UK Import Duties

[mkvrnn]

I like the idea of importing old cameras from their country of origin where they more plentiful and perhaps cheaper.

Yesterday a nice 1957 Leotax K body arrived from Japan, bought via ebay, but unfortunately UK Customs and Excise decided to intercept it and charge me VAT. The Post Office also wanted their cut in the form of an admin fee for collecting the charge. Not a fortune in total, but enough to swing the balance from a reasonably good deal to a reasonably expensive one, and to make me think twice about buying from anywhere outside the EC in future.

Does anybody know how the Customs Dept decide which parcels to check and levy their duties? I've bought a variety of things from the US and China in the past and haven't been charged, so it seems to be a completely random process. Does anybody have any tips or inside knowledge?

 

[citizen99]

I've bought occasionally from the US, and also found that it seems to be random whether it gets 'noticed' by the Post Office's 'administer for HM C&E' department. In my case the sample number of events is small.
More recently, the sender has used the ebay international shipping mode where the duties are pre-paid all through. At least then you can see the total shipping cost up-front.

 

[pgk]

Does anybody know how the Customs Dept decide which parcels to check and levy their duties?..... it seems to be a completely random process. Does anybody have any tips or inside knowledge?

I spoke to one of our postmen who said had seen the customs operation and that it was a semi-random check as stuff rolled past on a conveyor belt - but this was a few years back. I'd suspect that with the growth of personal international buying and selling there is a more or evolving systematic checking of parcels today especially with the increasing sophistication of x-ray systems and attempts to smuggle illegal stuff in to the UK too.

Personally I always ask for any items to have their value correctly declared and I budget for the admin fee and vat (and customs duty if due) when purchasing. There's been much talk of multi-nationals not paying enough tax. We can hardly moan if we evade what is due ourselves and unless you are buying something very expensive it not a horrendous amount to take into consideration. Perhaps this is one reason that ebay has introduced its fully duties paid international shipping system which so far I have only used a couple of times when selling items.

 

[locheeboy]

I like the idea of importing old cameras from their country of origin where they more plentiful and perhaps cheaper.

Yesterday a nice 1957 Leotax K body arrived from Japan, bought via ebay, but unfortunately UK Customs and Excise decided to intercept it and charge me VAT. The Post Office also wanted their cut in the form of an admin fee for collecting the charge. Not a fortune in total, but enough to swing the balance from a reasonably good deal to a reasonably expensive one, and to make me think twice about buying from anywhere outside the EC in future.

Does anybody know how the Customs Dept decide which parcels to check and levy their duties? I've bought a variety of things from the US and China in the past and haven't been charged, so it seems to be a completely random process. Does anybody have any tips or inside knowledge?

This is from N. Ireland but same rules apply throughout the UK. It is always worth querying the charges. Ye sometimes get sympathetic or understanding customs officers.

It annoys me tae pay VAT on used cameras yet ah can buy new PC gear and import without duties.

https://www.nibusinessinfo.co.uk/content/calculating-customs-charges-when-importing-post

 

[David Hughes]

FWIW, I think they are selected at random in the international sorting office. So I've not checked the rates recently but wait and see what happens.

Bearing that in mind I think that the Post Office charge 8 quid to do it, the import duty isn't charged under 135 pounds and the VAT only gets charged when the cost is over 18 pounds.

Import duty depends on the country as does tax, none of either from EU countries - so you know how to vote! Not sure about the Channel Isles, there was a big row and they started charging VAt, I think.

Lastly the charge is based on the cost of the item plus postage and insurance etc, add duty to that and then work out the VAT on the total.

Usually HMR&C answer queries about it and are very helpful, especially if you ask about film cameras and re-importation of repaired cameras.

Regards, David

 

[Peter Jennings]

Sorry to hear about this, Mike. I have purchased a lot of gear from overseas in the past few years, but here in Korea, customs has never charged me a dime. Some countries are just more relaxed, it seems. This is why I never bid on anything from eBay if the buyer is using the global shipping program. Why should I pay an import fee up-front when I know for certain that I wouldn't have to pay it on the back end?