this for a long long time.
£12 charges on items + shipping of £30 isn't enough? It does look like i missed import duty possibly but it's still a high charge for what it is. The handling fee sounds like a bunch of BS tbh and an easy way to make money.
Why don't customs hit everybody and then lower the charges? It's like specific people are made an example of.
Nope it's not high enough, because you've missed out on 12% duty for some reason.
You have to understand something as well. HMRC don't actually do these. The courier does (which is why there's a handling fee). So if you wish to complain about not everyone getting hit (which I agree with), you should direct your anger towards whoever brought the goods into the country for you.
It's like PAYE and HMRC. HMRC don't run it, payroll departments do.
If the gift is worth more than £40 it will incur import VAT. Over £135 and you get customs duty. Depends how much you put down as the value of the package though I guess! Problem comes if you valued it at a fiver to get it through customs and it gets lost. Not much chance of claiming the full value back.
As Belmit mentioned - you're best trying to keep the value of goods to below £18 so ordering each T-shirt seperately should have avoided fees.
Was stung for a lens i bought from the US a few years back but as the cost was in the hundreds i expected the charges!
gt
Was stung for a lens i bought from the US a few years back but as the cost was in the hundreds i expected the charges!
gt
Soldato
Things that are sent as gifts internationally will not usually incur duty or VAT. So when you receiove packages from friends marked as a gift you should not get stung.
Before everyone asks the shippers of commercial goods to mark everything as a gift to avoid the costs - this is fraud, and frowned upon by HMRC and criminal prosecutions can (and do) follow.
So that answers that.
Except that marking as gift only raises the limit from £18 to £36 ...
unlucky ! ive ordered from them 10+ times and only ever been charged once !
Royal Mail International Handling Fee £8.00
Wth is the handling fee about? Is it a just because we can charge?
its because RM sorted out all the paper work then went to the docks to collect your parcel then couriered it across the uk to you door
steep price when you buy something small. cheap price when its something huge
Soldato
i had something sent as a gift but i still got charged custom and vat
Man of Honour
The admin fee is Royal Mail charging you for the luxury of express clearance done on their deferment account. Without this clearance can be a lengthy and complex business.
Be thankful you don't live in a country like Turkey, where you have to appoint a broker to undertake formal clearance for you. Now THAT is a licence to print money. We have it easy in the UK compared to a lot of countries.
Be thankful you don't live in a country like Turkey, where you have to appoint a broker to undertake formal clearance for you. Now THAT is a licence to print money. We have it easy in the UK compared to a lot of countries.
Associate
Ok then
That's correct you don't pay duty or VAT on gifts worth £36 and under. Above £36 and up to £119 in value then you pay inport VAT on the value of the gift but no duty.
Customs duty becomes payable (in addiiton to the VAt if any) if the value of the goods is over £120 but duty is waived if the amount of duty calculated is less than £7
That's correct you don't pay duty or VAT on gifts worth £36 and under. Above £36 and up to £119 in value then you pay inport VAT on the value of the gift but no duty.
Customs duty becomes payable (in addiiton to the VAt if any) if the value of the goods is over £120 but duty is waived if the amount of duty calculated is less than £7
Caporegime