Ordered a German made product from Germany and paid in Euros. I expected to pay 20% VAT and a £25ish handling fee.
The bill arrived today at £100 more than expected with no breakdown. Rang customer services at Royal Mail, they couldn't give me a breakdown. Rang HMRC, they don't discuss individual calculations levied by carriers.
So, do they have carte blanch to make up their own number and you just have to suck it up?
Maybe this should be in the Brexit Benefit thread. Maybe Boris will make good on his promise and sort this out for me.
What's the product?
What's the Import Duty on said product? IIRC that will depend on country of origin, not just where you imported it from.
A set of suspension forks, manufactured and assembled in Germany. There shouldn't be any duty as far as I understand it.
A set of suspension forks, manufactured and assembled in Germany.
Is it not the responsibility of the retailer/sender to declare this? Just because they are doesn't mean they will be treated as if they are unless there is the relevant bit of paper.
Was the retailer a box shifting emporium that might not have bothered to do their bit to reduce your bill?
HMRC or their agents e.g. freight forwarding company will simply respond to what information was put on the customs declaration / invoice. What does the paperwork attached to the parcel say? Information on what the duty and VAT charges should be can be easily calculated. If the calculation is wrong you may have the basis for a claim. If an incorrect declaration has been made they can also issue a penalty charge of 100% against the consignment.
Okay, it's enough cloak and dagger. It's Intend. Until I see the paperwork, I can't be certain they got it right, but they do know their own products and regularly shop worldwide.
They got the paperwork right when I bought brakes from them.
Just googled....
Firstly - not heard of them and they look lovely - but as the owner of a Wren fat bike fork, I'm a sucker for an inverted fork.
Secondly this:-
- Designed, engineered & tested in Freiburg / Germany
- Assembled 100% in-house and by hand – One at a time
That sounds carefully worded to me....designed in German. And assembled in German. But possibly not not manufactured in German. Might not pass the sniff test for Rule of Origin.
Intend forks are made in Freiburg, with most components made in Germany.
Is it not the responsibility of the retailer/sender to declare this?
Yes, it is. And it's surprising easy to get wrong. It's also surprising easy to have it read wrong when it's not!
Intend forks are made in Freiburg, with most components made in Germany.
You are probably right - so why don't they say that on the product details?
"Intend is still a small company without a big production line. Although the numbers are growing, every fork and shock is assembled by an experienced technician, made-to-order. We are proud to source the vast majority of our parts from german vendors and manufacturers and are always aiming to work as environmentally friendly as possible."
[ source ]
It could be that some of their products have too much value of non-EU parts in them still for rules of origin. I dunno. More likely that the paperwork doesn't correctly support the EU made claim, or just as (if not more) likely that it does but it's been overlooked/misunderstood by those working out the charge.
[ refund form ]
Freiburg, just up the road from me. I'm closer to Tune.... both companies make lovely things...which are quite spendy!
Thanks.
Had this once when I assumed Bikeyoke were German. The fact that they are made in Taiwan attracted a 4% duty as well as VAT.
Even if a few seals are made outside the EU, the Intend fork is surely as German as it could possibly be. Even just assembly and finish in Germany counts doesn't it? Given that most parts are from Germany it has to be a mistake. Trouble is, no one will show me the breakdown to see where the mistake might be.
You have to pay to receive the goods, then you’ll have the paperwork (with the goods) to try and claim some money back (if the mistake is with Border Force). Annoying, but those are the rules… designed to get the goods out of the way quickly.
Parcelforce normally send a letter with a breakdown requesting payment. First time I've had royal mail dealing with this process.
You can claim against RM - there’s a form for doing this. They’re pretty good at correcting from my multiple experiences.