View Full Version : [FAQ] Customs and Import Duties
Your Customs Allowance
Customs charges may only be applied from goods sent into the UK from outside the EU. Orders from within have already had the relevant VAT and duty paid in that EU member state. Jersey is not classed as within the EU, but as a Special Territory (http://www.hmce.gov.uk/forms/notices/143.htm#P58_3064) , and as such are liable to VAT.
The current allowances for DVDs, CDs and the such are £18, or £36 for gifts.
If an item is VAT-exempt (such as books), you will not be liable for charges on those items
Postage and packing must be remembered. If the total value of goods in the package that are liable to duty and VAT is less than £18 WITHOUT P&P, you will not be liable for a charge. If the total value of goods in the package exceeds £18, the VAT and duty is charged on the total value of the goods INCLUDING P&P
The £36 allowance for gifts only applies to unsolicited gifts from one individual to another (such as a birthday present). Goods marked as "gifts" from a company fall in to the same category as any other purchases and so the £18 allowance applies.(cheers Ed Parsons).
How the charge is calculated
Customs (Import) Duty of 3.5%
VAT @ 17.5% - the VAT is charged on the value of the goods PLUS (http://www.hmce.gov.uk/forms/notices/143.htm#P180_11274) the customs duty
Administration charge of the courier
For example, if the cost of goods and P&P comes to £30, you would have the following:
£30 for goods
£1.05 customs (import) duty
£5.43 VAT on £31.05
The administration charge of the courier varies. Here are the current charges you can expect:
Royal Mail £8.00 (RM site (http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm/content1?mediaId=400362&catId=5200006) )
Parcelforce - £8 for standard parcels, £13.50 for high value (> €1000) and express parcels. (Thanks to DeadKenny for this info). (Parcel Force (http://www.parcelforce.com/portal/pw/content1?mediaId=load105044&catId=2500042) )
DHL £1.25 or 2% (whichever is greater) for non-business users (DHL site (http://www.dhl.co.uk) - Information - About Duty & Vat for more information).
UPS is £11or 2.5% (whichever is greater) UPS site (http://www.ups.com/content/gb/en/resources/find/cost/additional.html) in section marked "Disbursements" (Thanks to Chris for the info and smst for update 14/02/06).
FedEx personal handling charge is 2.5% of the combined duty & vat charge (not including total value of goods) or £6.80 (whichever is greater) as of Jan08 (thanks to Chris for the update). If you have been charged more than this, you have probably been charged the business rate and should query this (cheers cm-9 for the info). As before they do not charge or inform you at time of delivery. Instead they send you an invoice in the post up to a month later (they also include a copy of the original customs declaration and a breakdown of the charge)
Another important factor is the value of the goods. If the value is not declared in GBP, HMC&E will use their own monthly rates to convert the value to GBP. The monthly rates are checked once a week and changes made if they differ by more than 5% from the last published rate and amended from midnight on Tuesday/ Wednesday of the following week. (Source - http://www.hmce.gov.uk/business/rates/rates.htm ).
HMC&E can also value the item(s) if they feel that the declared value is false, and will apply what they feel the value should be and you will be charged accordingly.
How you pay
With packages coming in through Royal Mail, the postman will leave a note telling you that you have an item with a charge at your local delivery office, and you will have to go and collect it. If they leave it/hand it over and do not collect any money, you have got away with it.
Couriers such as FedEx, DHL and the such will normally pay the VAT & duty on your behalf and invoice you some time later. Be careful to check that they have only charged you the non-business user rate of admin charge - if it is around £10 or more, they have mistakenly charged you the business rate and you should take it up with them.
If you think you have been overcharged or charged incorrectly on the customs charge, you will need to contact HMC&E - they have a national advice line on 0845 010 9000 which is a good starting point.
Useful Links
HMC&E website (http://www.hmce.gov.uk) offers a wealth of references and information about the various regulations and charges you are liable to.
HMC&E Notice 143 - A guide for international post users (http://www.hmce.gov.uk/forms/notices/143.htm) much of the information from which I have built this FAQ.
TARIC Homepage (http://europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs/dds/en/tarhome.htm) a useful EU site that allows you to calculate the import duty for other goods:
Click on the "Taric Description" link
Enter the type of goods you want to import
Make a note of the Taric code for the relevant item
Go back to the Taric Home Page and click on the "Taric Code" link
Enter the Taric Code and the country where the goods are being sent from
(Thanks to Ed Parsons for the TARIC stuff and instructions).
With all the threads about customs, I have tried to pull together as many of the answers to the common questions into one convenient thread.
Much of this is from experience, a bit of research and from other suppliers threads. Please feel free to post any corrections/additions and amendments and I will incorporate them into this initial post as soon as possible.
maddogsuk
19-01-2004, 19:20
Good call! I've had a look round the Custom's Links as I was sure computer equipment is expempt from VAT or import duty? I'm sure I read that Sony tried to get the Playstation classed as a computer to avoid tax?
Ed Parsons
19-01-2004, 20:44
That should certainly answer most people's queries. One point to note is that the £36 allowance for gifts only applies to unsolicited gifts from one individual to another (such as a birthday present). Goods marked as "gifts" from a company fall in to the same category as any other purchases and so the £18 allowance applies.
If you want to calculate the Import Duty for other goods then go here:
TARIC Home Page (http://europa.eu.int/comm/taxation_customs/dds/en/tarhome.htm)
Click on the "Taric Description" link
Enter the type of goods you want to import
Make a note of the Taric code for the relevant item
Go back to the Taric Home Page and click on the "Taric Code" link
Enter the Taric Code and the country where the goods are being sent from
Alternatively give the Customs Helpline a ring on 0845 010 9000 who are very good at answering Duty queries.
Whilst it's true that goods from Jersey are subject to VAT, some Region 2 retailers based in Jersey (eg play.com) allegedly pre-pay the VAT for purchases over £18 so you won't get charged. If you're paying more than £18 for goods sent from Jersey then it's worth checking with the retailer whether they pre-pay the VAT.
DeadKenny
19-01-2004, 20:53
Good stuff. Let's keep this bumped or make it a sticky :)
Also worth mentioning is ParcelForce (part of the same company as RoyalMail) charges admin fees as follows...
£8 for standard parcels
£13.50 for high value (> £2000) and express parcels.
The £13.50 fee is also charged regardless of whether the item gets a Duty/VAT charge!! So in other words... don't use their express service!! :eek: (obviously you can't avoid the high value charge if it's over £2k).
Remember this is the same company as RoyalMail, and yet the charges are twice as much or more! There's also far more of a guarantee that you will be charged if the item is over the allowance.
More here: http://www.parcelforce.com/portal/pw/content1?catId=2500042&mediaId=load105044
36Degrees
19-01-2004, 21:09
Maybe add a list of supplies and their custom safeness?
Although then again that whole area is debatable :/
Originally posted by paul_caygill
administration charge of the courier varies.
UPS is £10 or 2% (whichever is greater) and I can confirm that the £10 does apply to non-business users as I found out yesterday :(
Originally posted by 36Degrees
Maybe add a list of supplies and their custom safeness?
Although then again that whole area is debatable :/ Not sure whether that would be a good idea - it would give C&E an easy place to look ;) Plus I do not want the grief if a supplier is suggested to be safe and then someone gets a charge.
Originally posted by paul_caygill
Couriers such as FedEx, DHL and the such will normally pay the VAT & duty on your behalf and invoice you some time later. Be careful to check that they have only charged you the non-business user rate of admin charge - if it is around £10 or more, they have mistakenly charged you the business rate and you should take it up with them. DHL called me last night saying I owed them around £20 for Babylon5 Series 4 from dvdsoon. I asked them for a breakdown and the guy said there was a £10 admin charge. As I had read on these forums the difference in business/non-business billing I questioned him about this. His reply: "No, there's only one universal admin charge"
"Are you sure? I thought non-business was a lot cheaper"
"no, sorry"
"so there's only one admin charge you have for business to business, business to non-buisness, non-business to non-business etc.."
"yes. are you paying over the phone now?"
"what's your number. I'll call you back"
So.. I'll call them back later this morning. Have their rules changed I wonder, or were they just trying to defraud me...
Originally posted by ozric99
So.. I'll call them back later this morning. Have their rules changed I wonder, or were they just trying to defraud me... No idea myself I am afraid ozric99. I have never had a charge from a courier for customs, so that one was based on comments by other people in other threads about the issue (check a search for DHL on the suppliers forum).
Keep us posted on how you get on and if necessary I will update the FAQ accordingly. And I hope that they have not changed their policy - £10 is a crazy price for what has to be done.
I wonder if you can get away with purchasing (or recieving) an item for free, but paying full whack for the manual :suspect:
Good thread btw, I was just looking for this ;)
Glad somebody has put this thread together :) Hopefully it will stop a lot of repetitive threads on the same theme. It will also allow the mods to close such threads down quickly and point them somewhere to answer their question.
I can cope with the import duty charge: it's just the imposed charge by the likes of profiteers such as the Royal Mail etc. that really annoys me :mad:
Time to stick this thread :)
Originally posted by ozric99
I asked them for a breakdown and the guy said there was a £10 admin charge. As I had read on these forums the difference in business/non-business billing I questioned him about this/
From DHLs website:
What is the administration fee?
The fee for business customers is £10 or 2% of the shipment value, whichever is the greater. The growth of Internet shopping has led us to introduce a different administration fee for private individuals. This is because net shoppers are usually buying infrequently and purchasing low cost items such as CDs, DVDs or software. We felt that low usage such as this merited a different fee structure. We charge £1.25, or 2% of the shipment value, whichever is the greater. This compares very favourably with our competitors and we are, as far as we are aware, the only air express carrier who has introduced a special rate for private individuals.
Cheers Chris, have linked to the DHL website with instructions on how to find the info in the first post now. Cannot find anything like that for any of the others though
Originally posted by paul_caygill
Cannot find anything like that for any of the others though
UPS: http://www.ups.com/content/gb/en/resources/find/cost/additional.html (it's the bit called Disbursements)
Originally posted by Chris
UPS: http://www.ups.com/content/gb/en/resources/find/cost/additional.html (it's the bit called Disbursements) :thumbs: Added
ParcelForce: http://www.parcelforce.com/portal/pw/content1?mediaId=load105044&catId=2500042
Royal Mail: http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm/content1?mediaId=400362&catId=5200006 (looks like they have increased the fee to £4)
I've had a customs charge notice this morning, but haven't bought anything over £18. I suspect it's a charge for Finding Nemo, from DVDCrave, which was £12.50.
What's the best practice to adopt here? How easy (or not) is it to get a refund for wrongly applied charges from Royal Mail and HM Customs and Excise? Is it better to simply refuse delivery in these circumstances?
Originally posted by yaffle
What's the best practice to adopt here? How easy (or not) is it to get a refund for wrongly applied charges from Royal Mail and HM Customs and Excise? Is it better to simply refuse delivery in these circumstances? Not really a lot you can do until you know what the item is, and the only way you can do that is to pay up. If it has been wrongly charged, I suspect that you would need to contact HMC&E via the phone number in the first post and ask them what you need to do to appeal the incorrect charge.
Edit - if anyone has experience with this, or yaffle when you find out, let us know and I will add it into the FAQ.
Presumably you'd then also need to go after RM separately to reclaim their handling fee? Anyone know the procedure for doing that?
Originally posted by yaffle
Presumably you'd then also need to go after RM separately to reclaim their handling fee? Anyone know the procedure for doing that? 08457 740 740 8am - 7.30pm, Monday to Friday. 8am - 6pm on Saturdays for RM customer services, but as I said, until you can be certain that the charge is incorrect, it is difficult to know how to proceed.
Good luck with it though.
Ed Parsons
24-01-2004, 20:04
Originally posted by yaffle
I've had a customs charge notice this morning, but haven't bought anything over £18. I suspect it's a charge for Finding Nemo, from DVDCrave, which was £12.50. What's the best practice to adopt here? How easy (or not) is it to get a refund for wrongly applied charges from Royal Mail and HM Customs and Excise? Is it better to simply refuse delivery in these circumstances?
This sort of thing is quite rare. However, I wouldn't refuse delivery. If you do that you won't receive anything and still be out of pocket for the purchase. If I were you I'd go along to the Royal Mail depot holding the DVD, pay the charge but demand a receipt. Insist that the person issuing the receipt clearly writes on the back of the receipt what value is stated on the Customs label (including the currency) and for them to sign it. Also make sure that you keep the Customs label intact when opening the package. If you've been charged for a DVD valued less than £18 then phone up the Customs Helpline and explain exactly what's happened and what they recommend for you to obtain a full refund, including the £4 Royal Mail handling fee.
For completeness this is the email I got from customs when finding out whether there was a way of paying them to avoid paying Royal Mail.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Customs and RM: your questions answered.
Here's a a copy of the email I got from HMCE regarding how you could "choose" to pay customs yourself and avoid RM's ridiculous ad hoc charges.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In reference to your enquiry of the 15th of January 2004 regarding pre paying importation taxes.
There is no scheme in place for private persons to pay import duty and import VAT before the importation has taken place. As such the only advice I can offer is that you arrange for the import your self, if you decided to do this the imported goods must arrive at a designated place and must be presented to us by the person who brought the goods into the Community. Presentation means informing us in the required manner that the goods have arrived.
The person, who has brought the goods into the Community, or the person representing them or the person who assumes responsibility for their onward carriage, should present them. Once you have presented goods to us, you must lodge a summary declaration with us no later than the first working day following the day of presentation.
You may present goods by:
• using an approved computerised trade inventory system linked to Customs; or
• lodging Form C1600A at the designated Customs office, the address of which will be advised by the port or airport concerned.
The policy on customs debt is based upon the following principles:
the declarant on the customs declaration is to be pursued by us for arrears of import duties;
the person entitled to repayment is the person who was obliged to pay the duty as a customs debtor;
the type of representation (direct or indirect) must be declared on Form C88 the Single Administrative Document (SAD) at the time of importation or exportation; and
if the type of representation is not declared on the Form C88 (SAD), the representation is deemed to be self-representation and in these circumstances the person making the declaration will be the customs debtor.
For further information I refer you to Notice 199 ‘Imported goods: Customs procedures and Customs debt’.
The notices are available to view at our Internet site, the address is provided at the bottom of this letter. You can access the notices via Forms and publications.
If you have any further queries regarding the contents of this particular letter then please contact the address shown above (e-mail is acceptable) quoting the reference number shown, telephone lines are open from 0900hrs to 1630 hrs, Monday to Friday. You can also contact our National Advice Service help line on 0845 010 9000 between the hours of 08:00 and 20:00, if you have a query concerning other matters or wish to order a copy of the notice.
Yours
Well after much :thinking: and re-reading their response several times CLH, do you think that what they could have said in one sentence is "Yes it is possible but we have made it so damned difficult as to be impractical and impossible for the man on the street"?
Clearly HMC&E are not after any Plain English awards ;)
Originally posted by paul_caygill
Well after much :thinking: and re-reading their response several times CLH, do you think that what they could have said in one sentence is "Yes it is possible but we have made it so damned difficult as to be impractical and impossible for the man on the street"?
Clearly HMC&E are not after any Plain English awards ;)
Seems that way. Almost like, well it would cost you billions to import a single DVD so quit moaning at the RM!
We had an "interesting" experience with Fedex recently that others might benefit from.
We bought some sheet music from the states which was shipped by Fedex. Sheet music is exempt from duty but we got an invoice for £18. Rang Fedex who claimed that the package "didn't have the right code on it to show that it was exempt" - hmmmm I think how would a US company know which code to put on a parcel & hang on a sec the customs declaration was a fedex label. rang hmce helpline, their rep told me (in so many words) that Fedex were spinning a yarn - The label stated that the goods were sheet music, that was all they should need to know that the goods were exempt. If we got no joy, HMCE would refund the duty but not the fedex charge.
Wrote stroppy email to fedex outlining what HMCE had said. A week later got a new invoice from Fedex showing that the charge had been waived.
Bingo Bongo
04-02-2004, 15:34
Fed Ex are a bit of a nightmare imo.
Just about every package I get from the US via Fedex gets customs and vat charges. Its not dvd's but typically star wars stuff sent person to person. I dont get anywhere near the same problem with UPS, US Mail etc.
I presume they act as a "collector" on behalf of UK customs
Jez
Unfortunately Bingo Bongo, based on the experiences I have read on here over the years, if you get an item delivered by a courier that incurs customs charges, you will always get hit. Only seems to be those coming through Royal Mail that sometimes slip through, but they are becoming less and less.
pompeyfan
05-02-2004, 00:18
Originally posted by paul_caygill
Edit - if anyone has experience with this, or yaffle when you find out, let us know and I will add it into the FAQ.
I claimed duty back a couple of years ago, when I was wrongly charged duty as my CD's were below the £18 limit. I had to send the sticker from the parcel and a copy of my invoice showing how much I paid to HMC&E, I duly got a cheque back about 6 weeks later, but was told I had to claim RM's fee from them.
I noticed recently when ordering a PocketPC download from a US site in US$, that order's from EU residents would incur an appropriate VAT amount added to the total - seeing as this is obviously possible, it's a shame companies like DVDSoon don't implement this, as it's the admin fee's added for collection of duty, that make geting caught so expensive and adds hassle.
Just got a letter from Customs on some DVD's from the states worth 60 quid or so, they have arrived in the UK but I have to give them more information till they can be sent (what the package is worth etc). Am I able to lie on their value and get away with the customs charge or would they know? Anyone else managed to do this and get away with it?
DeadKenny
05-02-2004, 10:08
Originally posted by Mass
Just got a letter from Customs on some DVD's from the states worth 60 quid or so, they have arrived in the UK but I have to give them more information till they can be sent (what the package is worth etc). Am I able to lie on their value and get away with the customs charge or would they know? Anyone else managed to do this and get away with it?
It's easy for them to check on the value, and at the end of the day it's their estimation of the value that counts.
Most likely they're fishing for the company so they can check it on their web site.
nicknack
10-02-2004, 10:02
Thanks for putting up this thread - most helpful :thumbs:
A couple of quick questions if anyone has the time:-
1. If I order something from DVD Soon or Pacific that is just under the £18 limit when I order it, but by the time they process and pack the order, the Currency Exchanged Rate has changed and the item is over the £18 limit, do they put the price I paid on the package, or the value when they pack it ?
2. Do all items valued over £18 get intercepted by customs, or do they just pick out a percentage, and let others through unchecked ?
thanks in anticipation :)
DeadKenny
10-02-2004, 10:14
Originally posted by nicknack
Thanks for putting up this thread - most helpful :thumbs:
A couple of quick questions if anyone has the time:-
1. If I order something from DVD Soon or Pacific that is just under the £18 limit when I order it, but by the time they process and pack the order, the Currency Exchanged Rate has changed and the item is over the £18 limit, do they put the price I paid on the package, or the value when they pack it ?
The declared value is the price you paid in the original currency, so CAN$ or US$ for those two (unless they lie in which case they falsify the declaration, which is what DVD Soon used to do and what DVD Pacific still do today). They don't check the exchange rate and declare UK value. The £18 value is only determined when it gets to HMC&E in the UK, who look up the current day's exchange rate and compare it with the declared value in whatever currency.
They also by law have to declare the shipping value, however that is not used in determining whether you're over the limit (so make sure people put the goods and shipping values separately). If you are over the limit, they will charge VAT&Duty on the shipping though :(.
2. Do all items valued over £18 get intercepted by customs, or do they just pick out a percentage, and let others through unchecked ?
It's fairly random with anything through RoyalMail, though I find larger parcels attract more attention. They do go on the declaration though as I used to get items from Barnes&Nobble in the days when they marked boxes as "books" (zero rated for VAT), and even though it was clearly a DVD, customs ignore them. The instant B&N put "DVD" on their declaration... slam... customs charge :(.
Outside of RoyalMail though you'll find a lot of the couriers get hit far more. I suspect the couriers deliberately wave the items under HMC&E's noses or just do the job themselves, as virtually everything I've had through couriers that's over the limit has got hit (except one £300+ item through FedEx for some reason went through okay). ParcelFarce is a guaranteed hit (and on top of that an extortionate handling fee, miserable customer service, depots that are miles away with no parking, and idiots who return packages to US after one attempt at delivery :mad: ).
Ravenger
16-02-2004, 12:49
It's about time Royal Main reduced their extortionate 'handling charge' for customs charges. I bought Firefly R1 for £21 from DVD Soon, and got charged £7.44.
£3.44 was customs charges, which is fair enough, but Royal Mail added on a £4.00 handling charge.
The handling charge was more than the duty! :cuckoo: :razz: :mad:
DeadKenny
16-02-2004, 13:17
Originally posted by Stephen Robertson
It's about time Royal Main reduced their extortionate 'handling charge' for customs charges. I bought Firefly R1 for £21 from DVD Soon, and got charged £7.44.
£3.44 was customs charges, which is fair enough, but Royal Mail added on a £4.00 handling charge.
The handling charge was more than the duty! :cuckoo: :razz: :mad:
It will only go up rather than down I'm afraid :oh-hum:
Even competition won't help as the first competitors who've come along (recently in the news), don't replace RoyailMail, they just take over some of the sending, but all (usually incompetent)deliveries including the sorting office and thus the rip-off fee people, is still done by RM :oh-hum: (the competitor pays RM a fee to deliver the mail!)
If you think £4 is bad enough, try ordering something using ParcelFarce Worldwide Express ... £13.50 handling fee, guaranteed, even if there's no customs to pay!!! :mad:. I'll never make that mistake again :mad:.
Very good thread, Paul, and a very accurate collection of information.
I'll add a few random points of detail if I may:
* The Fedex handling charge for personal shipments is currently (Dec 03) £4.50. If you get charged more than that then you have probably been charged the business rate by mistake (I'm not sure what value shipment the £4.50 charge goes up to, but I was charged that on a £100 shipment). Fedex will usually send you a bill for you the charge a few days after delivering the items, by opening a Fedex account in your name and then sending you an invoice for that account. You should pay it immediately otherwise they will use a debt collection agency. Customs charges that they have paid on your behalf are payable immediately and not with the usual 28 days grace. Fedex are entitled to charge these admin charges because you, as the recipient of goods sent by air, have automatically taken over the sender's shipment contract (air waybill) with Fedex and the charges are a term of the contract.
* Some Jersey suppliers including Play.com (the R2 site but not PlayUSA.com the R1 site) have a special arrangement through the Jersey post office where they pre-pay the VAT and duty on your behalf for orders over £18. The package will be marked accordingly. In that case there will be no customs charge or admin fee at the UK end.
* Some packages look as though they are shipped from Belgium but they are actually shipped from the international zone at an airport in Belgium so they have not had duty and VAT paid. If the packages contain goods worth more than £18 then they will be subject to duty and VAT in the usual way. (PlayUSA.com used to do it like this for their R1 titles, although they now seem to ship directly from the US or Canada.)
* Some web suppliers of overseas disks seem to re-ship from within the UK. I don't really know how they can afford to do it but I guess they must be paying the customs duty and VAT on every disk, as they themselves are importing the disks as business shipments not personal shipments, and business shipments do not even have the £18 threshold.
* If the customs value of goods is marked in a foreign currency then Customs & Excise will convert the currency into pounds using their own currency conversion tables which are updated every month. You cannot argue with the rate that they use. Beware of this if currency markets are moving rapidly and you think you are only just under the £18 threshold.
* The overseas shipper is supposed to mark the proper customs value of the goods on the customs label. The customs should normally take account of any discounts - e.g. if you order $33 worth of DVDs from KoreanDVDs.com and you have a $1 'mileage credit' then the value of the goods is $32, which is currently (I think) below the £18 threshold but currency rates will change from month to month.
* If you send an email or write in the comments box of your web order "Please mark package value $20" or something like that when the package is worth much more (and if the supplier agrees to do it), then you are committing a fraud which could result in confiscation of the goods and/or criminal charges against you - so you should not do that. On the other hand if the overseas supplier marks the value down without you asking them to (as a few still seem to do) or the supplier simply makes a mistake then personally I don't think you have done anything wrong. But even in that case Customs (or their agent, i.e. the Royal Mail or other shipping agent) would be entitled to open up the package and if they think the value marked is obviously wrong then they can substitute what they think is the proper market value (i.e. probably full UK retail price plus an estimated shipping charge) and charge you customs duty and VAT on that basis.
* The BBFC website states that Customs & Excise will confiscate unclassified disks received by post from overseas suppliers. (Almost all overseas disks will be unclassified, or at least will not show the proper BBFC classification label which the BBFC regards as just as bad.) In fact that information is wrong: Customs & Excise have no power to confiscate disks for that reason so long as it is not obscene material and so long as it is not a UK supplier. On the other hand local Trading Standards Officers do have power to confiscate unclassified disks from UK suppliers, which could include suppliers who 'reship' within the UK. Some in this category were busted in late 2003, while it seems that at least one similar supplier is getting round it by sticking the appropriate BBFC classification label onto the disks they sell so that they become legal in the UK.
Originally posted by maddogsuk
Good call! I've had a look round the Custom's Links as I was sure computer equipment is expempt from VAT or import duty? I'm sure I read that Sony tried to get the Playstation classed as a computer to avoid tax?
Different kinds of imports have different rates of customs duty. For DVDs the rate is 3.5% like Paul Caygill says. The rate is different for other products - it usually varies between nil and about 22%. For example, the duty rate is much higher for TVs and stereo equipment than it is for computers. That is probably why Sony tried to get the Playstation classed as a computer. For borderline cases, importers have disputes with the authorities like this the whole time.
DeadKenny
19-02-2004, 12:05
Originally posted by cm-9
Different kinds of imports have different rates of customs duty. For DVDs the rate is 3.5% like Paul Caygill says. The rate is different for other products - it usually varies between nil and about 22%. For example, the duty rate is much higher for TVs and stereo equipment than it is for computers. That is probably why Sony tried to get the Playstation classed as a computer. For borderline cases, importers have disputes with the authorities like this the whole time.
I don't think electronics are exempt or zero rated, but as you say the rate may be different.
What varies is the duty rate, from zero upwards. VAT is 17.5% always unless the item is zero rated for VAT (but those items may still attract duty). The main VAT zero rated items are things like books and childrens clothing.
There are import/export restrictions on some electronic goods, and with computers there are issues with software and hardware that contain encryption technoloogy. This mainly applies to exports from the US. The US has relaxed their restrictions though as the previously "strong" encryption they used to ban is now old hat and US gov have moved onto stronger encryption. Exports to any country they don't like is of course banned ;)
Originally posted by cm-9
* If the customs value of goods is marked in a foreign currency then Customs & Excise will convert the currency into pounds using their own currency conversion tables which are updated every month. You cannot argue with the rate that they use. Beware of this if currency markets are moving rapidly and you think you are only just under the £18 threshold.
Many thanks for the response cm-9. I have added the FedEx handling charge and the info about HMC&E exchange rates. Just to correct you though, although the rate is fixed monthly, it is checked weekly and adjusted if it is found to be incorrect (see link in new post). I have added all that stuff under the section about how the charge is calculated.
No problem; and thanks for the correction, you really know your stuff.
DeadKenny Sure. When I said customs duty varies between 0% and 22% according to the type of goods I meant just the customs duty (import duty), I was not talking about the VAT which is imposed in addition (except in the case of books or other zero-rated items). The customs duty element is extremely variable depending on the precise type of goods, also depending on whether or not you are importing from a WTO country. The customs duty rate is much lower for computers and office equipment than it is for audiovisual and other home entertainment equipment - I think it is about 3% for computers and about 12% for home entertainment stuff. For example, I imported the projector that I use for my home cinema using but because it is classed as a 'data projector' the customs duty rate was only about 3%. :)
The combination of customs duty and VAT goes a long way towards explaining why prices in Europe are so much more than in the USA. Did you know that the UK raises about half of the government budget every year from customs duty and VAT?
Cheatman
27-02-2004, 16:12
How you pay
With packages coming in through Royal Mail, the postman should ask for payment before handing over the package, or will leave a note telling you that you have an item with a charge at your local delivery office. If they leave it/hand it over and do not collect the money, you have got away with it.
Well the leaving the note is a new one on me, I'd only expect that if there was nobody in at the time....unfortunately I now know better :mad: The postman delivered a card at this morning at 9AM along with the mail (somebody was in at the time), saying that they weren't able to deliver my parcel on 27/2/04 at 0700 and I have a charge of £7.86 to pay as there's an outstanding fee or customs charge. It's going to be my Stargate SG1 Series 6 boxset from DVDSoon.
The fee I can't argue about though the £4 handling charge is excessive I had left £10 to pay any customs charges for whoever was in at the time. What get's my goat is that they didn't even try to deliver it. Everybody was up before 7am and the house was well illuminated so they never even tried... now tomorrow morning I've got a round trip of 10 miles to pick up the item I've already paid to have delivered (which they won't deliver because of the fee payable) and pay them £4 for the privilege.
Just smacks to me that they don't trust there own employess with money, yet we have no choice but to trust them with our parcels.. :oh-hum:
I was under the impression that your postie shouldn't be asking for money (security reasons) at you door but should leave a card asking to pay customs charges at you local office :confused:
Originally posted by Keith
I was under the impression that your postie shouldn't be asking for money (security reasons) at you door but should leave a card asking to pay customs charges at you local office :confused: They used to, and I have not yet found anything conclusive one way or the other on their website. But based on the anecdotal evidence from this forum, I would agree that it seems likely that you might just get a note. That said, many people talk about the postie handing over packages that had incurred charges.
So I guess it will vary from office to office, but then again in the days of plastic, not many people have enough cash lying around at home. I certainly don't :eek:
Marwhite
10-03-2004, 06:49
I want to order something, but it's worth about £18.70 - how much would i stung on the 70p extra?
Originally posted by Marwhite
I want to order something, but it's worth about £18.70 - how much would i stung on the 70p extra?
About £4 + Royal Mail/Courier charge...
Originally posted by Marwhite
I want to order something, but it's worth about £18.70 - how much would i stung on the 70p extra? The formula is in the first post ;)
Kirsten.Jet
16-03-2004, 20:21
Hi,
I bought some clothes from America that with postage came to £55. I've just had a letter saying that it will be sent to me once I've paid the custom charge.
I was aware that I'd have to pay it but had worked it out to be around £22 once the UPS added there £10 fee.
They are asking for £38 which seems way too much.
How do I find out if this is correct and if it's not how do I have to pay before I can challange it?
The people at the sorting office have been less than helpful.
Thanks,
Zoe
Ed Parsons
16-03-2004, 22:12
Originally posted by Kirsten.Jet
They are asking for £38 which seems way too much.
How do I find out if this is correct and if it's not how do I have to pay before I can challange it?
£38 seems way to much. Presumably UPS sent you an invoice? If the invoice doesn't give a breakdown of 1) VAT 2) Import Duty (if any) and 3) Handling Charge then telephone UPS and ask them to provide you with the exact amounts for the above.
Once you have this information (or not, if UPS won't provide it) telephone the Customs helpline on 0845 010 9000. Tell them EXACTLY what you ordered (different types of clothing have different Customs TARIC codes), what you paid and what the postage costs were. They should then be able to tell you if UPS has charged you correctly and what to do if you've been overcharged.
DeadKenny
16-03-2004, 23:01
Note that clothing might have a different duty rate compared to DVDs, and it varies on clothing type I believe. I think certain clothes made of particular material attracts more dependent on whether it could have been made from materials sourced in the UK (i.e. are you depriving the government of an income by importing something you could have bought here?).
Kids stuff zero rated of course, though that might be the VAT not duty, I'm not sure.
Also, watch out for express delivery options. Some of these attract very high handling fees (e.g. ParcelFarce's express service attracts a guaranteed high fee regardless of being over the limit or not!).
Im thinking about getting and ipod from usa - http://thedvdforums.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=278429&pagenumber=2 - if its being shipped in via fedex and it gets stopped what happens?
Originally posted by cubeix
Im thinking about getting and ipod from usa - http://thedvdforums.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=278429&pagenumber=2 - if its being shipped in via fedex and it gets stopped what happens? Afraid that with a courier it is not so much a case of if but when - does anyone know of anyone who has ever had an item via courier that has not been charged for?
Never used FedEx myself, but according to the evidence which I based the first post on, you will receive your item and get an invoice some time later from FedEx asking for £4.50 + the VAT & duty paid on your behalf. However, I have seen some posts mentioning that couriers are now asking for the cash up front before releasing the parcel so they get paid.
Sorry not to be of much help - anyone with recent FedEx experience able to clarify?
DeadKenny
28-03-2004, 13:53
Originally posted by paul_caygill
Afraid that with a courier it is not so much a case of if but when - does anyone know of anyone who has ever had an item via courier that has not been charged for?
Funny enough, yes, and it was FedEx too. Over £200 worth of ski clothes and not a penny charged! I was stunned as I expected a charge on that (it was still a bargain though).
I've had no invoice yet and that's way over a year now.
However, I've seen loads of posts around the net from people complaining about being stung with Fedex.
DeadKenny
29-03-2004, 12:39
An interesting article on shopping in the US, and customs charges back home ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3571401.stm
Okay this is what my friend said:
go mail them and declare them as a gift at their right values Ipod 500$ and accessories in different parcels and mail them along with a 30% check to cover custom taxes
Is that okay, and all legal etc?
Is it possible for him to pay for it in the states or do i have to pay for it over here [the tax]?
DeadKenny
30-03-2004, 16:16
Originally posted by cubeix
Okay this is what my friend said:
go mail them and declare them as a gift at their right values Ipod 500$ and accessories in different parcels and mail them along with a 30% check to cover custom taxes
Is that okay, and all legal etc?
The declaration as a gift is legally dodgy as it's a company pretending to be an individual, but besides that, having declared $500 will invalidate the 'gift' as far as HMC&E are concerned because gifts must have no monetary transaction. If they declared it at $0 it would be more valid, but them HMC&E will smell a rat and open the package.
Regardless of that, 'gift' just changes your allowance to £36 instead of £18, and $500 is way over that so you'd still be risking a charge even if it was a gift from an individual where you hadn't paid for it.
As for the pre-payment of taxes, I'm not sure a US supplier can do that ???. I know Play used to do that for UK sourced products, but then they're sort of in the UK (but not the EEC). Maybe they can. It's probably legal, but HMC&E might make their own mind up on the value.
If you're sending them 30% you may as well not bother and just wait for the parcel and if you get charged, pay it, otherwise you're lucky and get away with it.
In reality, you'll probably get away with it, but if not they'll just ignore the 'gift' bit with no come-back on you and just bill you for the VAT & Duty.
Remember that legally you should be paying VAT & Duty anyway ;)
It is actually from a friend i know there who is getting me it not a company. I dont want to do anything illegal and dont mind paying. Just whats best to pay here or there. And how much am i looking to pay on an ipod? 40 gig from america
DeadKenny
30-03-2004, 16:38
Originally posted by cubeix
It is actually from a friend i know there who is getting me it not a company. I dont want to do anything illegal and dont mind paying. Just whats best to pay here or there. And how much am i looking to pay on an ipod? 40 gig from america
Strictly speaking, you're paying your friend to get it for you so the gift allowance doesn't apply, but it would be hard for HMC&E to prove. If your friend bought it truly as a gift and you haven't paid for it, then it counts (even then it must be a one off).
However, as I say, the gift limit is only £36 so it makes no difference anyway.
The limit is just a basis on which HMC&E decide to charge or not. If the gift was under £36 then they don't charge, but if it's over they charge. Once they decide to charge, the charge amount doesn't vary whether it's a gift or not.
Basically, at $500, if HMC&E are doing their job and were checking every item (in reality they don't), then you would be charged.
As for what you'll have to pay, you'll have to ring HMC&E and get the commodity code for an IPOD, and that will get you the %age duty.
Then the calculation goes the same as on the first page of this thread, but substitute the duty.
i.e...
Take the price of item inc shipping (in your case the declared value on the package)
+ duty
+ 17.5% VAT
+ Handling fee from courier
But, have a read of the BBC news article a few posts above, as that gives IPOD imports as an example and how to get the duty. It's aimed at travellers though where the allowance is much higher.
Right tried ringer the number but to no avail. On average if its costing my friend 500 bucks and he send it how much do you think i would have to pay on top?
Originally posted by cubeix
Right tried ringer the number but to no avail. On average if its costing my friend 500 bucks and he send it how much do you think i would have to pay on top? The calculation is on the first post, we are not here to do your maths for you ;)
Right sorry mate, jus wondering if anyone new the tax rate for an ipod and if they could help. :thinking:
Originally posted by cubeix
Right sorry mate, jus wondering if anyone new the tax rate for an ipod and if they could help. :thinking: But all the info is in the first post :confused:
Thats applicable to dvds i was wondering if anyone knew what it would be for an IPOD?
Then you will need to either find the TARIC code via their website or speak to the National C&E Helpline and ask them what the duty rate is.
Right okay thanks for the :help: - there offices are closed will have a look on the site now.
DeadKenny
30-03-2004, 18:59
I just re-read that BBC News article and it does mention the duty on an IPOD...
2%
I assume duty is the same for travellers as it is for post, therefore...
$500 price (no accounting for shipping here but strictly speaking you should add that too, or have you added that in the price?).
Convert to Sterling (assuming 1.8 $ to £)... £277.77
+ 2% Duty = £283.33
+ 17.5% VAT = £332.91
Then adding the handling fee for FedEx (as that's what you specified)...
+ £4.50 (assuming it's charged at the indivuals rate)
Grand total of £337.41
So that's a total of £59.64 in Duty, VAT and fees!
Ed Parsons
30-03-2004, 20:23
Originally posted by DeadKenny
So that's a total of £59.64 in Duty, VAT and fees!
Before anyone starts a moan at Customs, don't forget that the bulk of that (approx £50) is VAT. If you bought the ipod from a UK outlet you'd still be paying that VAT. In fact, given that prices are usually higher in the UK, you'd probably be paying more VAT than the £50 levied by Customs.
Originally posted by DeadKenny
I just re-read that BBC News article and it does mention the duty on an IPOD...
2%
I assume duty is the same for travellers as it is for post, therefore...
$500 price (no accounting for shipping here but strictly speaking you should add that too, or have you added that in the price?).
Convert to Sterling (assuming 1.8 $ to £)... £277.77
+ 2% Duty = £283.33
+ 17.5% VAT = £332.91
Then adding the handling fee for FedEx (as that's what you specified)...
+ £4.50 (assuming it's charged at the indivuals rate)
Grand total of £337.41
So that's a total of £59.64 in Duty, VAT and fees!
Thanks for your time and effort it is much appreciated :notworthy
Spooky_uk
03-04-2004, 10:10
if ordering a r2 boxset from play - are customs charges likely or do play prepay thoses charges so nothing to worry about?
thanks..
As far as I know, R2 sets from Play should have VAT & duty pre-paid so you should not get any additional charges. However, I get all my sets from Amazon so this is based on what I have heard people say on here over the months - any recent Play users able to comment?
Paul Moran
03-04-2004, 13:04
All Play's R2 stuff is VAT & duty pre-paid, in my experience.
Spooky_uk
03-04-2004, 13:11
Thanks .
Amended original post to reflect the fact that RM posties do not collect cash, so if you get a charge from them, you have to pick up the parcel at the local sorting office.
Originally posted by paul_caygill
Amended original post to reflect the fact that RM posties do not collect cash, so if you get a charge from them, you have to pick up the parcel at the local sorting office.
They still do here :confused:
They don't here, have to go and collect/pay at post office.
Got caught for customs yesterday :( Was in error as well as was well under £18.00 so now in process of claiming. Was fairly easy. Just phoned the number on the customs form on the parcel, told the woman I spoke to the situation and I just have to send off proof and I'll get a refund.
The royal mail charge will be the difficult bit me thinks. :suspect:
kriswicks77
06-05-2004, 10:22
I want to order some dvds form DVDCrave and they might be posted by DHL is that a Gaurented customs hit or might it slip through. :help:
DeadKenny
06-05-2004, 10:56
Originally posted by kriswicks77
I want to order some dvds form DVDCrave and they might be posted by DHL is that a Gaurented customs hit or might it slip through. :help:
It's far more likely to get hit, but no guarantee. With couriers you might find the bill for the customs charge arrives later (sometimes months later) as they pay it for you and then bill you.
How much are you ordering? Can you split it into small orders of under £18 each?
Or just don't specify DHL. I never use them when ordering from DVDCrave, just plain old standard post.
kriswicks77
06-05-2004, 13:23
I think just use standard post then and split the order up and then cross fingers. Thanks
kriswicks77 - Just use normal post from DVDCrave and it should be fine, no matter what you order. I have ordered multiple box sets from them, all in one order totaling over £200 easily and never had a hit. Have places 3 or so orders like that.
In the suppliers forum there is a thread about the X-Files sets and a fair amount of people are mentioning getting them from Crave with no customs either :)
I believe a friend of mine has always used the DHL option with Crave so he could track the parcel. He also ordered box sets and never got hit. But that was a fair while ago I think so who knows now.
Originally posted by kat23
They don't here, have to go and collect/pay at post office.
Got caught for customs yesterday :( Was in error as well as was well under £18.00 so now in process of claiming. Was fairly easy. Just phoned the number on the customs form on the parcel, told the woman I spoke to the situation and I just have to send off proof and I'll get a refund.
The royal mail charge will be the difficult bit me thinks. :suspect:
Just thought I'd post an update as I have just received confirmation from Customs that i shall be getting the charge refunded (in the next 30 days).
I then phoned the Royal Mail customer line to find out about claiming back their charge as well and it was extremely easy to do!! Was very surprised. They just asked for my name and address and wil be sending the refund shortly. They asked for the date I got the parcel but no other proof needing sending to them.
So overal slightly annoying I had to claim it back but very easy to do :)
I just Bought Nightmare on Elm street Collection R1, and got Stung by a £12 customs charge which is'nt too bad. But still would have been better without.
fingers_fidge
09-06-2004, 21:04
Hi
i am looking to buy the New Batman Animated Box set out in July the best price i have seen is £18.55 will i get hit with customs on this or will it go through ?
Cheers
No way of knowing, you might get lucky or you might get hit. The limit is £18, and a lot depends on the etailer you are using.
I've just been hit for £7.21 for Dead Like Me from DVDSoon.
It was 16p over the customs limit! :mad: :mad:
Hang on a minute!
Can someone explain how they get this value?
I did the calculations using the first page as follows:
CAD$44.98 = £18.16
18.16 * 3.5 / 100 = 63p Duty
18.79 * 17.5 / 100 = £3.29 VAT
Total to pay is £3.92 + £4 Handling
Therefore £7.92
So where did they get the figure of £7.21?! :searchme: :thinking:
------------------------------------------------
I've just figured it out!
They have only charged me VAT and Handling. :doh:
HMCE current exchange rate:
CAD$44.98 = £18.34
£18.34 * 17.5 / 100 = £3.21 VAT + £4 Handling
Therefore £7.21 exactly!
charles w
23-07-2004, 20:37
who are the most customs friendly australian suppliers ?
i recently ordered a pair of football boots from the US costing $70 with a $35 delivery charge. how much should i be paying in terms of custom's charges? i received a call from ups saying that the charges were going to be £28 bt this seems a bit excessive. am i wrong?
DeadKenny
27-07-2004, 23:35
We've been un-"stickied" :suspect: ;) (and a title change).
Is the title change to reflect not just DVDs? (makes sense).
DeadKenny
27-07-2004, 23:48
i recently ordered a pair of football boots from the US costing $70 with a $35 delivery charge. how much should i be paying in terms of custom's charges? i received a call from ups saying that the charges were going to be £28 bt this seems a bit excessive. am i wrong?
$70 + $35 = $105 = £58 aprox
+ Duty... I don't know what that is for football boots, assume 0% for the moment but it's likely to be higher
+ VAT @ 17.5% (aprox £10.15) = £68.15
+ UPS handling fee (from first page, £10 or 2% whichever largest, so £10) = £78.15
less the £58
= £20
As that's lower than £28, I'd guess there's a nice amount of duty in there too, though seems a lot of duty (it would have to be around 12%!, though maybe. Were they leather?).
To work it out exactly, you would have to call HMC&E to get the commodity code for football boots and then find out what the current duty rate is for that code.
DeadKenny
30-07-2004, 17:06
Bump.
Can we change this back to having 'FAQ' in the title (and be a sticky)? It just looks like a regular question someone's posted now rather than somewhere people can go to first without posting the same old question.
If not, do supplier threads get pruned, as if so we need to be careful this doesn't get deleted if it doesn't get bumped for a while?
Though I still feel it would be better to have an 'FAQ' forum with a thread per 'FAQ'. I've seen this done on many forums and works quite well.
DeadKenny
04-08-2004, 11:14
bump.
Can we change this back to having 'FAQ' in the title (and be a sticky)? It just looks like a regular question someone's posted now rather than somewhere people can go to first without posting the same old question.It took me a while to find this thread earlier, so I've reported your post to draw moderator attention.
Restuck and renamed back to [FAQ] :thumbs:
/dodgy forums software.... mumble mumble!
DeadKenny
04-08-2004, 17:24
Cool :thumbs:
Just checked the exchange rate used by Customs for August (in the not so handy pdf form) and I'm very :?: Loads of them look completely different to last month.
eg
Canada was 2.47 now 1.5
HK was 14.1 now also 1.5
USA was 1.8 now 75.2 !!!!!
and I can't even find Australia.
So have I missed some obvious change or is it time to order everything from America ?
Abhisara
04-08-2004, 22:55
Looks like they've missed Argentina and Australia off the top of the list and all the values in the right-hand column have been shifted by 2 rows (i.e. look 2 rows below to find the correct rate). As a result it's missing the USD rate at the moment.
Yeh, I thought it looked something like that. Those two countries aren't on July's list either but the other rates look OK ?!?!
Anyone know if I will get hit by customs with a DVD boxset from 'Powerplay' (based in jersey/gurnsey?) I've ordered from Play before and never been charged.
Anyone know if I will get hit by customs with a DVD boxset from 'Powerplay' (based in jersey/gurnsey?) I've ordered from Play before and never been charged.
You will need to check with them to see if they pre-pay the VAT as Play and the such do, in which case you will be safe.
DeadKenny
09-08-2004, 10:12
You will need to check with them to see if they pre-pay the VAT as Play and the such do, in which case you will be safe.
Only in the case of R2 (i.e. UK/EU sourced) DVDs. Those from outside the EU don't get VAT/duty pre-paid.
I've ordered £56 worth of CDs from America (software) so can anyone tell me how much I'll pay if I get stung? Is it just 17.5%? And what would the charge be if I ordered £150 worth?
DeadKenny
09-08-2004, 15:42
I've ordered £56 worth of CDs from America (software) so can anyone tell me how much I'll pay if I get stung? Is it just 17.5%? And what would the charge be if I ordered £150 worth?
Read the first page.
However you will have to find out what the duty is for software and substitute the duty in the calculation on the first page. All other values will apply (VAT and handling fees) on top of the duty. It will come to more than 17.5% for certain.
You need to contact HMC&E to find the commodity code for software and then you can look up the duty rate for that code. I'm not sure if you can do all of that online or if you need to call them.
The URL for the current rates seems to have moved - here is the one for September 04:
http://www.hmce.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&propertyType=document&id=HMCE_PROD_010488
They now seem to only allow you to get the rates by downloading a PDF (~ 33k)
This seems to be a generic page:
http://www.hmce.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageImport_RatesCodesTools&columns=1&id=EXRATES_2004
splobber
06-12-2004, 18:16
Does anyone know what the current score is with R1 boxsets from CD-Wow! (UK) (http://tracker.tradedoubler.com/click?p=3128&a=60823&g=17349)?
Are they still reshipping from the Isle of Man or are they reimbursing via vouchers if you get caught by the customs rozzers?
According to this recent thread (http://www.thedvdforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=332428) they are still customs friendly; I'll let you know in a couple of days as I ordered the Fanny and Alexander 5-disk Criterion from them and it's on its way...
splobber
06-12-2004, 21:46
Looking at that thread they don't seem friendly full stop if you do get charged. :suspect:
Well they bleedin' well better be customs friendly as I've ordered a Matrix set with them. :suspect:
DeadKenny
06-12-2004, 22:13
Bearing in mind of course that by law you are supposed to be paying VAT/Duty ;)
splobber
07-12-2004, 07:23
Naturally, but I ordered from them due to them being accomodating. I could have ordered from DVD Soon (http://www.dvdsoon.com/index.xml?partner_id=10040) and took the risk - probably would have worked out cheaper with the charge too.
Looking at that thread they don't seem friendly full stop if you do get charged. :suspect: But it says... "You should not have to pay any duty on items ordered from us, if you find that you have been charged we would be happy to refund you the amount by e-voucher." and later on immediate response from cd-wow they are sending me sa voucher to cover the customs charge Seems to be customs friendly to me (well, if you plan to buy anything else from them)?
splobber
07-12-2004, 14:16
It also says that he hasn't received the voucher and they are ignoring his emails.
I'll wait and see what happens, no point in bothering too much with it now.
It also says that he hasn't received the voucher and they are ignoring his emails. My mistake - or rather my browser's (?!)... until I looked just now it stopped with The Dot's last post :doh:
As you say, we'll just have to wait and see...
Oky doke, my Fanny & Alexander set just turned up, customs free :clap:
It came in a cardboard box, posted in Middlesex, with "No Declared Value: F:N" written on the label where it usually shows the value.
Lovely looking set, btw - three digipacks in a cardboard slipcase, a bit like the Monterey Pop set, only bigger :thumbs:
What exactly is Mount Pleasant? A town, name of the customs building?
What exactly is Mount Pleasant? A town, name of the customs building? Main sorting office in London where most if not all the post from abroad comes into and is sorted before being sent off around the country. And home to a lovely unit of posties who assess and levy VAT and duty on all our packets
With the £ so strong, I'm looking to get some R1 boxsets. Which places am I least likely to get stung by customs??
Porsmond
01-01-2005, 17:26
With the £ so strong, I'm looking to get some R1 boxsets. Which places am I least likely to get stung by customs??
Why not try Loaded247 (http://www.loaded247.com) they are based in the UK and dispatch everything from there so they dont charge customs, just ordered a few Region 1 DVD's from there a few days ago to try them out.
I also think CD-WOW (http://tracker.tradedoubler.com/click?p=3128&a=60823&g=17349) doesnt charge customs either, because again they are based in the UK, so give one of these 2 companies a try.
DeadKenny
02-01-2005, 11:45
I also think CD-WOW (http://tracker.tradedoubler.com/click?p=3128&a=60823&g=17349) doesnt charge customs either, because again they are based in the UK, so give one of these 2 companies a try.
They're UK based but the majority of their business is located in Hong Kong, but if they ship an item that's over £18, they'll ship it via a UK or EU depot (though some stuff comes from Douglas in the Isle of Man which I'm not sure about the EU VAT/duty status). If it's under £18 it will probably be shipped from HK unless it's an item that can't be sourced from the "grey market" (i.e. far east), and then it will be shipped from the UK.
I'm not sure about music CDs these days as CD-Wow (http://tracker.tradedoubler.com/click?p=3128&a=60823&g=17349) were bullied by the music industry into not supplying grey market CDs to UK customers because of the illegal protection racket the industry has, so they have to source from the UK :mad:. If you live anywhere else in the world, they can ship a cheaper grey import :oh-hum:
Had a quick flick through this thread and don't think my question has answered before:
All,
Placed an order for 5 DVDs from Amazon Japan. Arrived today with a courtesy bill of £25 from HMCE. The box obviously says Amazon Japan all over it and the shipping label states the correct value of 22,000 Yen. At the top of the label it has the Amazon Japan address however over the top of this address has been stuck a label that says:
PRIORITAIRE
Deutsche Post
Port Paye,
***** Frankfurt
Allemagne
En Case de non remise, priere de retourner a:
****** Niederaula
ALLEMAGNE
(Presumably meaning if undelivered send back to Germany)
Amazon have obviously shipped my package to Germany, stuck this label on it and sent it from the EU. Therefore my question is - should I, or should I not have been charged?
Incidentally I've noticed this on all my previous Amazon Japan purcased but this is the first charge.....
Cheers!
Ed Parsons
05-01-2005, 20:28
Amazon have obviously shipped my package to Germany, stuck this label on it and sent it from the EU. Therefore my question is - should I, or should I not have been charged?
The goods originated from outside the EU so if the value is over £18 then Customs charges apply.
Amazon have obviously shipped my package to Germany, stuck this label on it and sent it from the EU. Therefore my question is - should I, or should I not have been charged? Yep, as said the goods originated outside the EU so VAT & duty were due. It was not paid when they came into Germany, that was just for onward shipping so were due when they got to you.
bungle1979
07-01-2005, 23:54
One puzzler for all you up on customs practices. Got home to find a notice from RM saying I had a customs charge of £7.32 waiting on a package.
I've ordered a few from DVDSOON in recent weeks, taking advantage of my fidelity card discount (25%). Of the shipped items I've narrowed it down to two possibles - a Simpsons season 5 boxset (cost before discount, $41.98CAD), or Only Fools & Horses boxset (cost before discount, $51.98CAD). The former was shipped pre-Christmas, the latter shipped 4 days ago. By my reckoning, it's more likely to be the Simpsons. Even without taking into account the Fidelity card discount, that should be customs free, should it not?
(which leads on to my second question....) - if it is the latter, where do I stand with regard to the fidelity card discount??? Can I claim that the price stated on the customs label (DVDSoon admitted they could not alter the prices to match the price paid by the customer, merely their current value of the product) was not the price paid?
I'm not likely to be able to get to the sorting office until Monday/Tuesday at the earliest, wanted to hear any thoughts before I went down there and parted with any cash.
Cheers for any help offered!
I would not have thought so - customs declarations and charges are on the intrinsic value of the goods, not what you paid for it. Otherwise you could buy an item for $1000, paying $995 on a "loyalty card" and $5 cash and get it declared as $5.
If you think it should be taken into account, try ringing the national helpline number and ask them.
HMCE told me that if the that they would only accept the value of the goods to be the value declared at time of import. If the goods are over declared they would are not willing to issue any refunds. (they double checked this with the National Duty Repayment Centre in Dover)
They also confirmed that dvd soon should be declaring the discount value rather than pre-discount value. (dvd soon have said they would fix their labels but couldn't do it over the christmas period)
Otherwise you could buy an item for $1000, paying $995 on a "loyalty card" and $5 cash and get it declared as $5.
They wouldn't allow you to declare a item if discounted via a loyalty card which cost the same as the discount given because you are still paying the cash equivalent of the discount so it has to be declare as the full value of the goods.
They don't allow discount coupons or gift certificates to lower the declared value as they are both cash equivalents and so must be declared at full value.
Discount cards like the one dvdsoon provide are permitted as you are not paying the cash equivalent for the discount given, so it can be declared with the discounted value.
I am just about to place an order with Koreandvds.com for the first time. Do they list the DVD costs and shipping charge seperately on parcels/packages or do they show only one amount (DVD+P&P). This will affect my order as the DVD amount is under the customs limit of £17.99 but over the limit with the postage costs of $9.95.
They seem to mark only the DVD costs, but often rounded to the nearest dollar; I think the current HMC&E rates allow you about US $34.
Thanks for the info SimonI. I decided to play it safe for my first order and removed one DVD from my basket so the total amount (incl. p&p) was under $34.
matt_james27
13-01-2005, 20:56
How much customs for electronic item - digital camera?
if the value is around £200 , but marked as a gift (person-to-person gift) will I still be charged?
The TARIC site aint working so bit lost,
thnx for ur help :thumbs:
DeadKenny
13-01-2005, 21:38
How much customs for electronic item - digital camera?
if the value is around £200 , but marked as a gift (person-to-person gift) will I still be charged?
The TARIC site aint working so bit lost,
thnx for ur help :thumbs:
From http://www.hmce.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/downloadFile?contentID=HMCE_PROD_009989
Duty on a digital camera is free, and VAT is standard rate so just follow the calculation...
value of item inc shipping + VAT + handling fee of courier (depends which courier you use).
So for example, on £200 and if you used a regular post method that will be delivered by RM in this country (e.g. USPS in the U.S.)...
(£200 x 17.5 / 100) + £4 = £39
As for the issue of marking as a gift, sorry you still have to pay because...
1. The gift limit is £36 and £200 is way over that
2. The gift limit does not apply anyway, it's still £18 unless it is an unsolicited gift from a private individual and on an occasional basis, and you haven't paid any money for the item.
i.e. it must be something bought by a relative/friend/etc abroad, sent from their home address, for a birthday or similar and not something you requested (i.e. 'unsolicited'). By paying someone to send the item to you, it's no longer a gift. Even ebay items sent from private addresses don't count as gifts because a transaction has been involved.
However, if you got it sent from a private address with 'gift' marked on it you might get away with it if the item was under £36, but it still doesn't help you when the value of the item is £200.
The best way to get around it is to buy it from a company who's prepared to do a false declaration and mark the declaration as a returned item with £0 value, as if you'd sent the item for repair. However it's illegal for them to do that... but who would know... ;)
Now my thread has been closed, does anyone have any idea what the Customs Duty is on car parts? I'm gonna assume I have to pay the normal rate of VAT.
Deaks.
Veronique from DVDSoon (http://www.thedvdforums.com/jump.php?url=http://www.dvdsoon.com/index.xml^QS^partner_id=10040) has replied to the Marking of Value thread on dvd swaps with the following:
Hi,
I know that what I will say will not be appreciate by all of you but after many verifications and discussions, it has been decided that the value printed on the custom declaration will not be changed for those who have the Fidelity ICard.
In clear, it means that we need to indicate the value of the product regardless the price paid by the client.
I am sorry about this but there is nothing I can do more for the moment.
Thank you for your comprehension.
so basically, they will be marking the value of goods BEFORE any discount including the ifidelity card :( Judging by the reactions I think they may re-consider but not before many people have stopped using them....
matt_james27
14-01-2005, 21:55
thnx for all ur help deadkenny, I think i'll buy it from here instead :(
bungle1979
16-01-2005, 22:31
Further to my query above, picked up the parcel.... and found it was the Simpsons season 5!
Value on the box says 41.98 CAD $, which was just under the exchange rate at the time according to the hmce website. For those who have complained regarding a charge, what's the protocol? Can I watch the DVDS or do they need to be unused for any reason? I did open the parcel but kept the customs labels and declarations intact.
Further to my query above, picked up the parcel.... and found it was the Simpsons season 5!
Value on the box says 41.98 CAD $, which was just under the exchange rate at the time according to the hmce website. For those who have complained regarding a charge, what's the protocol? Can I watch the DVDS or do they need to be unused for any reason? I did open the parcel but kept the customs labels and declarations intact.
I sucessfully appealed the charge on my Simpsons S5 (see posts in the dvdsoon faq). You've paid for the DVD's so no reason why you can't watch them. Send a letter to the address on the customs label pointing out the exchange rate on the day they levied the charges and enclose photocopies of all the labels from the box (including the address and declaration) . I also enclosed an invoice from Printed from DVDsoon regarding the 25% off offer but I doubt if that had any influence.
It took a week and a half to get a reply (another 30 days until I get the refund).
Now all I have to do is get the handling charge back from the Royal Mail.
DeadKenny
17-01-2005, 09:43
Now all I have to do is get the handling charge back from the Royal Mail.
:lol:
I think they have a policy of not refunding it. As far as they are concerned they had to collect money and hold the package on behalf of HMC&E. It doesn't matter to them whether or not you get charged.
It's a bit like ParcelFarce's express package charge which is mandatory even if you don't get charged, supposedly because they are rushing the parcel through customs (yeah right :suspect: ) :oh-hum:.
As for appealing to Customs, I think they reserve the right to request the packaging and contents. According to their site they can arrange a hearing of sorts where you go along and prove your case, but I guess that's mainly for business customers.
You'll have a case if you can prove the HMC&E exchange rate for that day did put it under the limit. It has to be their rate though, not the rates published on any old web site.
Was it 41.98 CAD$ inc shipping? If so you can argue the value of shipping, as the £18 limit is the value of the item before shipping (though once over shipping is taxed as well).
As for the issue of discounts, I'll say again, it's the intrinsic value of the item they go on. It's not necessarily how much you paid for the item. What's declared and what HMC&E decide is the value can be two separate things (though generally not if the declaration seems accurate).
Discounts involving cash-equivalents (coupons, gift certificates etc) don't count as they are treated as cash and the value of the item is still the full price. If an item is discounted without a cash-equivalent system, then they can declare the discounted value, however HMC&E are still legally allowed to make their own mind up on the value if they feel the declared value is not the worth of the item. Generally though it has to be wildly out for that to happen.
As for DVDSoon's card, you are paying for the card so it's a bit of a grey area there. If declared values are significantly lower than the value of the item (like when DVDSoon declared at $12), HMC&E might get picky about it.
Interesting to note by the way that Soon are still declaring at $12 for UPS packages (or at least they did with my ROTK gift set) ;)
:lol:
I think they have a policy of not refunding it. As far as they are concerned they had to collect money and hold the package on behalf of HMC&E. It doesn't matter to them whether or not you get charged.
It's a bit like ParcelFarce's express package charge which is mandatory even if you don't get charged, supposedly because they are rushing the parcel through customs (yeah right :suspect: ) :oh-hum:.
I hope not, the letter from HMCE gave me a number for RM telling me to contact them for the £4.00.
Of course if I hadn't left the letter at home today I could have called them by now and found out if it was refundable or not.
RomerojpgX
17-01-2005, 16:39
Right I got stung by customs today and wondering if anyone can help?
I ordered a dvd set the Lord of the Rings Wooden Box from Taiwan, and it cost me 80 pound! and was delivered by EMS and they knocked on the door today and asked for a cheque now or I dont get the parcel! the cheque was for 30 pounds!!!!! but the parcel has no price on the front! only the postage from what I can see, so it looks like they have opened the parcel and ripped open the documents to see how much the parcel cost! is this normal? is it legal? they just opened and looked in and messed about and then charged me 30 quid
:razz:
I am not happy as the price is not on the front from what I can see, so how can they justify openeing and looking at private documents? it was marked as a gift and the price was 700 NT$ so really where the hell did they pull 30 quid from!!!!! and they didnt even give my dad any form of slip to say he paid by cheque.
I am furious and have no idea what to day apart from swear a lot, and moan, so thought may as well ask people who know about this on here and see what you lot think, as I am very angry and want to kill someone! :cry:
DeadKenny
17-01-2005, 16:53
Right I got stung by customs today and wondering if anyone can help?
I ordered a dvd set the Lord of the Rings Wooden Box from Taiwan, and it cost me 80 pound!
£80 is way over £18. Therefore by law you have to pay VAT & duty. Everything from here onwards is you complaining that you haven't got away with not paying ;)
and was delivered by EMS and they knocked on the door today and asked for a cheque now or I dont get the parcel! the cheque was for 30 pounds!!!!! but the parcel has no price on the front! only the postage from what I can see,
I assume there was no price on the customs declaration sticker then?
so it looks like they have opened the parcel and ripped open the documents to see how much the parcel cost! is this normal? is it legal? they just opened and looked in and messed about and then charged me 30 quid
:razz:
Yes. HMC&E have rights under customs law to open packages. They usually put a sticker or stamp on the parcel to say they've done this.
I am not happy as the price is not on the front from what I can see, so how can they justify openeing and looking at private documents?
They can justify opening it because it hasn't been declared properly, so they need to find out the value. If they can't find the value inside the package they are within their rights to check out the web site or look up elsewhere what the typical value is for the item.
it was marked as a gift
Won't make a difference. It was sent from a company. Besides 'gift' just means the limit is £36. £80 is still way over £36.
and the price was 700 NT$ so really where the hell did they pull 30 quid from!!!!! and they didnt even give my dad any form of slip to say he paid by cheque.
You just said it was £80. 700 NT$ = £11, so I guess that was on the customs declaration or inside the box somewhere. If so, it's a false declaration and HMC&E will go find out the true value as they'll take one look at it and say "no way is it worth £11" ;)
Assuming £80 though...
£80 + 3.5% duty + 17.5% VAT = £17.29
and the rest comes from the handling fee. If it's a courier it could quite easily make the price up to £30, but if it was RoyalMail it should only be an extra £4.
I am furious and have no idea what to day apart from swear a lot, and moan, so thought may as well ask people who know about this on here and see what you lot think, as I am very angry and want to kill someone! :cry:
Sorry mate but by law you have to pay VAT&Duty on items with intrinsic value over £18. If the item is worth £80, you pay.
Complain to the PM or the Queen if you object ;)
I feel your pain though. First time I got stung I was angry, but then you learn to live with it and if you order enough you get away with more than you get stung on so it makes up for it, even if technically it's all illegal and you should be paying on every single item over £18 ;)
RomerojpgX
17-01-2005, 17:02
This isnt the 1st time thats my point they have had 400 quid from me over the last few months, I dont mind them as the price was on the front. (it kills me cash wise, but the price was in the open)
but the price on the front of this was 700!
it doesnt matter what they think its worth, it says 700, so how can they just go ahead and change the price! its not right, so if I buy something and they put the right price on the front and Customs think it costs more can they do that, as basically thats what I see they have done no idea how that can be legal, they dont know I didnt pay 700 for it! :(
DeadKenny
17-01-2005, 17:16
but the price on the front of this was 700!
it doesnt matter what they think its worth, it says 700, so how can they just go ahead and change the price! its not right, so if I buy something and they put the right price on the front and Customs think it costs more can they do that, as basically thats what I see they have done no idea how that can be legal, they dont know I didnt pay 700 for it! :(
Absolutely they can do that. That's the way the law works. It's to protect against exactly what this supplier is doing, which is false decalarations (which are illegal). In fact you are the one legally responsible for the declaration, not them (see below).
Besides it's not what you paid for it but the intrinsic value of the item (what it's worth).
The declaration is effectively just a guide which saves them a lot of effort in finding out the real value. If you had a declaration of 700NT$ on a standard DVD sized package, they'd most likely believe it, but that kind of price in a big box is going to raise eyebrows, so they'll investigate further. If they think the declared value is about right, they won't bother investigating further.
There's a new notice on HMC&E's site which is of interest here...
Note: Some unscrupulous overseas suppliers openly advertise on the internet, or on their web-sites that they will deliberately either misdescribe items or underdeclare their value in order to evade customs charges that are legally due on importation. You should be aware that although the foreign sender may have completed the customs declaration form on the parcel you are regarded (in law) as the importer of the goods and responsible for the information on the declaration, and any customs charges that may be due. This means that if you purchase goods from these suppliers and the declaration is found to be false or misleading you may be liable to financial penalties or criminal prosecution. Furthermore the goods themselves will be liable to forfeiture. It is in your own interests to ensure customs declarations are completed properly.
RomerojpgX
17-01-2005, 17:32
I guess I got off light then :)
still the thing is they dont actually know how much you did pay, thats what gets me I may well have paid 700 for some reason, strange yes but it does happen, esspecially off Ebay I have had massive cheap things for a fraction of the price from companies on Ebay and basically Customs could say no you didnt pay that we will make up a price we think its worth, thats just ignorant on Customs behalf :( and it shouldnt be right at all :(
Thanks for looking at my little prob, at least I can calm down a bit now :)
DeadKenny
17-01-2005, 17:51
still the thing is they dont actually know how much you did pay, thats what gets me I may well have paid 700 for some reason, strange yes but it does happen, esspecially off Ebay I have had massive cheap things for a fraction of the price from companies on Ebay and basically Customs could say no you didnt pay that we will make up a price we think its worth, thats just ignorant on Customs behalf :( and it shouldnt be right at all :(
It's not ignorant, it's the law. Of course Dickens did famously say "If the law supposes that, the law is an ass" ;)
We used to have a lovely time with CAD$12 declarations from DVD Soon for ages until HMC&E wrote to DVD Soon and told them to stop what they were doing. A shame, but it's more a case of "oh well, the party is over".
I believe the same kind of customs laws apply in other countries though the exact duties, taxes and limits vary.
RomerojpgX
17-01-2005, 18:52
Ahhh the good old days of Customs friendly places like DVDSOON :)
how the bubble burst, thanks again :)
I probibly will still try to send an email to someone and complain to someone :) you never know someone may listen and give me something ( no not jail time)
Paul Moran
19-01-2005, 23:45
I hope not, the letter from HMCE gave me a number for RM telling me to contact them for the £4.00.Odd. The letter I received from HMC&E yesterday morning (19 Jan), in response to my letter dated 14 Jan (asking why they'd charged duty on $41.98 (=£17.75)), said that they would be refunding the total charge of £7.32 including the £4 Royal Mail Clearance Fee.
bungle1979
20-01-2005, 00:33
Not sure if this affects anyone else (may explain why RM charges were refunded above), but when I spoke to the woman at Mount Pleasant regarding my problem, she said that they hadn't received updated exchange rates from HMCE during December.... she said I would get a full refund if I wrote in enclosing the charge sheet and the packaging declaration....
Spoke to RM today and they just asked me to send a copy of the customs letter and they'd sort it out for me .
Got my big fat refund cheque from HMC&E on saturday. £3.32, must remember not to spend it all in one place :)
I bought ER Season 2 from DVDSoon for 47.98 CAD (Canadian).
I got stung for £3.54 for VAT... plus £4.00 "Royal Mail Clearance Fee" - unbelievable.
I cannot believe that RM can charge a flat fee of £4.00, this exceeds the VAT, I am so unbelievably peeved. Has this gone up recently? I could have sworn it was not this much last time I got hit.
Either way, I guess I won't be buying from DVD Soon anymore, at least not when there is chance of a HMCE sting.
Out of interest, does anyone have a link for the HMCE website page where I can check what this would have converted to on the day it was presented to them, so I can confirm the calculation they have made?
THANKS
Floop
This is the link for the 2004 rates (http://www.hmce.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageImport_RatesCodesTools&columns=1&id=EXRATES_2004) and this (http://www.hmce.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageImport_RatesCodesTools&columns=1&id=EXRATES_2005) is the one for this year.
This is the link for the 2004 rates (http://www.hmce.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageImport_RatesCodesTools&columns=1&id=EXRATES_2004) and this (http://www.hmce.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageImport_RatesCodesTools&columns=1&id=EXRATES_2005) is the one for this year.
Thanks mate, that is very useful.
It appears my order was £2.25 above the £18 limit :mad:
Bah freakin' humbug. The VAT I can live with, the ORRMF (Outrageous Ripoff Royal Mail Fee) makes me want to be violent.
Floop
Idle Child
30-01-2005, 12:23
I have a situation:
I've ordered very expensive items on ebay. 2 huge parcels.
Both are now in the country but have a total of £300 customs charges! I'd break the bank to afford that after buying the items so expensively.
The customs charge is insane considering i bid for items that i can not find in the UK, they are collectors toys from 20 years ago! How can they possibly add such a high VAT charge to such old items? My bid values were declared on the packages for insurance purposes but that's got me into a huge debt with this customs charge. Surely they can't charge such a high amount for auction items. I'm not planning to re-sell the goods here. They are in two large parcels because i bought enough items to complete a set.
WHAT DO I DO? please advise. :(
I have a situation:
I've ordered very expensive items on ebay. 2 huge parcels.
Both are now in the country but have a total of £300 customs charges! I'd break the bank to afford that after buying the items so expensively.
The customs charge is insane considering i bid for items that i can not find in the UK, they are collectors toys from 20 years ago! How can they possibly add such a high VAT charge to such old items? My bid values were declared on the packages for insurance purposes but that's got me into a huge debt with this customs charge. Surely they can't charge such a high amount for auction items. I'm not planning to re-sell the goods here. They are in two large parcels because i bought enough items to complete a set.
WHAT DO I DO? please advise. :( Pay up or lose the items, simple as that. The fact that you do not intend to sell them on means nothing. The VAT and duty charges are set on the value of the goods.
Idle Child
30-01-2005, 12:34
Pay up or lose the items, simple as that. The fact that you do not intend to sell them on means nothing. The VAT and duty charges are set on the value of the goods.
But the "value" of the goods is so high because i BID for them on ebay. They potentially could have been worth a lot less on any given day. They are old items that you can't buy now in the shops now. That must make a difference! I thought the whole point of charges being in place were in order to stop people importing the same items when they could buy them in the high street.
Looks like i've brought this on my self for bidding so high. If i'd have known the customs charge i would have steered well clear.
But the "value" of the goods is so high because i BID for them on ebay. They potentially could have been worth a lot less on any given day. They are old items that you can't buy now in the shops now. That must make a difference! I thought the whole point of charges being in place were in order to stop people importing the same items when they could buy them in the high street. No point arguing with me, I don't make the rules! :D
You could try ringing the HMC&E Advice line and speaking to them but I would be very surprised if they say any different. The value of any goods are what people are prepared to pay for them - the fact that you paid so much for them because they were old and no longer available does not make much difference.
As for what these charges are for, that is steeped in history and I very much doubt anyone could give you a definitive answer, but in view of today's global economy, it is not to get you to buy from the high street, but to ensure a level playing field and that you pay the same amount of VAT/duty as you would on goods bought here.
Idle Child
30-01-2005, 23:09
Paul, i'm not arguing with you, my grievance is with the system which doesn't seem quite right. Perhaps they opened up the boxes and evaluated them as items that i could have bought here - but that's not correct!
As for what these charges are for, that is steeped in history and I very much doubt anyone could give you a definitive answer, but in view of today's global economy, it is not to get you to buy from the high street, but to ensure a level playing field and that you pay the same amount of VAT/duty as you would on goods bought here.
But that's precisely the point. I couldn't buy these items in such condition in the UK. They are not sold here officially anymore. They're auction items and i happened to find what i thought was a good lot. If UK sellers were offering the same then i would have bought in from the UK, it's not like I wanted to spend extra on shipping and the risk of customs.
DeadKenny
02-02-2005, 12:55
Paul, i'm not arguing with you, my grievance is with the system which doesn't seem quite right. Perhaps they opened up the boxes and evaluated them as items that i could have bought here - but that's not correct!
That's exactly correct. That's how the system works in the UK, and the rest of the EU and most other countries in the world have a similar system of applying taxes to imports.
It is indeed based on evaluating them as items you could have bought here. That's the point. In fact it's a bit more than just whether you could have bought them here, but more whether they could have been made and sold here, even if they weren't for that specific item (i.e. does the UK have the resources to make the item or produce the raw materials?).
But that's precisely the point. I couldn't buy these items in such condition in the UK. They are not sold here officially anymore.
Doesn't matter.
Think of it as if the item you are buying abroad has the potential of taking away income the government would have got if it was an item made or sold in the UK (that income may have been through direct taxes or through indirect taxes through the company that makes/sells the product).
You'll notice that a lot of electronic goods have low or even zero duty, because they tend to only be made in the far east or US and the UK doesn't have the same capabilities.
It gets more complicated as I believe sometimes there are reliefs on items though to allow UK manufacturers to import raw items cheap to make their own products (e.g. electronic components).
This is all in regards to duty by the way, VAT on the other hand is a tax across the board for almost all items and applied to every EU country. With a few exceptions (VAT free items), you pay VAT on everything. Just because it's not sold, or even made here, doesn't mean you don't pay VAT on it. Exclusions are on item type (books, childrens clothes, etc).
They're auction items and i happened to find what i thought was a good lot. If UK sellers were offering the same then i would have bought in from the UK, it's not like I wanted to spend extra on shipping and the risk of customs.
As I say, it's not whether it's available for sale in the UK, but rather whether it could possibily have been made or sold in the UK.
Remember that if you had bought it in the UK, you'd still have paid the taxes, absorbed in the price of the item and overheads of the retailer/manufacturer. You wouldn't have paid the handling fees though.
You really need to take up the matter with HMC&E. Remember that VAT&Duty is applied to the intrinsic value of the item. If you paid OTT for the item on ebay, you can argue with HMC&E about the real value of the item. Get a valuation and appeal your charge and HMC&E might take the valuation rather than the price you paid.
You should have got the declaration down as the value though not the price you paid, if the value is lower.
Still, if it's worth a lot of money anyway, you should have done your homework on import duty & VAT before bidding.
I ordered two boxsets for £15 each and DVDSoon labelled the full amount so I got charged by customs.
Wrote the following letter to customs Monday before last
To: The Correspondence Officer
H.M. Customs & Excise
Mount Pleasant Postal Depot
Farringdon Road
London EC1A 1BB
Dear Sir/Madam
RE: Incorrect charges on two parcels
I received two parcels this week, each containing a DVD set I had purchased online from a Canadian company called DVDSoon.
However, the sticker on the parcels showed the recommended retail price of the items and not the actual price I paid.
The actual price I paid for each item was 35.99 Canadian Dollars. Using the January exchange rate from the HM Customs website £1 = 2.3685 Canadian Dollars. Therefore each of the DVD sets is worth 35.99 / 2.3685 = £15.20. This is under the £18 limit.
Unfortunately the wrongly stated recommended retail price meant that I was charged incorrectly.
I have received invoices from DVDSoon which I am attaching which show the actual price I paid. I have highlighted the order number on the invoices and the appropriate stickers on each parcel (photocopies attached).
I hope that given this misunderstanding that you will be able to refund me the charges I had to pay. I paid £7.54 in charges for each DVD set.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours faithfully
8-]
Got a letter back today telling me that they will be refunding me their portion of the charges (2 x £3.54), and that I should call RM for the clearance fees.
Called RM customer services (08457 740740) and they said to write to them explaining the situation and with proof (letter from HM Customs) and they'll sort it out.
Letter I wrote to RM and address to write to are shown below:
To: The Customer Services Officer
Royal Mail Customer Services
P.O. Box 740
Romford
RM1 1AA
Dear Sir/Madam
RE: Incorrect clearance fee charges on two parcels
As per my conversation with your customer services department on 03/02/2005, I am writing to claim back the 2 x £4 clearing fees which I was incorrectly charged for two items I recently received.
I have already shown H.M. Customs & Excise that I should not have been charged and they have confirmed this and will be refunding me their portion of the charges : 2 x £3.54 = £7.08.
There are still the outstanding Royal Mail clearing fees which I incorrectly paid and as such I would appreciate it if you could issue me with a refund for : 2 x £4 = £8.
I am enclosing the following documents as proof:
Letter from me to H.M. Customs & Excise
Letter from H.M. Customs & Excise to me confirming the incorrect charges
2 x receipts for charges paid to Weybridge Post Office
2 x copies of stickers on the packets with breakdown of fees charged
I trust that this is in order and look forward to hearing from you.
Yours faithfully
8-]
This should help a few people.
UPDATE:
I wrote to H.M Customs & Excise on 24/01/2005, got a reply from them on 03/02/2005, and got the refund cheque from them on 12/02/2005.
I wrote to Royal Mail on 08/02/2005 and got their portion of the refund (£8) today (19/02/2005) . Took them just under 2 weeks to process.
:thumbs:
Thanks, :-] I'll gie your letter a try, as I've just been caught with Dream On boxset. Worth a punt, eh?
I wrote to H.M Customs & Excise on 24/01/2005, got a reply from them on 03/02/2005, and got the refund cheque from them on 12/02/2005.
I wrote to Royal Mail on 08/02/2005 and got their portion of the refund (£8) today (19/02/2005) . Took them just under 2 weeks to process.
I sent a letter to Mount Pleasant last week and got a letter back today confirming I will be receiving a cheque in the next few days. Just got to contact Royal Mail now to see if I can get the handling fees back too.
I sent a letter to Mount Pleasant last week and got a letter back today confirming I will be receiving a cheque in the next few days. Just got to contact Royal Mail now to see if I can get the handling fees back too.
I spoke to someone first who confirmed it would be ok. Write to the address I mentioned in my post and include all the info I did. You should get your refund.
I've edited my original post to include my letter to RM as well.
It's here: http://www.thedvdforums.com/forums/showpost.php?p=4901209&postcount=160
Hope this helps.
:)
I want to collect some of the £22 customs charged me for my Nintendo DS from DVD soon when they has their £57 membership price. Could anyone tell me what category a handheld console would come under from a duty point of view? It was declared as a DVD at $249 value so would have been taxed (duty) at 3.5%. I notice computers/palm handhelds are free but I assume it wouldn't come under this category?
Price I paid was around $139 so I should easily be able to get a few quid back.
DeadKenny
24-02-2005, 00:07
I want to collect some of the £22 customs charged me for my Nintendo DS from DVD soon when they has their £57 membership price. Could anyone tell me what category a handheld console would come under from a duty point of view? It was declared as a DVD at $249 value so would have been taxed (duty) at 3.5%. I notice computers/palm handhelds are free but I assume it wouldn't come under this category?
You'd have to ring HMC&E really and find out the commodity code unless someone here knows for sure. The guide to common items is an indication but there might be something specific for games consoles. It could come under a player (12%) or MP3 player(2% so long as there's no radio, otherwise 10%), but it's hard to tell. Might be palm-held so free, but if it has a calculator feature that makes it 3.7% :cuckoo:
Price I paid was around $139 so I should easily be able to get a few quid back.
Price you paid does not necessarily mean HMC&E will take that value. You've got a chance of arguing your case, but they could just say it was valued at $249 so that's the value, or they could easily say they know the real value and use their value.
HMC&E are very aware of the value of certain popular items at the moment. Nintendo DS's are one of those items. Other one's they're onto are iPods of any form even through ebay sales where declared values are "dubious".
P.S. An interesting note on HMC&E's site now regarding when you get charged with Internet imports...
If you purchase goods through the Internet you should be aware that Customs duty and VAT will be payable, as follows:
* Customs duty - if the amount of duty is £7 and over and
* Import VAT - if the value of the goods is £18 and over.
So this means surely that you won't get charged duty on DVD imports unless you spend over £200? ! (as at 3.5% you'd only get to £7 duty at £200 value)
Obviously you'll still get charged VAT if the value is over £18, but this would make things a lot better for reducing our bills? :thumbs:
Is this new?
Paul Moran
25-02-2005, 11:22
Wrote to HMC&E on 21 Feb about charges on 26 Jan, 31 Jan and 4 Feb, on 3 packages marked with "before discount" values. Received their reply today, agreeing to refund the HMC&E element. Now to write to Royal Mail!
Many thanks to 8-] and others for blazing the trail on this one. I recall that other posters (on the DVD Soon thread) had been arguing that the charges had to be assessed on the "before discount" price, or that HMC&E would not make refunds even if the declared value was too high. Good job you didn't take any notice of them!
if i am ordering a box set from amazon usa for £150 how much do you think i will send up paying ?
If it is DVDs, then you will pay 17.5% VAT and 3.5% import duties, on the total price including shipping, plus a £4 post office admin fee; so it would work out at about £35.
HugoMorse
09-03-2005, 22:34
A few questions regarding DVD Soon.
I have read that some people have claimed back the customs charges and RM handling fee for packages that are incorrectly charged. When you contact customs, what exactly do you say - that DVD Soon run a membership scheme whereby the list price is lower for members than the declared amount hence wanting a refund.
What proof do you need to supply as I only have the PDF's from the DVD Soon website and the jiffy. (I pay for my fees via franking labels so do not have a receipt or cheque stub for the payment).
On the current promotion we get an extra 10% via the Voucher TIMESMA05. Regarding items that are over the customs limit, but where I am entitled to a partial refund, will customs take into consideration the voucher too? Or, will they claim that the voucher constitutes a form of payment and base the fee and refund amount on the membership price only?
The reason why I am asking is to see if it is worth cancelling some orders that had a greater membership discount (20%) but are now cheaper with the new discount structure (I am Gold) and the voucher combined (works out to 12% membership plus 10% discount = 22%)? I could save myself $6 by re-ordering the PSP but think it will may cost me more on customs by doing so.
Thank you
Paul Moran
10-03-2005, 00:25
A few questions regarding DVD Soon....For standard letters, have a look at post 160 in this thread. I sent screen prints of the orders (from "MY Account"), instead of Adobe invoice prints, and HMC&E were happy to accept them.
HugoMorse
10-03-2005, 06:12
For standard letters, have a look at post 160 in this thread. I sent screen prints of the orders (from "MY Account"), instead of Adobe invoice prints, and HMC&E were happy to accept them.
Thank you, that is a great help.
areyou able to answer my other questions too :)
:notworthy
rbullivant
10-03-2005, 06:48
I don't understand how it will cost you more customs and if it does you can claim them back. Downside is it will put you at the back of the queue for your PSP
Rik
HugoMorse
10-03-2005, 06:59
I don't understand how it will cost you more customs and if it does you can claim them back. Downside is it will put you at the back of the queue for your PSP
Rik
It is the second point that I have been thinking about a lot. :)
linkslow
12-03-2005, 18:37
I've just had a problem with DHL they sent me an invoice for payment for customs however they made a mistake and charged me the incorrect amount as they charged me in US dollars rather than HK dollars, any one got any advice on what I can do.
Yes. Write back to them enclosing your own invoice, levying an 'inconvenience fee' which you charge to anyone who inconveniences you, based upon a rate of say, £15.00 / per hour of inconvenience caused, thus effectively cancelling out anything they claim you owe them.
Make sure you remind them that the inconvenience fee has been set in line with European Union guidelines for such fees and that you would like a cheque to be sent to you within 28 days.
HugoMorse
14-03-2005, 06:50
Yes. Write back to them enclosing your own invoice, levying an 'inconvenience fee' which you charge to anyone who inconveniences you, based upon a rate of say, £15.00 / per hour of inconvenience caused, thus effectively cancelling out anything they claim you owe them.
Make sure you remind them that the inconvenience fee has been set in line with European Union guidelines for such fees and that you would like a cheque to be sent to you within 28 days.
You can put it, but it will not mean anything unless DHL state in their Terms and Conditions that they accept fees incurred by the recepient of the package. If you went to court on this, it would cost you so much money only for you to loose hands down. Don't even bother putting it and make more constructive comments instead. If this would work, then the Banks would be bankrupt from having to pay out loads of fees on all the things they make mistakes on.
You can put it, but it will not mean anything unless DHL state in their Terms and Conditions that they accept fees incurred by the recepient of the package. If you went to court on this, it would cost you so much money only for you to loose hands down. Don't even bother putting it and make more constructive comments instead. If this would work, then the Banks would be bankrupt from having to pay out loads of fees on all the things they make mistakes on.
Worked for me.
HugoMorse
15-03-2005, 06:20
Worked for me.
They sent you a cheque to clear the fees casued for inconvenience?
Or they just wrote off your bill?
They sent me a cheque. I nearly framed it, but I'm too tight ;-)
DeadWalk
16-03-2005, 12:12
Sorry if this is the wrong forum to post but I have a query regarding how to find the whereabouts of a parcel sent to me from the USA.
The parcel is from SecondSpin.com containing second hand cd's. The value is $70 so I'm aware I will need to pay import duty and VAT, etc. It was posted by standard airmail on 02/02/2005 and still hasn't arrived. I've contacted Royal Mail but they say they aren't able to trace incoming international mail. I've contacted SecondSpin and they are investigating from their end.
Do you have any ideas as to who I should now be in contact with to find out where my parcel is? Would HM Customs keep it for weeks and not let me know?
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
HugoMorse
16-03-2005, 18:05
Sorry if this is the wrong forum to post but I have a query regarding how to find the whereabouts of a parcel sent to me from the USA.
The parcel is from SecondSpin.com containing second hand cd's. The value is $70 so I'm aware I will need to pay import duty and VAT, etc. It was posted by standard airmail on 02/02/2005 and still hasn't arrived. I've contacted Royal Mail but they say they aren't able to trace incoming international mail. I've contacted SecondSpin and they are investigating from their end.
Do you have any ideas as to who I should now be in contact with to find out where my parcel is? Would HM Customs keep it for weeks and not let me know?
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Sorry, there is no way to track items sent by air mail. It possible that customs have it. I have been waiting weeks for a item from DVD Soon that will have a customs charge. On the same note, I have been waiting a month for a DVD from DVD Pacific with no customs charge. I know DVD Pacific are slow but DVD Soon normally deliver to me in a week. I would contact Second Spin and ask them what their policy is on lost items as it has been around six weeks for you.
Paul Moran
16-03-2005, 21:24
After HMC&E had agreed to refund the VAT on 3 packets for which the actual price was under the £18 limit, I wrote to Royal Mail, on 28 Feb, to ask for a refund of the clearance fees. Got their cheque for £12 today. ;)
In the meantime, I've had another 2 incorrectly charged packets. Just waiting to see whether a 3rd packet, shipped on 9 Mar, gets charged, before writing about them.
HugoMorse
17-03-2005, 06:55
After HMC&E had agreed to refund the VAT on 3 packets for which the actual price was under the £18 limit, I wrote to Royal Mail, on 28 Feb, to ask for a refund of the clearance fees. Got their cheque for £12 today. ;)
In the meantime, I've had another 2 incorrectly charged packets. Just waiting to see whether a 3rd packet, shipped on 9 Mar, gets charged, before writing about them.
Perhpas it would be a good idea if every one who has had to obtain refunds courteousy of DVD Soon wrote again to point this out in the hope that Customs would contact DVD Soon to change their policy. DVD Soon has gone from one extreme to the other.
Keiron99
17-03-2005, 08:28
Can anyone help.
I'm negotiating with a private CD seller in the US. I want to buy off him a 15 CD set, and we've agreed $450. He's said he'll mark it as a gift, total value $60. What are the chances of me "getting away with it"?
Second, regarding admin charges, who is it that determines who delivers the parcel once it reaches the UK? Ho, for example, would I ensure that it comes via Royal Mail as opposed to Parcel Force?
Thanks
After HMC&E had agreed to refund the VAT on 3 packets for which the actual price was under the £18 limit, I wrote to Royal Mail, on 28 Feb, to ask for a refund of the clearance fees. Got their cheque for £12 today. ;)
In the meantime, I've had another 2 incorrectly charged packets. Just waiting to see whether a 3rd packet, shipped on 9 Mar, gets charged, before writing about them.
Got my letter today saying C&E will refund my charges. Will post a letter to the Royal Mail tommorrow. :D
8-] Many thanks, mate. :notworthy
Aside: A bloke at work looking at the new budget said Brown is looking at raising the customs import level from £18 to .... £1000!!! Haven't checked whether this is true, but bloody hell, if it is, then :eek:
B!
On the BBC News (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4351777.stm) site it says The chancellor confirmed that he has written to the European Commission, requesting that the tax-free limit on goods brought into the UK from outside the European Union be increased from £145 to £1,000. Not the same thing as our £18 limit though?
DeadKenny
21-03-2005, 12:25
Aside: A bloke at work looking at the new budget said Brown is looking at raising the customs import level from £18 to .... £1000!!! Haven't checked whether this is true, but bloody hell, if it is, then :eek:
Unfortunately not.
The £1000 applies to goods you bring over personally not items through the post. The current limit, as said, is £145 and this is being raised to £1000. It's really just a cost cutting exercise as it means customs at airports etc don't have to bother so much about the thousands of travellers who bring in stuff over the £145 excess (I brought in £500+ worth of skis on my last trip, sneaking through Nothing to Declare :D, but wouldn't have needed to worry if it was £1000).
The £18 on posted items I believe still stands.
JCTurner
21-03-2005, 18:25
Question is from what date will you be able to bring £1000 worth of goods in ?
Is there always a delay when customs look at packages.
I bought the scorsese box at 19.77GBP inc delivery (18.20 before I think) so am expecting to be charged as I understand that dvdsoon put the price before discounts (+10%).
It was sent on the 12 march 2005 using standard.
LouBarlow
21-03-2005, 19:58
I believe it delays things at least a week.
Porsmond
22-03-2005, 21:39
Hi All, this is probably a really stupid question, but do you get hit with customs from DVD's sent from Jersey if they are over £18???
Its just I got sent a DVD coming from Jersey with dvd.co.uk which was £17.99 and while I didnt get charged extra which I didnt think would happen, there was all sorts of custom references on it saying Customs Value,Weight,what the item was, and there was a signiture saying this package does not contain anything dangerous blah blah and it looked like it was signed by customs.
Strange thing is, I've never had this sort of thing on my packages with other stuff sent from Jersey, but then again the value of products hasnt been over £18 to know if I get charged or not.
Just curious to know if I should be more careful on what stuff I order from Jersey nowadays???
DeadKenny
22-03-2005, 22:01
Items sent from Jersey are consider imports into the EU, so they should have a customs declaration (regardless of being over or under £18). However if they are sending items sourced from within the EU where VAT has already been paid there's no VAT due. I guess in that case they are exempt from a customs declaration.
The reason you may see a declaration with DVDs is if those DVDs are R1. If they're R2 you probably won't.
For dvdsoon is a printout of the "details of your order" page enough to send with a letter along with photocopies opf the box or is it something else ?
Can anyone explain this for me:
I recieved 3 packages from dvdsoon, each marked $46.98 that were hit by customs. But each one had a different customs charge £7.41, £7.52 and £8.37. I know the RM fee is a standard £4 so the problem lies with C&E.
I was under the impression that the exchange rate used to calculate customs was fixed for a month and as I recieved all these packages within the last week I struggle to see reasons for the differing charges.
Im going to be claiming it all back anyway, but its confused me all the same!
For dvdsoon is a printout of the "details of your order" page enough to send with a letter along with photocopies opf the box or is it something else ?
I also included the receipt from the Post Office showing I had paid the charges.
Got my refund for Dream On box set, but look slike I'm going to have to do it all again for the Munsters Season 1. :oh-hum:
I also included the receipt from the Post Office showing I had paid the charges.
Got my refund for Dream On box set, but look slike I'm going to have to do it all again for the Munsters Season 1. :oh-hum:
Thanks. I didn't get a receipt so hopefully the box will do.
MacReady
04-04-2005, 08:48
Had a sift through the thread, may have missed something, but has anyone else ordered from DVDAsian.com? Last week Tues 29/03 I ordered two DVDs, 1st was $26.95 and the 2nd was $19.95 The site said both where in US Dollars.
When I went through the shopping cart process, there was no info regarding whether the DVD's would be posted together or seperately. The dispatch email I received on 30/03 had the same 'Shipped' date and time for both DVDs, so I have a feeling they've been dispatched in one package. If so, I'm probably going to have to pay a fee when they arrive in the Uk. The seperate price for each DVD when converted is around £10 and £14.
can anyone/people here confirm whether they dispatch DVDs seperately? Then I'd not have a customs fee to pay.
Cheers
:)
**edit**
The DVDs arrived together later today, in a single secure package. I wasn't expecting them to turn up till next week, so the delivery time was pretty reasonable. Didn't have to pay any customs fee either.
Just spoke to customs about getting a refund from my DVD Soon packet. Must say they are very helpful.
As soon as he got the paper work out he said let me guess, DVD Soon have printed the price before discount?
He said approximately 25% of his day is taken up dealing with DVD Soon claim backs and they have contacted DVD Soon numerous times asking them to rectify the situation!!!
I've ordered The Blackadder Boxset from DVDSoon at a price of £35.45. I came home from work the other day to find a card from the postman saying there was a £11.50 charge on the parcel.
Does this seem about right? Seems a bit steep at nearly a third of what i've already paid.
I've ordered The Blackadder Boxset from DVDSoon at a price of £35.45. I came home from work the other day to find a card from the postman saying there was a £11.50 charge on the parcel.
Does this seem about right? Seems a bit steep at nearly a third of what i've already paid.
The calculation is on the front page for you to work out, but yep, seems right to me. £7.50-ish duty & VAT and £4 admin fee.
Does anyone know if dvdimport mark their packages with the price you pay or the non-discounted price?
Does anyone know the rate for March? The dvd was posted 30/03 but the HMCE site is down.
Thanks
Had to telephone them, the rate for march is 2.3349 and April is 2.2744
Still the dvd i had was $39.58 and was £17.40 Lucky me.
Letter sent for refund today
bachthao81
02-05-2005, 05:05
I got a laptop in US. Could anyone help me out with calculation of amount to pay to get my laptop in US?
Thanks a ton
DeadKenny
02-05-2005, 10:06
Looks like HM C&E is no more... replaced by HM Revenue & Customs...
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/
Ties up Inland Revenue and C&E under one department.
I got a laptop in US. Could anyone help me out with calculation of amount to pay to get my laptop in US?
I assume you bought it in the US. How are you bringing it back?
If by post...
A laptop is free of Duty and you pay 17.5% VAT on it.
So, you just work it out like this...
Amount to pay = (17.5% of the Value of laptop including shipping) + handling fee of courier (see first page of this thread).
If you are travelling back with the laptop...
Same as above if the laptop is worth more than £145 (most likely). Though this is set to change at some point when the new limit announced in the budget kicks in (£1000), in which case most US bought laptops will come in under this value so will be free.
However there is a good chance you can get a laptop back without getting caught so long as you are prepared to bin the box it came in, or flat pack the box and post it back to the UK. Post the receipts back to the UK too.
bachthao81
02-05-2005, 11:24
Thanks Kenny,
Yeah, it will come here by post. I am willing to bin the box. My friend bought this for me as a present. Your info helps me a lot.
Cheers,
DeadKenny
02-05-2005, 12:54
Thanks Kenny,
Yeah, it will come here by post. I am willing to bin the box. My friend bought this for me as a present. Your info helps me a lot.
If it's coming by post then no need to bin the box. The limit is £18 by post (£36 as a gift in your case so long as it's shipped from a private address) so it's going to be way over anyway.
Can anyone find the May $CA exchange rate on the C&E site, ive been going round in circles!
edit:actually its 2.3774 obtained from here (http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageImport_RatesCodesTools&propertyType=document&id=HMCE_PROD1_024170)
Can anyone find the May $CA exchange rate on the C&E site, ive been going round in circles!
edit:actually its 2.3774 obtained from here (http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageImport_RatesCodesTools&propertyType=document&id=HMCE_PROD1_024170)
Main Page - Quick Links - Exchange Rates
BizKiTRoAcH
25-05-2005, 14:35
Luckily this wasnt me, it was a mate.
He ordered X Japan - The Last Live DVD which was around £45 excluding postage, and he's an impatient bugger so he paid an extra £10 or so for EMS which as you know is express shipping. It was posted on thursday and he got it monday morning, but his dad had to pay a customs charge of £23 when it arrived! I thought this was f'n disgusting for a bloody DVD!
If I remember correctly, the "receipt" that was stuck on the package was a Parcel Force one. Now I was planning on ordering this dvd sometime in the next couple of years when my lazy arse decides to get a job, but I have been put off by this now. If I pay for standard airmail, will I also get hit with a £23 customs charge or was it just Parcel Force being ********?
Any help is appreciated as i'm a thick **** :p
On a slightly similar note, i've ordered dvds from ebay sellers from HK/JP and ordered 5+ DVD's sometimes but never been hit with a customs charge :?:
DeadKenny
26-05-2005, 00:50
If you pay for express shipping with ParcelFarce, it's a mandatory £13.50 handling fee, regardless of whether the item is over the customs limit or not! (as I found to my cost when I wanted something quick that in fact was even exempt anyway! :mad: ).
I think their excuse is the fee is to get it to clear customs quickly (yeah, right :oh-hum: ).
Rule number one... never, ever use express shipping with ParcelFarce!
Standard airmail should in theory go via regular RoyalMail when it gets to the UK, which means there's a much higher chance it will escape customs fees. However, for a £45 item you should be paying VAT & Duty, so assuming you do get hit, then refer to the first page on this thread for the calculation...
... or for lazy buggers...
Take the value of item + shipping cost
Add 3.5% (duty for DVDs)
Add 17.5% (VAT)
Add £4 to go into RM's pocket
Take off the value of item + shipping
What's left is the amount you'll have to pay.
So, let's say airmail was £5...
(£50 + 3.5% + 17.5% + £4) - £50 = £14.80 to pay.
On a slightly similar note, i've ordered dvds from ebay sellers from HK/JP and ordered 5+ DVD's sometimes but never been hit with a customs charge :?:
Luck.
Plus I bet those ebay sellers don't declare the value properly (it's actually illegal to falsify the declaration, but people do it);).
Also, ebay items usually come in packages that look like personal items from an individual, so tend to get away without charges more, but the rule is you still should be paying when buying from ebayers just the same as from retailers, whether the item is new or second hand. Even the 'gift' rule doesn't apply unless you haven't paid for the item or paid anyone else to get it for you (not that anyone can prove it), and besides 'gift' just raises the limit to £36.
I've ordered off plenty of official retailers and rarely get hit, so long as the item goes through RoyalMail. If you order something to be sent by any courier you drastically increase the chances of being hit.
These days though I keep order values under £18 if possible (very easy with stuff from the US given the current exchange rate :D).
ordered a RC engine from Tower Hobbies in the US 2 weeks ago and paid $159. Received it two days ago with no further costs. This engine is £150 here so im well chuffed. ;)
Nebiroth
26-05-2005, 14:28
Does anyone know if dvdimport mark their packages with the price you pay or the non-discounted price?
The price you pay.
All suppliers should mark the price you pay. Just like DVDSoon should mark the packages for those who have received an extra discount via their Fidelity Card witht he discounted price, but don't. :cuckoo:
The only exceptions to this rule are: discounts received for bulk orders, and "trade" discounts. In this case, the full price has to be quoted. Otherwise, the price should be what the customer actually paid. This is why replacement items are quite legally marked as zero valued.
As a side note: I found my one experience with DVDImport very unsatisfactory. They took even longer to deliver than DVDSoon (!), their stock indicators are completely inaccurate (I ordered a rare title from these jokers as they were the only place that claimed to have it in stock - it was for a Christmas gift. I then spent eight weeks watching it "on order").
Finally, their payments system is not encrypted! Most places have secure servers for when you put your payment details - the best ones are Thawte verified. Not DVDImport!
They also list a lot of discontinued/out of print titles as available for order. Even real rarities like the Anchor Bay Hammer titles, or "This Island Earth".
BizKiTRoAcH
26-05-2005, 17:11
If you pay for express shipping with ParcelFarce, it's a mandatory £13.50 handling fee, regardless of whether the item is over the customs limit or not! (as I found to my cost when I wanted something quick that in fact was even exempt anyway! :mad: ).
I think their excuse is the fee is to get it to clear customs quickly (yeah, right :oh-hum: ).
Rule number one... never, ever use express shipping with ParcelFarce!
Standard airmail should in theory go via regular RoyalMail when it gets to the UK, which means there's a much higher chance it will escape customs fees. However, for a £45 item you should be paying VAT & Duty, so assuming you do get hit, then refer to the first page on this thread for the calculation...
Cheers for the info :thumbs: and apologies to the mods because i started a new thread instead of posting here
I have moved your thread to the existing thread to keep everything neat and tidy :)
chubbybrown
28-05-2005, 11:56
Just spoke to customs about getting a refund from my DVD Soon packet. Must say they are very helpful.
As soon as he got the paper work out he said let me guess, DVD Soon have printed the price before discount?
He said approximately 25% of his day is taken up dealing with DVD Soon claim backs and they have contacted DVD Soon numerous times asking them to rectify the situation!!!
Same here for me,the postie at the end of the phone said the above as soon as I mentioned dvd :-)
he said send paperwork and they will credit simple enough !
I explained I always never paid and he said they were fined in february for obviously firing stuff through that should have charges on it,he reckoned they were fined about 1million poor sods.
Not happy about my £8 bill for 80p over the limit though ..sods
Paul Moran
28-05-2005, 12:48
My refunds are still coming through, although not as quickly as the first one back in January. Not surprising, really, in view of the volume of enquiries they must be receiving.
I try to wait until I have a few to reclaim, to cut down on admin effort - mine as well as theirs! Last wrote to HMC&E on 16 May about five charges; got their letter today, agreeing to refund them. Now to write to Royal Mail.
In the meantime, I've had another four charges I will need to reclaim, and there is one more packet in the post that is over the limit on pre-discount price, so I'll wait to see what happens on that one.
HugoMorse
30-05-2005, 08:34
My refunds are still coming through, although not as quickly as the first one back in January. Not surprising, really, in view of the volume of enquiries they must be receiving.
I try to wait until I have a few to reclaim, to cut down on admin effort - mine as well as theirs! Last wrote to HMC&E on 16 May about five charges; got their letter today, agreeing to refund them. Now to write to Royal Mail.
In the meantime, I've had another four charges I will need to reclaim, and there is one more packet in the post that is over the limit on pre-discount price, so I'll wait to see what happens on that one.
That's strange as I am still receiving parcels from DVD Soon that should be charged and aren't. I wonder what is happening as it must be a reflection on the number of successful claims being received.
Anybody used Allposters (using their .co.uk domain) recently?
Placed an order with them which included VAT, so I assumed customs wouldn't be an issue, is that right?
Just emailed them for the 2nd time as it's been 6 weeks since placing the order and last time they said customs must have it.
Paul Moran
31-05-2005, 00:03
That's strange as I am still receiving parcels from DVD Soon that should be charged and aren't. I wonder what is happening as it must be a reflection on the number of successful claims being received.It's the luck of the draw, I think. This year, I’ve had 25 packets from DVD Soon with declared values over the £18 limit. Five of them were not charged (four in a 10 day period 25 Jan - 3 Feb, and one on 16 May), so that’s a 20% escape rate. Two of the “not charged” packets would have been over the limit even after discount, so that helps to pay for the excess VAT on 5 packets which were properly charged (i.e. over the limit even after discount).
DeadKenny
10-06-2005, 10:30
Update on ParcelForce's charging...
We have two levels of clearance fee for import parcels. There is a charge of £13.50 for express parcels imported through the EMS (i.e. International Datapost equivalent) and GLS (i.e. Euro 48 equivalent) networks and also for high value standard parcels (valued at over €1000). For all other import parcels, an £8 charge will apply.
These clearance charges are only applied if a duty or tax is payable on the parcel.
Looks like they've dropped the mandatory £13.50 charge regardless of having anything to pay, you now only pay it if anything is due.
An improvement then, but the fee is still way too high :oh-hum:
paul_caygill - can you update the first post to reflect this? (just delete this bit: "The £13.50 fee is also charged regardless of whether the item gets a Duty/VAT charge!!", and maybe adjust the >£2000 to >€1000 )
paul_caygill - can you update the first post to reflect this? (just delete this bit: "The £13.50 fee is also charged regardless of whether the item gets a Duty/VAT charge!!", and maybe adjust the >£2000 to >€1000 ) :thumbs: Done - glad you told me what to write, I am too tired to think straight.
got a psp through from the us and the company marked it as childs toy £27 but i got the bill
£29.75 for customs vat
£13.50 royal mail clearence fee
is there any way i can get round this ?
got a psp through from the us and the company marked it as childs toy £27 but i got the bill
£29.75 for customs vat
£13.50 royal mail clearence fee
is there any way i can get round this ?
Nope - the company marked down its true value. The rules are that they can inspect the package, and if they do not believe the value to be correct, rate it at the value they think it is worth and apply VAT and duty as applicable.
does it matter if its marked gift ?
does it matter if its marked gift ?Nope - that would just increase the limit from £18 to £36, and they never believe you when it comes from a company anyway.
Is a PSP worth more than £27 or £36?
ok i get what your saying but cant i claim now after as they dont know its a psp and the address on the sender end isnt a company ?
ok i get what your saying but cant i claim now after as they dont know its a psp and the address on the sender end isnt a company ?
They will have inspected it! You don't think they just added a random charge on for a laugh! You took a trip of the wheel of HMC&E chance and lost.
DeadKenny
16-06-2005, 11:39
To try it on when it's so blatently way over the price would be considered fraud most likely.
False declarations are illegal and besides customs are very aware of popular high value goods like PSPs and iPods, and are also aware of specific etailers who send these kinds of goods so they know what to look for. By law you have to pay VAT & duty. It's nice when we get away without being charged, but really we should be paying it.
P.S. Next time, don't use Parcel Force's express service ;). In fact don't use Parcel Force full stop. Or rather don't use a foreign service that will come into the UK via Parcel Force. I steer clear of companies that use any service that will involve PF and don't give an option of another service.
PF's express service means a huge £13.50 clearance fee (the regular PF service would have cost you £8), and any PF service I find gets an almost guaranteed hit. If it went through regular Royal Mail it would be far less likely to get hit. Even some of the other couriers get hit less than PF, but there is a higher risk than Royal Mail.
How do you know which services will turn into parcelforce when they arrive though?
wallofbeans
22-07-2005, 17:08
hi all,
i was hoping somebody could help me out.. ive just got into my first customs charge... and im really confused... i bought a pair of second hand sunglasses from a guy based in the US on ebay and its taken ages for them to arrive.. today i get a card through my door saying there is a customs charge on them of £13.60!
can they charge on second hand sunglasses bought on ebay? and if yes, then the guy i bought them from shouldve mentioned this... they cost me £23.04 so i guess that's over the £18 limit but i didnt even think about it when buying from ebay and buying second hand... isnt the vat or whatever already paid on 2nd hand stuff?
so now ive gotta decide what to do next.. i havent picked it up yet and im not gonna pay the extra... as far as im concerned this is something the ebay seller shouldve been aware of and when he charged me p&p shouldve taken this into consideration..
he's said he's always sending stuff to the uk and doesnt want to pay the charge but will give me my money back if i return the sunglasses to sender...
is there anything esle i can do?
chubbybrown
22-07-2005, 17:23
get them to put them down as a sample or a gift.
surprised about charging for 2nd hand though
wallofbeans
22-07-2005, 17:37
are they allowed to charge for a pair of second hand sunglasses?
will it make a difference if it says gift?
"Second hand" makes no difference, about the only reference to it you will find in VAT law is the secondhand margin scheme for second handshops ;). The difference with saying its a gift: the difference is you would be lying ;).
wallofbeans
22-07-2005, 17:58
The difference with saying its a gift: the difference is you would be lying ;).
but the sender could miscalculate the worth of the item? its not much over that £18 anyway....... and wierdly, i wouldnt be lying now... me and the guy in the states have actually become quite friendly trying to sort this out as neither of us have had to deal with this kind of thng before... so it may well end up that it gets returned to him and he resends it to me as my friend and therefore saying its a gift is absolutely true!
it just means i have to wait even longer!
wallofbeans
22-07-2005, 17:59
its sitting in my local sorting office... and the card i got through the door says it'll get returned to sender if not collected in 3 weeks... is there any way i can get them to send it back quicker than that?
its sitting in my local sorting office... and the card i got through the door says it'll get returned to sender if not collected in 3 weeks... is there any way i can get them to send it back quicker than that?
Sure, pop along to your sorting office and tell them to.
re the "gift" thing: "gift" status isn't defined by how good friends you are or aren't, it's defined by whether you paid for the goods or not.
wallofbeans
22-07-2005, 18:23
Sure, pop along to your sorting office and tell them to.
re the "gift" thing: "gift" status isn't defined by how good friends you are or aren't, it's defined by whether you paid for the goods or not.
okay - ill do that.
and - he is actually gonna refund my money but we might figure something out after that... what if he sent me a gift and i sent him a gift as well? that's okay... right?
thanks for the advice.. we'll see what happens......
DeadKenny
23-07-2005, 11:59
but the sender could miscalculate the worth of the item? its not much over that £18 anyway....... and wierdly, i wouldnt be lying now... me and the guy in the states have actually become quite friendly trying to sort this out as neither of us have had to deal with this kind of thng before... so it may well end up that it gets returned to him and he resends it to me as my friend and therefore saying its a gift is absolutely true!
If you've paid for it, it's still in HM terms not a gift no matter if it's sent by an individual.
For it to be a true legal gift it must be something sent by a friend/relative that you have had no transaction in (e.g. granny sends you a sweater she knitted for you birthday ;)), and it has to be occasional in nature for things like birthdays, anniversaries, etc.
Of course there's no way to prove it, but HMC&E are wise to methods of bypassing the rules and they will frequently (almost always probably) ignore the 'gift' declaration because they know most of the time it's false.
If you want more chance of getting away without being hit however you may have more success if you get this guy to send the item to you declared as a repaired item with zero value (not marked as gift). If he makes it look like it's from a company it may add more weight to it.
wallofbeans
23-07-2005, 18:14
hey all
so it turns out the guy who send me sunglasses thinks he put they were worth $100 rather than $10 and that's why we think it got hit... i paid 20 something quid but half of that was p&p......
he's been really good and paypal'd me the cost of paying the customs charge but i want to try and get back the money and return it to him if i can... somebody mentioned there's a customs address that i can write to explaining the situation etc... can anyone give that address and let me know what i should include as proof of what happened etc. ?
thanks all
From the 2005 budget
"I have today written to the european commission proposing that the tax free limits on goods brought into the UK from outside the european union should rise from £135 to £1000.
Has anything been done about this?
From the 2005 budget
"I have today written to the european commission proposing that the tax free limits on goods brought into the UK from outside the european union should rise from £135 to £1000.
Has anything been done about this? That relates to the limit on you going on holiday and bringing goods back yourself from outside the EU. The limit for our internet/mail order purchases remains at £18/£36 for gifts :(
I know but has anything done about lifting what you can bring back on holiday yet.
DeadKenny
24-07-2005, 15:13
Thread here on it, but no news...
http://www.thedvdforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=359095
Nebiroth
26-07-2005, 21:01
That relates to the limit on you going on holiday and bringing goods back yourself from outside the EU. The limit for our internet/mail order purchases remains at £18/£36 for gifts :(
Yep, which ludicrously have not even been increased in line with inflation. £18 is a ridiculously small allowance. Thankfully DVDs have dropped in price...even so.
BTW, it's worth noting what the Revenue have to say about "Customs Friendly" places:
Note: Some unscrupulous overseas suppliers openly advertise on the internet, or on their web-sites that they will deliberately either misdescribe items or underdeclare their value in order to evade customs charges that are legally due on importation. You should be aware that although the foreign sender may have completed the customs declaration form on the parcel you are regarded (in law) as the importer of the goods and responsible for the information on the declaration, and any customs charges that may be due. This means that if you purchase goods from these suppliers and the declaration is found to be false or misleading you may be liable to financial penalties or criminal prosecution. Furthermore the goods themselves will be liable to forfeiture. It is in your own interests to ensure Customs declarations are completed properly.
I received a package from Amazon Japan a couple of days ago containing an item worth ¥3000, which according to XE.com is £15.09 by the current exchange rate -- yet I've been hit by customs for £7.47.
The postage is also marked on the customs declaration for ¥900, which would take the total amount over the £18 limit. However, if the item itself is less than £18, then the postage shouldn't be taken into account, right?
Despite it being from a Japanese e-tailer, all of the customs labels are in English, including the ¥900 charge being clearly marked as 'Freight and Insurance'. So I'm pretty sure that someone has screwed up here and I've been wrongly charged.
How would I go about reclaiming this money from them? I remember there being advice posted on here about how to do it a while back, but my searches have proved unsuccessful. Thanks.
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