Sending Items to EU - Declaring amount

Jay85

Jay85

Jay85

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Quick Q, im selling something (non electronic) to someone in France, sending it via DPD.

The buyer has asked me to put an invoice on the box to declare it as a smaller amount than the cost of the item so he doesn't have to pay as much tax and duty on it. My question is, do i need to do this or can i do it all through DPD when i checkout online? Will declaring a smaller amount affect anything aside from insurance cover if it gets lost?

I can totally understand why he would want this as i would too given the chance.

Just want to know all the facts before i commit and im aware of any niggles that might occur.

Thanks
 
i dont know this for sure but when I bought camera from grey market, they declared it as gift and a value of £0.01 to mitigate import duty. however if i was ever asked to pay the import duty, they would pick up the bill anyway. naughty me...

however the parcel services they used had the full insurance for the package ie ££££.

i think what you should do is to fill out the export declaration form as gift so buyer isnt exposed to duty (I think that is what he/she wants). but your carriage cost should declare the sale amount.

it is no different to sending an item to relative to France, if it is an expensive watch, you declare full value for postage but declare it as gift of 0 value for duty.

again, i don't know if this is legit way of doing things.
 
I don't know how much trouble you could get into.
It would be tax evasion would it not?

This always happens with stuff from China. But they don't care. Over here. I'd be careful.
 
Happens all the time. Sometimes it gets though (usually, they don't check every single parcel), sometimes not. Almost everything you buy from China is undervalued lol

You'll probably get away with it for 1 item. If you have 100 going through they might get suspicious.
 
I'd check the commodity code to see if there's any duty to be paid, depends on the type of item. You'll need this code anyway for filling in the export paperwork for DPD. They're still not enforcing VAT on items under £135 as they don't have the capacity to handle it, I think they're planning to phase that in this summer. Fill out as much of the paperwork as you can honestly, include commodity codes, item descriptions, what you're declaring the sale value as, everything.
 
I'd think you'd find it hard to value the item at £1 for tax purposes and £100 for insurance purposes :D
 
I have a few queries too, to save from starting a new thread. I checked with Royal Mail and they're keeping a lid on some of the answers...

I got a German penfriend / family and we exchange gifts 3 times a year. The value of the items inside is usually around £25. Sometimes, the items are homemade and so they hold sentimental value rather than materialistic value. Shipping is around £15.

For tax-free, is the maximum amount I'm allowed to receive is £39? Does that factor in the shipping as well? So if shipping is £15, I can receive £24 worth of items?

How much worth can I send to Germany, and again, is shipping factored in?

The only thing the Royal Mail site did make clear is that I have to fill in a CN22 or CN23 form, available from the Post Office. Is there much to that? I guess it attaches onto the outside of the box? As there would no point in arriving at the Post Office, putting the completed form inside the box, and then sealing it all up with a tape gun, for the whole town to hear :D

The OP mentioned DPD. Would the above process be different if using DPD or another courier?
 
Pawnless Endgame said:
I have a few queries too, to save from starting a new thread. I checked with Royal Mail and they're keeping a lid on some of the answers...

I got a German penfriend / family and we exchange gifts 3 times a year. The value of the items inside is usually around £25. Sometimes, the items are homemade and so they hold sentimental value rather than materialistic value. Shipping is around £15.

For tax-free, is the maximum amount I'm allowed to receive is £39? Does that factor in the shipping as well? So if shipping is £15, I can receive £24 worth of items?

How much worth can I send to Germany, and again, is shipping factored in?

The only thing the Royal Mail site did make clear is that I have to fill in a CN22 or CN23 form, available from the Post Office. Is there much to that? I guess it attaches onto the outside of the box? As there would no point in arriving at the Post Office, putting the completed form inside the box, and then sealing it all up with a tape gun, for the whole town to hear :D

The OP mentioned DPD. Would the above process be different if using DPD or another courier?
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I haven't found anywhere that says shipping is included in the £39, only the value of "the gift" can't exceed £39. If the limit is exceeded VAT is charged on the value of the goods, postage, packaging and insurance and any duty you owe.

To Germany the limit is €45.

As part of the shipping process you'll be required to complete the customs documents. Booking online these will be generated for you based on the information you provide. Several copies of documents have to be printed off, signed and then attached to the exterior of the package using one of those transparent "documents enclosed" wallets. When I sent a package to Belgium, which still hasn't been delivered after nearly two months, I think there were six pages to print.

Edit:

Spelling.
 
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Having sent items all around the world, the process of filling in a customs form is usually super simple.

Normally you shouldn't have more than 2 pieces of paper. One being the label the over being the customs declaration. That is it. Can't imagine why someone had 6 pages to print unless it was just a long list of included items.

As for CN22 and CN23 forms. it should be one or the other not both. Normally you don't need to mess around finding HS numbers they tend to be for commercial use only. Some courier packages will automatically generate/include them though.
 
englishpremier said:
Having sent items all around the world, the process of filling in a customs form is usually super simple.

Normally you shouldn't have more than 2 pieces of paper. One being the label the over being the customs declaration. That is it. Can't imagine why someone had 6 pages to print unless it was just a long list of included items.

As for CN22 and CN23 forms. it should be one or the other not both. Normally you don't need to mess around finding HS numbers they tend to be for commercial use only. Some courier packages will automatically generate/include them though.
Click to expand...

I forget which documents they were but Parcelforce instructed me to print four copies of one document and two copies of another plus the label.

The item wasn't sent for commercial purposes but I was still required to find the appropriate HS number before I could book the delivery.
 
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