I think I have been had!! Customs Duty!

[cjago]

Don't bother ringing customs

Don't bother ringing customs

Well, at least I'm not the only one being charged VAT!
I will wait until the camera arrives, and then ring the Customs, to see if I can find out what is and is not duty free for old cameras made in Germany - I like that point.
Paying the duty was an interesting exercise - all done with an automated service, no human involved!. And, the letter demanding duty only had the automated service telephone number. I suppose among the options there might have been one directing me to a human, and I just missed it!
I'm promised a Monday delivery - I refused to pay £12 extra for one for tomorrow Saturday!!
I'll let folks know if I make any progress.

I pursued this earlier this year on the grounds that the same secondhand equipment bought in a British shop would not attract VAT.

A jolly man at C&E read the regs to me. Camera equipment has to be "antique" to avoid VAT if being brought in from outside the EU. For practical purposes this is defined as over 100 years old. I paid VAT, a smaller sum of item specific duty and GBP 13.50 to Parcelforce for the admin.

The only ways to avoid the tax are luck, breaking shipments into small consignments, or illegal declarations.

When I'm eeBayin I know I can effectively bid 25% more for an item in Germany than for a similar one in the US.

 

[Ash]

jesse1dog, that sounds 'significantly not as described' and you could get yourself a partial refund through paypal. great info either way

 

[jesse1dog]

Refund?

Refund?

jesse1dog, that sounds 'significantly not as described' and you could get yourself a partial refund through paypal. great info either way

Ash, always a nice idea to get a refund but unless you put the situation in the others court so to speak, its often difficult to get a start in the 'trading'. I paid less than £100 for camera body and case, it handles really well and mechanics seem to be just great. I wasn't looking for something to showcase but somewthing to use, and it looks as if I have that. The rather unexpected downer in the deal has been the p&p and the duties levied. In effect a 40% or near enough increase on purchase price. I still think I have done OK and the hassle of trying to get a refund of a few £ just isn't worth the effort.
Still - good thought.

 

[Ronald M]

Next time have the item sent to you for repair and return to originator.

 

[jesse1dog]

Repair or not!

Repair or not!

Next time have the item sent to you for repair and return to originator.

Always like creative thinking - I like this idea - thanks.

 

[Xmas]

Spurious repairs would be illegal and easily traceable, customs and ex can be annoying if you cheat, and they catch... Some people dont like me taking their picture, Q 'You work for tax man', Ans 'No', response 'Ok you want me to pose?'

It seems unfair to charge VAT outside of EU for 2nd hand goods, by private sale, especially if a part (or negative value) swap was involved. The actual price is so arbitary.

How would EU customs judge amount for personal imports, and which countries VAT rate would you pay for indirect routes, and would you get a VAT refund on a negative swap? Between EU countries I've only had interest shown in my passport everything else ignored. It would pay to import via lowest VAT rate country and take a more senic route - could be legal, just keep VAT receipt.

In UK we travel to mainland Europe or Eire to buy autos VAT free and then pay VAT on import to UK, it is necessary to buy petrol(gas) in foreign country and UK to allow the exchange rate date to be baselined. The dealers in UK have even larger markups, (so you save on mark up and VAT %), big savings, - free holiday come back with new car.

Travel to states for holiday subsidised by e-bay purchase savings, travel back via UK... Pity I dont want a mint M8...

I suppose any tax seems unfair.

Noel

 

[Ash]

What I'm wondering is, if I travel abroad, and take a LOT of film with me, what happens when I send it back to myself??

I was thinking if I take the photo's, develop the film 'on the road' (to avoid it being exposed from x-rays etc) then mailing it back to myself insured to a high value, since precious memories and all that. But then, will they try and charge me import tax? I bet they try it.