Paying customs?

[cardsbykatie]

I'm sure there was a thread about this yesterday but I can't find it...

Can anyone tell me the rules for paying cutsoms when products are sent in from USA? Is it only for items worth only a certain amount? Any idea how much you have to pay?

Thanks!

Katie

[candles by lisa]

Hi Katie,

I got hit with customs - what the literature on the box told me was if the contents were worth more than £18 then you are liable to pay customs (unless it's a gift then the limits are different but I can't remember). The post office charge £8.00 right away just for handling a customs package then the VAT gets added on top. I had to pay £12 customs for a £27 order!!! (really annoyed but there you go). I just make sure I order below the £18 and I haven't been charged customs since.

Cheers.

Lisa

:D

[mymiyel]

I'm so annoyed.

I ordered some stuff from US a while ago and I've just got a card in the post saying they won't deliver because I have to pay £14.27 customs. Still haven't collected it yet. SO are they going to add another £8 on top of this £14?!

I've never had to pay this before. Does it mean that they didn't mark it as a gift?

I only ordered cos I thought it was good value for money. Obviously I didn't see that coming! Should've just bought it from here. It's worked out the same if not cheaper!:mad:

[lolsey]

Hi Katie,
Though this bit of info might help, was taken from HM Revenue & Customs Website.

<H2>2.3 Are import duties and import VAT always payable?

No. Customs duty is waived if the amount of duty is less than £7.
Import VAT is not payable on:

commercial consignments eg goods purchased over the internet with an intrinsic value not exceeding £18, but this does not include alcohol, tobacco products, perfume or toilet waters
gifts, excluding alcohol, tobacco, perfumes and toilet waters, with a value not exceeding £36 and which comply with the rules shown in paragraph 2.4.There are a number of other circumstances where relief from some or all customs charges may be available. If you think your goods may be eligible for a relief you should contact the National Advice Service for further information.
</H2>2.4 Gifts

Goods sent as a gift are not free of import duties and import VAT. However, customs duty will not be collected if the amount is less than £7, and import VAT is not chargeable if:

the value of the gift does not exceed £36
the customs declaration is completed correctly
the gift has been sent from a private person outside the EU to a private person(s) in this country
the gift is for the use of either yourself or your family
there is no commercial or trade element and the gift has not been paid for either directly or indirectly
the gift is of an occasional nature only eg for a birthday or anniversary.Please note the purchase of goods from outside the EU to give as a gift to a relative or friend, whether or not addressed to that person, is treated as a ‘commercial consignment’ for which the import VAT relief threshold is £18 (paragraph 2.3 refers).

[Neesey]

Can the make it more complicated?????:o

[lolsey]

I know, That was just a tiny section that I copied.

[Snow angel]

I was very lucky i orderd a Cricut from the U.S and with p&p it can to £174.00 something like that and i got away with paying any custom on it boy was i lucky but even if i had to paid some money for custom's it still worked out a lot cheeper then buying it in the uk it worked out if i had got the same thing here it would of been almost £500.00

[cardsbykatie]

So how do they actually know how much your package is worth? Also, if I buy something from the US, does that mean it can be worth up to approx £36??

Thanks for your help everyone!

[Poppy4lee]

I always have to pay customs duty on my imports (I suppose it's because they're all over £18). What I tend to do now, when I'm looking for stuff, is to treat the price in US$ as if they were £'s. I've found that by the time postage & duty have been added, I've not been too far out.

I also read, on another forum, that as a 'ball park' figure, expect to pay around 30% on top of the price of the goods PLUS the cost of shipping, apparently they add duty onto that as well! So I always try to choose the cheapest shipping option and, if possible, I try to order well in advance, so that I can have it sent surface mail.

The first time I had to pay it, it came as a very nasty shock!! :mad:

[Blooming Felt]

I've just got stung for over £50 of import duty. :mad: Very stupidly I didn't realise that you had to pay import duty (I guess I've never bought anything high in value before), so didn't take it into consideration.

I've stopped using DHL for shipping too and have resorted to snail mail. Now that I know what sells and what doesn't I can be more selective on what I buy and place orders way in advance so that they can get here in time.

[mymiyel]

I can't believe it's so much!

My parcel was £44ish and the customs is £14. That's almost or around 35%!!! Not so good at maths. :o

[lolsey]

All senders should really put an invoice on the outside of the package.
If they dont, I believe customs have the right to open packages and see whats inside.
I bought 2 Nintendo DS's before xmas. 1 arrived no problem, the other had been opened by customs and I had to pay £38 charges becasuse it was worth about £110.

Quite alot of it is luck, some of my suppliers will put my order as a sample so I dont get charged.

[Bea]

You can get the odd parcel slipping through customs, but most will go through customs and you will pay if the USD value is over £36, and that includes the postage that the US charges on top of your goods. You can check the exchange rate on www.oanda.com (http://www.oanda.com) (it calculates for you!).

The way customs calculate the charges are as follows
- VAT on the whole amount of the package(17.5%)
- duty if applicable (usually about 6% for crafts supplies) and VAT on that amount
- courier fee, with Fedex being the cheapest at £6.80, UPS can be as much as £11 and Parcelforce either £8 or £13.50.

The £14 someone mentioned earlier will include all the above, the courier charge will be in there.

By law the sender has to put a description of the items on the package with the value, a commercial invoice. Sending as a gift is always a risk as the sender has to put their address and custom can see it's commercial, but I know it doesn't deter everyone!