Hi, I’ve kindly been sent a wedding gift from some friends in South Korea. I’m not sure what it is but I imagine it’s of a nominal value.

Parcel Farce have intercepted it and paid import tax and added a handling fee, it seems I can’t get out of this if I want the gift and card.

How do you reclaim the tax from HMRC, are people generally successful? It’s a bit frustrating and yet another case of rip off Britain.

Tax is payable on gifts.

Nominal value? They must have put a value on it for PF to have paid the import tax. How much import tax has been paid?

Though “rip off Britain” is a bit of a DM comment – in the sense that you’re paying VAT on it in the same way as anything else imported to this country. The VAT which goes towards all the nice stuff like hospitals and pensions…

That’s not entirely true – not if they’re under a certain value and there is a higher limit before you start paying VAT on gifts (if it’s actually import duty then it’s already way over that limit). Hence being interested in how much has been paid, because it is possible it’s over the non-gift limit, but under the gift limit.

https://www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad
The Rules

The tax is just shy of £25 plus the Handling charge of £11.

I could ask them what they’ve sent, but I imagine it’s weird Korean food and strange flavoured kit kats. I don’t know them well enough for it to be of a high value.

I don’t know them well enough for it to be of a high value

If you have paid import duty on it, it’s worth more than £135

I don’t know them well enough for it to be of a high value.

Judging from my recent wedding and the gifts received this is a false assumption.

nealglover – Member

If you have paid import duty on it, it’s worth more than £135

Isn’t the 135 also inclusive of shipping? If so depending how it’s been sent it could be 30 of gift and 110 of shipping with insurance.

Isn’t the 135 also inclusive of shipping? If so depending how it’s been sent it could be 30 of gift and 110 of shipping with insurance.

This sounds likely as when I sent something to Korea the shipping was £90

I feel I need to pay it but £36 is a lot of money for a pot of kimchi and green tea flavoured kitkat. lol

No – you pay VAT on the shipping, but not import duty. Though if the total tax paid is £25 then that’s presumably 20% VAT on £125 worth of goods (including shipping cost) and there is no import duty. Unless of course it really is food and zero rated for VAT (though to add an extra complication kit kats aren’t zero rated)…

Though it will all depend on what was put on the customs declaration form – it seems unlikely they’ll have randomly chosen a value of £125 to charge VAT on.

So I think I’ll need to ask my friends what’s in the package, which seems a shame. If they have not labelled it as a gift I have no recourse whatsever?

No, but if it’s valued highly enough to attract £25 of taxes then it makes no difference whether or not it’s a gift.

Last time this happened I told RM they could keep it. Wasn’t worth paying the fee on a T-shirt…