Import taxes and other menaces - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Deathwish
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 13, 2015, 11:01:54 am
content: Ok. I am not so good with all this so I need help, I am sure I miss bargains because of not understanding the system so If anyone can help I would appreciate it.1. If I buy something from another EU country do I pay import duty.2. If I buy something from China what is the limit before having to pay VAT / Import duty with menaces of violence from HMG ? and do I have to pay both.

author: KJDS
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 13, 2015, 11:05:38 am
content: Quote from: Deathwish on August 13, 2015, 11:01:54 am1, no, within the EU there are no import duties.2. It used to be £20, not sure how up to date that is now.

author: Deathwish
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 13, 2015, 11:11:12 am
content: typical govt, I am after an ocxo from china, its £29.

author: grumpydoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 13, 2015, 11:47:33 am
content: Quote from: Deathwish on August 13, 2015, 11:11:12 amIt's £15 at the moment, but it is also quite complex. You pay VAT at 20%andan import duty which is typically around 2.5% but rates vary according to the type of goods. The import duty is not collected if the amount is less than £9Seehttps://www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad/overviewfor more info.However, you will probably find the chinese seller puts $10 as the value so you will not wind up paying anything.Beware this is a double edged sword, if HMRC do find out in theory they will hold you responsible for the deception but I suspect this is extremely rare on small, low value items from China on the grounds that there are literally millions of them in the system.

author: Deathwish
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 13, 2015, 12:03:48 pm
content: With my luck i will be one of the small percentage to get caught. but thanks for the advice.

author: Macbeth
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 13, 2015, 12:05:36 pm
content: Officially its a ridiculously low limit of £15 for goods outside the EU or £36 if it is a gift. Compare that to the more sensible AUD$1000 that Dave manages to get for his goodies.https://www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad/overview.Reality is, especially with low value from China, as long as it is all sent by the regular airmail post then it is just delivered by the postman in the usual manner and nothing to pay. I have never had anything from China even when correctly declared on the CN22 as low as £29 ever attract tax and processing fees. Usually the CN22 will be marked gift or given a low USD value automatically by the Chinese sellers. Why, I have a box here in front of me for a Minipro TL866 (with all the trimmings) I just purchased for £30.82 and the CN22 is totally blank.If buying from the USA you will find all the i's are dotted and the t's are crossed. You will be stung for tax + duty + processing fees even on trivial £15 amounts. That's my experience anyway

author: Deathwish
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 13, 2015, 12:22:06 pm
content: hmm tl866 .... I want one of those. cant find it for less than about £50

author: Macbeth
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 13, 2015, 12:32:02 pm
content: Oh, a top tip I can give for the higher value stuff. Never get stuff EMS if you want it quickly, get it regular airmail. Due to the way Parcelfarce/Royal Mail seize your goods and hold them to ransom with their troll fee I have found regular airmail is not only cheaper but quicker too.Why? Because regular airmail leaves the airport and gets delivered if the trolls aren't too busy. EMS is sent over the bridge to the trolls who stack them all up then use their troll fingers to add up what 20% is. Plus £15 processing fee for working out this hideously complex tax. This adds 1 day to delivery. But thats not good enough. Proper trolls hold you to ransom, so they keep the goods and send out a letter in the normal post demanding their pound of flesh and the taxes too. This adds at least another day or two. Providing you get this letter in time and can pay online they will authorise despatch the following day.So EMS which usually costs double the normal airmail rate will certainly get into the UK quicker. But once Parcelfarce get involved it defeats the whole purpose of expedited delivery.If the trolls do get hold of your regular mail parcel then the fee is £8 I think (plus the taxes), but usually it gets delivered without all thatThats how I got my Keithley 2015 for only £230 delivered from Korea, by asking the seller to send regular airmail. It was $40 less than his advertised EMS rate too. I had it within the week.

author: Deathwish
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 13, 2015, 12:36:31 pm
content: I like the advice, thank you.

author: Macbeth
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 13, 2015, 12:38:58 pm
content: Here ya go!http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/111344747285...go on, you know you want to!Another top tip. When you have narrowed your search terms for stuff on ebay.co.uk and sorted by Price+P&P, go to your URL and change the ebay.co.uktoebay.comkeeping the rest of the URL intact. It will perform the same search on the USA site. There is often a load more cheaper stuff from China advertised there, but sometimes the .co.uk is cheaper. This also works for .de (Germany), etc too.

author: Deathwish
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 13, 2015, 01:01:22 pm
content: I cant this week, I have things to buy from a forum member, but I have noted it. Thanks.

author: Deathwish
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 26, 2015, 05:37:56 am
content: I found this today:community.ebay.co.uk/t5/Buyer-Central/Regarding-the-tracking-on-GSP-can-anyone-please-tell-me-if-the/td-p/4297084Items from outside the EU are charged VAT if over £15 value, plus duty if over £135, plus courier admin fee - usually £8 - £12 for RM but other couriers may be more.However, if the seller is opted in to GSP they can't change it after you buy, you'd need to contact them beforehand to ask them to list with postage to uk on the listingand thishttp://www.dutycalculator.com/new-import-duty-and-tax-calculation/saved_calculations/view_details/194578103/

author: TheWelly888
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 03, 2016, 01:26:25 pm
content: Quote from: Macbeth on August 13, 2015, 12:32:02 pmHumph! If only I had read this before I ordered the EEVBlog Multimeter, I would have paid just $20 AUS for the normal carriage rather than $30 AUS for "International Courier"! Parcelfarce has had hold of the package since 23rd August and today I have just received a letter from them demanding £33.23 for import VAT and clearance fee!!

author: dannyf
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 03, 2016, 01:51:50 pm
content: QuoteGovernments have to collect taxes from citizens so that fairness can be assured,

author: RGB255_0_0
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 03, 2016, 02:35:41 pm
content: Ordered Dave's DMM and arrived 5 days later, delivered via Royal Mail. Been 1 more week and nothing regarding VAT.I've ordered stuff from China and the courier handed me a form to pay him before he handed it over to me. Avoid couriers if you want a better chance you will avoid a fee, although bigger packages will open suspicion and no matter what is written on the form will be taken into account.

author: Macbeth
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 03, 2016, 03:19:47 pm
content: Quote from: RGB255_0_0 on September 03, 2016, 02:35:41 pmYou'll be alright mate. On the few occasions when Royal Mail do decide to pay your customs for you they follow a similar procedure as Parcelfarce and hold your goods to ransom until you've paid.QuoteCouriers like DHL, UPS, FedEx etc will deliver the goods and then invoice you for the taxes and fees later. Of course it doesn't stop them from e.g. text messaging you before hand asking for web payment or some such, or like in your case asking to be paid at the door. But they have no right to hold onto the goods if you can't pay there and then. Personally I refuse to pay until I get a detailed invoice a month later - they charge enough for their tax collection I better get something out of it even if it is paperwork and a couple of months grace!What Parcelfarce do and have always done by holding your mail to ransom was always actually illegal, I'm pretty sure it used to be a hanging offence!However I believe they now have the statutory right to be trolls since part of the privatisation deal they legalised this practice specifically.

author: System Error Message
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 03, 2016, 03:40:56 pm
content: within the EU no taxes but you do pay VAT to purchase the item (company pays it to your govt) instead of the VAT of the item in country of origin.You do have to pay VAT and import duty (depending on price) to import from china however the chinese have been pretty good at getting items that cost more than the limit past the cranky customs that usually break your stuff and charge you taxes when you should not be charged ( process to refund and all that stuff takes a year due to the procedure involving documents and when they check it).

author: Nuno_pt
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 03, 2016, 05:48:59 pm
content: In Portugal the limit is 22€ including shipment, for you don't pay anything (VAT or Tax).From 45€ to 150€ you just pay VAT.And above 150€ you pay VAT plus Tax.The value of the tax depend on the goods, the VAT is charge on top of everything.

author: JoeN
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 03, 2016, 07:19:29 pm
content: HAHA. I get stuff from China all the time and have never had to deal with this crap. How does it feel to be a subject of the Queen instead of a citizen?

author: dannyf
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 03, 2016, 07:50:59 pm
content: Well, that's the benefit of living in a state where it takes care of you cradle to grave.

author: RGB255_0_0
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 03, 2016, 08:29:49 pm
content: Quote from: dannyf on September 03, 2016, 07:50:59 pmWhy does every post I see from you involve politics?

author: doobedoobedo
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 03, 2016, 08:54:40 pm
content: Quote from: JoeN on September 03, 2016, 07:19:29 pmI get stuff from China all the time too and have never had any charges.However, anything from the US always gets me hammered for all charges.The Queen rarely gets involved personally :p.

author: G7PSK
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 03, 2016, 09:06:39 pm
content: I have found that anything coming in via an east cost port dose not get taxed but west cost ports like Liverpool always do. Airmail Gatwick no Heathrow yes guess thats another reason it gets called thiferow.

author: Macbeth
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 03, 2016, 11:20:20 pm
content: Quote from: doobedoobedo on September 03, 2016, 08:54:40 pmThis is my experience too. NOTHING gets past even the Royal Mail unionised lackeys if it comes from the USA, no matter how small. I've had even worse for stuff from Israel - that is the only time the actual HMRC decided to take a look at something that was already sent EMS (despite me asking the Israeli guy to just send it standard airmail). Parcelforce had already "done their bit" but not good enough for HMRC. It took an extra month languishing in the HMRC parcel hold of hell and for no reason whatsoever they upped the value of the goods to $100 from $80. The package wasn't opened and even the invoice docket hadn't been torn open. Total difference in VAT was about £2 but Parcelfarce still wanted their £15 charge and still held it to ransom even after the bastards at customs decided to fuck me about for so long.QuoteThis is a shame. Before the privatisation there was an offence of "interfering with the Kings/Queens mail!" that did include a bloody good hanging and being left to rot in a gibbet. Think of Dick Turpin, etc.

author: dannyf
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 04, 2016, 12:02:54 am
content: QuoteWhat you perceive is a reflection of who you are.