Just had a Parcel force invoice come through. £12 clearance fees, expected. £59.45 VAT sounds about right.
However, Customs Duty £11.43 surprises me. I thought stuff manufactured in the EU was zero rated.
Am I right in thinking that and how hard is it to challenge and get a refund?
Did the parcel state where the goods were manufactured?
Were the goods more than £135? I thought if it was less than that there should be no additional charges, but over that then there were charges & it seems quite complicated to work out exactly what you might have to pay.
Is this gov page any help?
https://www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad/tax-and-duty
Were the goods more than £135?
£59.45 VAT says yes.
I think the "no import duty if country of origin is in the EU" may be only for business transactions, not private in which case anything over £135 is dutiable.
You'd also need to include the preferential agreement statement and proof of origin with the shipment, not sure if you can claim it back afterwards.
IANACustomsOfficer
I think the “no import duty if country of origin is in the EU” may be only for business transactions, not private in which case anything over £135 is dutiable.
It applies to personal stuff too, or at least it is UK > EU, UK may have different rules.
You’d also need to include the preferential agreement statement and proof of origin with the shipment, not sure if you can claim it back afterwards.
But yes, this. It requires the sender to forward it with the appropriate documentation. It would only need a self declaration at that value, but it needs one none the less.
It was over £135. I don't know what documentation was included as I've only just got the Parcelfarce letter so it's not delivered yet.
I challenged some customs charges successfully last year. I bought a helmet from the EU, helmets are 0% vat in UK, but they added 20% vat on when it cleared customs.
I just filled in an hmrc form explaining what the item was, what the correct rate of vat should be, and a refund landed in my account a few weeks later.
I've done it a couple of times but it's a lot of hassle, and you're on the back foot because you have to pay up first really. With one of mine they literally just charged the taxes on the wrong currency, so it should have been incredibly simple but it took them months even to accept that.
Cheers guys. It's HMRC so I don't expect it to be easy but at least it can be done.
Also helps that's I can be a tenacious arse on matters of principle.
I too have successfully challenged several customs/import/duty fees. They have always been refunded promptly.
What’s the commodity code for the item you purchased?
I'm not sure what code has been applied. It's bicycle components manufactured in Germany
Good luck if FedEx are involved. They tried to charge me £131 VAT on £224 of stuff that attracted 4% duty. Free postage so it should have been less than £50 VAT. No amount of emails and me doing the maths for them could convince them they were wrong, they wouldn't tell me how they'd calculated the £131, and then after 2 months of constant emailing they decided to return to sender citing "no contact from addressee" as the reason.
Useless.
Oh this is OT but, sometimes couriers will deliver the item and then invoice you. If so, unless you have a contract with them, tell them to bugger off. They've no legal right to a penny and you have no contract therefore no obligation to them. Usually a nonissue because they just use the item as leverage and refuse to deliver but Fedex sometimes deliver first, for some reason, and I think also DPD, maybe others. They'll bluster and threaten and then go away. You've probably got an obligation to pay tax/duty but not to pay it to the courier.
Also helps that’s I can be a tenacious arse on matters of principle.
For £11.43 - is your time worthless?
Not at all, but my principles are priceless.
plus, I have a significantly larger order following soon and other bike purchases from Germany later in the year.
Seems like a learning opportunity.