The Dogs B******s

Long story short, bought something from America and had it delivered to my work address. I paid $20+ for delivery and taxes, a few days ago my boss came to me with a bill from FedEx for approx £20 for import an duty. Is this normal?

JGlanzaV

iTrader: (3)

Yes

The Dogs B******s

Robbing *****, best pay it then.

f1_fan

iTrader: (9)

£10 of that will be their 'admin charge' which is just an excuse to take more money off you and is tantamount to misquoting you the delivery charge in the first place.

For instance you get a quote from them to send something from the US for example and let's say the quote is £40 it isn't really as because it's coming from outside the UK it has to go through customs and hence there will always be a £10 'admin charge' so the quote is really £50 plus duty/VAT on the imported goods.

Boils my you know what frankly!

daveyj

iTrader: (1)

Inc taxes is just their way of saying VAT. Import duty at our end is on you not the company selling.

bioforger

iTrader: (1)

bet that was embarrassing coming from your boss

Dingdongler

So what if a friend who is resident in the USA physically buys something for me and then sends it to me as a present?

Is it still subject to an UK import tax?

f1_fan

iTrader: (9)

Gifts! If it's worth over £36 it is subject to import VAT and if it's worth over £135 it is subject to duty, but this is waived if it is calculated to be less than £9.

Customs are also very good at deeming an item as commercial rather than a gift despite the gift declaration on the waybill (although often with some justification ).

CrisPDuk

I always ask US senders to label contents as used parts rather than gifts. There seems to be a lot more leeway then

I also ask them not to use FedEx unless they have absolutely no other choice

mart360

I purchased an item from the states last month

the cost & charges were

Item $45.00 (£26.73)
Shipping $19.41 (£11.53)
Import tax $13.83 (TBA)

Question is the threshold figure Sterling or Dollars, in which case should i have been charged?

Mart

f1_fan

iTrader: (9)

If it wasn't marked as a gift then the threshold is £15 not £36.

f1_fan

iTrader: (9)

It can be hit and miss with things like that. Sometimes they just don't seem to bother if it comes in via post rather than a courier with their own customs people.

Rob_Impreza99

iTrader: (3)

You can get round it by marking it as a sample, obviously if its something high end with a bit of value you wouldn't want to do that.

If its something like a laptop or similar you can mark it as a warranty return for repair, lets say its a new laptop you can get the seller to disconnect one of the sata cables so it doesn't boot up just incase customs test it.

EddScott

I buy pretty much all my RC gear from HK, Japan or the states. I recently purchased batteries from HK which were sent via FedEx (because they are Lipo and considered hazadous) and FedEx sent me a bill after they arrived. Amusingly, on this occasion, the bill was addressed to my work so I just slipped it into the invoice pile

I bought a new transmission for one car and asked the lad that makes them to put 2nd hand on the package and it got through OK. Most US firms won't do this. I buy titanium parts from the states and the firm insists on sending via tracked & signed and for the full price - they end up doubling in price by the time they get to me!

f1_fan

iTrader: (9)

Downside to that is it must be marked as of negligible value so if it goes missing or gets damaged there is no compensation from the shipping company!

If you do this the seller must include 3 copies of a pro-froma invoice declaring clearly that the item is for temporary re-import for repair only. Invoice must contain sender and repairer details which must be valid. Even then the customs can ask to see the 'original' export documents that must be within the last 3 years.

Bear in mind doing things like this is technically breaking the law and whilst the police are one thing the HMRC have a whole heap more power that you do not want to be on the receiving end of!

Littleted

afraid so, I tend to buy electronics from China, and I get hit Sometimes.
Ebay now calculates it all from the USA, looks cheap till you add that and not anymore :/

pacenote

I've purchased RC stuff from the States and Far East for years. Goods from the Far East were always a bit of a lottery for customs charges but goods from the States always got charged.
Nowadays you've got more chance of paying import duties from all areas because customs (or their agents ) have got more efficient.

I have recently been told that if you track your parcel and contact customs when it lands you can pay the duties due direct to them. This avoids the courier paying it on your behalf and then charging you for the privilege. I will be trying this on my next shipment.