Overseas buying FAIL!

I was just trying to save a few quid, so ordered a spare mech hanger from the US saving maybe £3, as I was in no hurry, it was about £16 all in and saved me travelling an hour to decent LBS.

However attempted delivery of said item has come with a card saying I owe £11.32 customs for the privilege! WTF??? I’ve had stuff from the USA before and never paid customs for small items like this. Is it a case of seller (ebay) not filling in correct paperwork or is it what it is?

I used to import a lot of small items from the states, seemed to be mostly luck of the draw tbh… I got charged on maybe one item in ten, no obvious pattern to it.

Declaring stuff as gift does help, but a lot of sellers won’t do it and tbh you can’t really argue with that.

None of the above, you are obliged to pay VAT @17.5% and import duty @16% normally. You’ve been lucky enough to get away with it before.

I thought under £18 value you didn’t pay VAT etc on imports from outside the EU?

Yes, the seller in the States has not fraudulently altered the paperwork, which would have allowed you to avoid paying tax.

I think the limit is £15 of value before it’s subject to VAT and import duty. Used to be a bit higher, but they brought it down. Plus the rip-off fee the RM charge for paying it on your behalf.

So basically I’ve unknowingly got away with it for years and my time is up! Fair one. Lesson learnt 😳

Duty on bike parts is 4.7% IIRC. VAT has been 20% for some time……

Have you got the part? What happens if you just don’t pay up?

Haven’t collected yet but i’m too honest to claim I’ve not recieved it through ebay and it’s probably trackable anyway.

40mpg – Member
Have you got the part? What happens if you just don’t pay up?

They will keep it as payment of the tax.

I thought under £18 value you didn’t pay VAT etc on imports from outside the EU?

I think the limit is £15 of value before it’s subject to VAT and import duty. Used to be a bit higher, but they brought it down. Plus the rip-off fee the RM charge for paying it on your behalf.

Unlikely you paid any duty, just VAT.

Threshold definitely used to £18, reduced to £15 a couple of years ago. Damned annoying, as I only tend to buy stuff I can’t here.

Just spend £50 next time then the fees will seem more acceptable!

Wish people would stop slagging off Royal Mail – all the couriers charge just a much.

patriotpro – Member

40mpg – Member
Have you got the part? What happens if you just don’t pay up?

They will keep it as payment of the tax.

Wait until it turns up in the classifieds.

Presumably stuff from EU is subject to same potential charges – thinking of Bike-discount.de?

Nope.

No, because we’re all EU pals, I think….

Yup! No such thing in the EU.
I had a bike deliver to Germany from the US as the charges are lower and then had it sent here. Never got charge when it arrived in Germany. Saved a HUGE amount of money. 1/3 of the price compared to UK.

Wish people would stop slagging off Royal Mail – all the couriers charge just a much.

My vitriol isn’t aimed exclusively at RM. As you say, all couriers charge a rip-off fee.

It would be fairer if there was a way to pre-pay the VAT and duty, but that fact that’s not possible means the couriers and RM can pretty much hold people to ransom.

No, because we’re all EU pals, I think….

until the eurosceptics get there way, when we won’t be in europe and we will have to start paying duty on the stuff brought in.

Then you’ll hear all the rip off britain comments and no one will ever think that having the ability to import from the continent might help restrain prices….

It would be fairer if there was a way to pre-pay the VAT and duty, but that fact that’s not possible means the couriers and RM can pretty much hold people to ransom.

there is, it’s called being a registered commercial importer – it’s not hard to do, just a bit lengthy to get paperwork sorted.

It would be fairer if there was a way to pre-pay the VAT and duty,

Quite right, if only there was some method of purchasing where all the taxes were included in the price you pay…

As above there will be no duty just VAT and customs charges (applied by Royal Mail/courier).

Something worth being aware of is that customs have tightened up on the rule about the cost of postage/shipping being included in the vatable value of the goods so if it cost you £16 but shipping was £10 then the value for customs purposes is £26. This can mean being charged a fair bit more potentially. Some couriers are very strict on applying this rule and others less so.

Quite right, if only there was some method of purchasing where all the taxes were included in the price you pay…

Yes, and if only there was some way of ensuring that EVERYTHING that was available in the US could be bought locally

you will find that most of the fee is a handling fee and not customs

As Kendo said, £8 will be the standard handling fee levvied by parcel force, so £ duty which is about right!

As above there will be no duty just VAT and customs charges (applied by Royal Mail/courier).

Something worth being aware of is that customs have tightened up on the rule about the cost of postage/shipping being included in the vatable value of the goods so if it cost you £16 but shipping was £10 then the value for customs purposes is £26. This can mean being charged a fair bit more potentially. Some couriers are very strict on applying this rule and others less so.

That’s not what is says here Intrinsic value

1.What does HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) mean when they refer to the import of low value goods?
Imports of low value goods are any consignments, made up of goods of a negligible value, that are dispatched direct from a third country (non-EU) country to a consignee in the EU which may be admitted free of customs import duty and/or import VAT.

Currently this means that:

consignments with an intrinsic value of £15 or less are free from both customs duty and import VAT
import VAT is payable when the intrinsic value of the goods is over £15
customs duty (and import VAT) is payable when the intrinsic value of the imported goods is over £135
2.What is the intrinsic value?
The intrinsic value is the price paid or payable for the goods excluding postage and packing and insurance costs.

Just like you I have ended up paying VAT on a couple of small items that just triggered the charges – If you go over the threshold VAT is charged on the combined cost of the goods plus the postage.

yup you have had to pay £8 in handling charge that the Royal Mail applies regardless of the total of the charges. Annoying when the tax comes to a few £.

I ordered some airbrush parts I couldn’t get in the UK. The total with postage was just over the threshold and the handling charge and tax ended up costing me more than the items. Thing is I didn’t agree to Royal Mail paying the VAT for me, I had no contract with them to pay it on my behalf so I was a bit miffed. I would have been more than happy to have a code slapped on the package by customs that I could type into a website and pay the VAT.

While I wouldn’t mind £8 if the VAT/import fees were lots more it seems stupid to pay more in admin than the fees. Seems to be a nice little earner.