My friend from US bringing his bike to UK…

A certain mtb rider friend is bringing his “bike” to the UK from California to ride cannock chase , etc 🙄 …and at the end of his stay here he is so happy riding with me that he gave me the said “bike” as a token of appreciation (might be)

My question is, does he need to pay tax duty for his own bike? Or just pack his bike in a bike bag or box and pay extra baggage cost in the airlines.

Maybe writing that you’re planning tax evasion is not the brightest thing to do on a public forum.

I believe gifts are subject to tax and duty when posted; not sure if same applies to personal importation

What evasion? .. The question is.. “Does he need to or not?” Can do both ways, cash no probs 🙄

I suggest he should declare it at customs & see what they say

Yup it’s liable to tax at it’s actual value even if it’s a gift.

In an entirely unrelated manner, speeding is against the law, were you caught and fined last time you did 31mph in a 30?

I wonder if the dilemma works the other way around.. Say im gonna do holiday in US for a month or two.. Surely gonna bring my own bike.. So do i have to pay US customs too 😐

But if your friend was to come across with a bike and go back with a BSO who would know 😉

mind, speeding is “merely” a civil offence isn’t it ?

I wonder if the dilemma works the other way around.. Say im gonna do holiday in US for a month or two.. Surely gonna bring my own bike.. So do i have to pay US customs too

you leaving it with your mate as a gift ?

I wonder if the dilemma works the other way around.. Say im gonna do holiday in US for a month or two.. Surely gonna bring my own bike.. So do i have to pay US customs too

Read a good book about touring the USA on a Harley (might have been by Tom Cunliffe?), the customs official was apparenly very blunt that they’d have no problems with an ‘ammerican’ bike coming home (he did eventualy sell it rather than ship it home again), but would throw the book at it if it was a Japanese bike.

mind, speeding is “merely” a civil offence isn’t it ?

I’ve no idea, the police prosecute it so I presume it’s criminal?

Either way, last time I brought a bike into the country I had to walk through the ‘anything to declare’ route, was quite arsey* with the customs offical and still didn’t get searched.

*I had a broken arm and in a bad mood as a result, hence someone else was pushing my trolley, hence ‘anythig to declare’ (someone else has handled my baggage).

“anythign to declare?”
“yes my arm hurts”
“what’s in the bag?”
“a bike”
“is it yours?”
“yes”
“anything else?”
“a weeks dirty laundry”
“what’s int he other bag?”
“stuff”
“what kind of stuff?”
“more dirty week old laundry”

Maybe he’s just lending it to you. Or keeping it here until his next visit. Maybe he broke it and threw it away. Maybe it got stolen and he didnt report it as it wasn’t insured. Maybe he decided he didn’t like it any more and left it in the woods.

Was having a mind scenario as well

“Anything to declare?”
Me: yes, i have a bike
“Is it yours?”
Me: apparently
” what is the intention of that bike in US soil, sir”
Me: im going to UTAH to ride like i saw in Red Bull TV, it is my hobby, you know 😀
“You have to pay import tax for that sir”
Me: wtf?! …what, for riding my bike in US soil because its my hobby?
“Yes, sir”
Me: ah, ok..i would like to declare my camera as i love taking photos during my ride as well.. You know my hobby 😕
“Ok sir, please go to window 3 for paying tax import duty”
😐

If he just left it in your garage for the next time he was over, it would be fine and dandy. As long as it is obviously used and not just a new bike in a box evrything would be cool. He is travelling with his bike as sports equipment and paid for it as such with the airline company.

From your most recent post, I take it you’ve not travelled outside Europe much. Sporting equipment. No hassle. Look it up on airline websites. People travel with stuff all the time.

Ive taken my bike to Canada and Italy. As tootall said, nobody batts an eyelid.

he gave me the said “bike” as a token of appreciation (might be)

I’m sorry if I misunderstood but that sounds a lot like you’ve asked a mate to bring you over a bike from the states where they are much cheaper.

Morally, I do not care. Practically, he can bring it in as his bike and then just not take it home, nothing complex here.

In an entirely unrelated manner, speeding is against the law, were you caught and fined last time you did 31mph in a 30?

A fella, on the speed awareness course I was on, got done for 32 in a 30. The AA lady taking the class didn’t believe him until he showed her the paperwork.

I’m going to start selling Huffy stickers on Ebay as you can probabaly quite legitimately put them on any bike and declare that it’s worth $50

Haven’t US bikes got the brakes on the wrong handlebars?

Morally, I do not care. Practically, he can bring it in as his bike and then just not take it home, nothing complex here.

+1

I have taken expensive pairs of skis through airports all over the world and never even thought to declare them, can’t see that a bike would be any different. Look at people travelling with golf clubs, some of those whackers are ultra expensive but I never see them being walked through the red channel.

Mind you i did get stopped at Abu Dhabi airport and asked why I had 3 pairs of skis in my bag but more because the customs officers thought i might be a bit deranged. His first question was ‘you do realise where you have landed sir?’

Haven’t US bikes got the brakes on the wrong handlebars?

Love it…… and would like to know which are the ‘right’ handlebars 😉

jekkyl – Member
Haven’t US bikes got the brakes on the wrong handlebars?

Probably, not hard to swap though

My question is, does he need to pay tax duty for his own bike?

No, you’re not importing it if it’s not staying in the UK, of course.

If they suspect you of being a bike mule, they will make you pay duty and give you a ticket to reclaim it on the way back. This happened to my mother in law when she was travelling with her bike.

Why can’t your friend come from Europe?

US postage costs now are 😯

is he high up in the food chain of starbucks or amazon

wont give it a second thought then

so when i went to Jamaica and left some smelly old trainers in teh hotel i was commiting an offence, get real!

If you are bothered, pick up some pile of sh1te and take it back with him, personally id not bother. Will he not be using it next time he comes….

Hazy shade of grey area, hardly top of priority list and no proof of what he brought

Morally, I do not care. Practically, he can bring it in as his bike and then just not take it home, nothing complex here.

+1

I do wonder how some people manage through life’s more difficult situations.

Will it not be left hand drive?

And it’ll have a coaster rear brake as all American bikes have those.

UK import allowance is ridiculous, for tourist purposes at least, isn’t the limit still £200 or thereabouts? Which was set in like 1989?

I haven’t read all the posts as I couldn’t be arsed.

Could the US guy not rent it to you for £1 a year to get around duty!? 😕

I haven’t read all the posts as I couldn’t be arsed.

Could the US guy not rent it to you for £1 a year to get around duty!?

No, because then you really would be importing it, and fill in a tax return with the income, depreciation, etc.

have some people REALLY not got more important things to worry about!!!!!!