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I ordered some [boat] engine parts from the US the other week as they're a fair bit cheaper - done it before. Value of goods is £160.
Yesterday UPS man arrives at the house while I'm out and demands £98 'charges' from my wife. She phones me and I say to send him away as the charges seem very excessive.
A quick calculation on the import duty payable comes up with £6 in duty and £30 in VAT. The invoice I've been sent by UPS shows they charge £about 12 for the brokerage fee.... so a total of £48.
Where the hell have they got £98 from!! Their invoice does say that the duty/VAT charges are estimates but they know the value of the goods (and presumably what they've already paid in duties) so really should be able to get it right. I suspect they're trying a fast one..... little monkeys!
Have you a actualy seen an invoice for £98 or has someone simply read/said/heard it wrong?
I've been emailed an invoice
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In my experience when ordering from the states only the postal service don't collect customs charges directly before releasing the package. Anything sent by USPS needs the local customs to pick it up as an import and manage through the local customs & then postage system. Here in France they seem to never bother. Couriers like UPS, FedEx, DHL all collect on behalf of the taxman before they'll give you the parcel, and they charge for that.
Ah ha, Brexits hitting hard.
Value of goods is £160
Including shipping? That's duty and vatable too.
Sounds odd, on the few occasions I've paid duty via UPS it's been invoiced with a breakdown of charges a few days after delivery and I've paid on line. I've not had the delivery man turn up and demand money though I suppose it could be appropriate to do it that way. Re the scale of charges, is it possible HMRC disagreed with the stated value? I've had parcels arrive with (let's say) creative values on the attached declaration which was quite a bit lower than the price I actually paid.
Royal Mail charged my mum when I sent her a bracelet from Canada (small gift, worth $60).
I thought small gifts would be exempt, but what annoyed me most was that they didn't convert to GBP before doing the calculation, so charged us 20% VAT on £60 instead of whaatever the GBP equivalent of $60 would have been.
Royal Mail are a bit of a pain in that regard, they won't entertain any negotiation - you have to pay it then claim back from the tax man.
PITA.
Including shipping? That’s duty and vatable too.
This is the bit people forget and makes a sizable difference.
Couriers like UPS, FedEx, DHL all collect on behalf of the taxman before they’ll give you the parcel, and they charge for that.
Yep, not got a problem with that.
Including shipping? That’s duty and vatable too.
Yep and this was the issue... see below:
So having spoken to them they say that because the shipping cost wasn't on the waybill they effectively make a number up.
They're now fixing it as I've sent them confirmation of the shipping cost.
Just shows that you need to know roughly what you should be paying in duty/VAT otherwise you could be taken in and overpay on the doorstep.
Duty and Taxes are based on the total amount including shipping cost, Brokerage or Advancement fee is charge for them paying this for you to hmrc. Duty of £6.00 sounds really low where did you get this cost from? Customs can also charge what they believe true cost of item should be if too low.
Duty of £6.00 sounds really low where did you get this cost from?
Online duty calculator
They’re now fixing it as I’ve sent them confirmation of the shipping cost.
Stupid point but how do you know better than UPS what the shipping cost (not what it cost you, that's not the same and isn't what's vat-able) is?
Sorry, I don't really understand!
UPS have asked what I paid for shipping so I presume their customs system just uses what info is on the waybill thingy - so I've told them/sent the evidence (my invoice from the supplier), and they've said they'll adjust the charge accordingly.
Thought I'd add some closure to this little episode. Spoke to the UPS brokerage dept after supplying a copy of my purchase invoice and the final bill for import duty, VAT and brokerage fees was £42.00.
So probably a good job I questioned the original charge.
Why do UPS wear brown uniforms?
Because they are a shower of shite.
The value of the goods was estimated in the belief that you asked the supplier to undervalue the invoice in an effort to pay less duty. The entire developing world runs on under-invoicing; it's one reason why governments never have enough money - theft of the money being the other.
I ordered a book and cd from an American singer-songwriter some years back, total cost was, I think, around $24, I ended up paying £42 for the package! Wasn’t even a large package it was a Jiffybag, about A5 sized. I felt totally ripped off by that
The entire developing world runs on under-invoicing; it’s one reason why governments never have enough money
However, the world we live in is supposed to run on 'innocent until proven guilty'; especially when a mere package carrier are being judge and jury, not a government
Very much more likely they are overcharging to maximise their profits. Unless someone notices and queries things.