Customs charges

[greencreeper]

Bloody thieving Government - as if I don't pay enough in taxes for naff all.

Postman tried to deliver a couple of t-shirts I'd ordered from America. Left a note saying that it was too large to fit through the letterbox They're only medium. On the note, it says I have to pay custom charges of nearly £8 When did this happen? I thought clothes were tax free.

Not impressed at all
[edit]

Humf! According to this:

http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsP...yType=document

I'm the importer and can face "financial penalties or criminal prosecution" if the sender doesn't package the parcel correctly. Fascists

[Rob]

Been the case for a long while. I think anything over £18.00 can be subject to import tax. I got caught a while ago on a DVD set. It's why I don't use CD-WOW and their like anymore, I can't guarantee that it won't cost me.

just dont buy over the price its not that hard lol

[AntiSilence]

Play.Com in the UK are usually pretty well priced. I got an Xbox game (Soul Calibur 2) from them for £11.99 delivered a while ago

[Anonymouse]

The only way around it - though it's a bloody nuisance - is to split your order, if possible, into groups of items so that each group costs less than £18 Sterling (XE.com has a currency converter). I ordered 3 DVDs from Amazon.com in 3 separate orders, with no trouble from Customs since each DVD cost considerably less than that.

But we shouldn't have to do it. Legalised theft, if you ask me. I bet American customers don't pay such duties on any goods they order from here.

[RealDiamond]

nope. its royal mail/parcel force that will hit you for fees.
DHL=NTSC PS2/UPS=NTSC DVDs/TNT=this computer over £1000, i have used all of them with high value packages over £18 and never got import fees. the real cheak is that Parcel force can Charge up nearly 100% for them selves as well. BUT i have had airmail packages which is also royal mail which was free from fees.

ps
Play.com are not based in the uk they are based in the tax haven of jersey. The DVD selections are shipped from Germany

[j52c]

It would appear you have been unlucky that your items came through Parcel Force.

---------- Post added at 10:20 ---------- Previous post was at 10:17 ----------

It would appear you have been unlucky that your items came through Parcel Force.

I have recently had items valued over £400 each from Texas and had nothing to pay, one came by UPS.

Not sure, but even if the sender ticks the 'Gift' box on the customs declaration form there is still a chance that it could be opened and checked and you could still finish up paying duty on it.

[greencreeper]

Guess I'll have to order single items next time - keep under the £18 limit. I'm still staggered

[SMHarman]

Originally Posted by Anonymouse

But we shouldn't have to do it. Legalised theft, if you ask me. I bet American customers don't pay such duties on any goods they order from here.

Erm, well in the US you don't pay sales tax on a transaction if it is out of state, this is why Amazon.com's first warehouse (dunno about now) was in Washington State. Only shoppers from Washington State paid Amazon sales tax.
And if you buy from a UK company that is VAT registered and they ship it to the US then they do not charge VAT on that transaction.
So Americans don't pay tax or duties or items bought from another state let alone anothe rcountry.

[Jules]

I got a parcel not so longer ago from a friend in the States and I had to pay more in custom charges on it than it cost her to send it in the first place!!!!!

I ordered 2 t-shirts from T-shirt hell.

And got stung for import tax.

At the end of the day when payin £30 for two t-shirts I didnt expect it, what if I had ordered some fashionable t-shirt.....oh yeah bang up goes the tax.

Also the damned state the package was in after customs had ripped it apart, I should have complained, but I'm just glad the didnt slice a hole in one of my offensive t-shirts.

[SMHarman]

Originally Posted by Jules

I got a parcel not so longer ago from a friend in the States and I had to pay more in custom charges on it than it cost her to send it in the first place!!!!!

She should not have been so honest on the declaration. I just sent something to a friend and declared to $10 pairs of trousers in it.

[greencreeper]

Originally Posted by SMHarman

She should not have been so honest on the declaration. I just sent something to a friend and declared to $10 pairs of trousers in it.

See the link above - your friend is the importer, and legally responsible for the accuracy of the declaration. Could be ugly if you got him/her a short spell behind bars

Originally Posted by timewarrior2001

I ordered 2 t-shirts from T-shirt hell

You too huh


I picked up the parcel today - went and left it at work £4 of the nearly £8 charge was Post Office handling charges.

[Skatoony]

What sickens me even more is receiving a gift from the USA meant I had to pay £86 to the government in taxes

[Xaccers]

Originally Posted by RealDiamond

nope. its royal mail/parcel force that will hit you for fees.
DHL=NTSC PS2/UPS=NTSC DVDs/TNT=this computer over £1000, i have used all of them with high value packages over £18 and never got import fees. the real cheak is that Parcel force can Charge up nearly 100% for them selves as well. BUT i have had airmail packages which is also royal mail which was free from fees.

ps
Play.com are not based in the uk they are based in the tax haven of jersey. The DVD selections are shipped from Germany

Delivery companies are allowed to charge a reasonable amount (normally £10) for the service of dealing with HMRC on your behalf, not 100% of the duty charges.
Some companies are more likely to declare your parcels than others.

Remember, when it comes to calculationg the duty, postage costs are included, so if you see a watch for £18 from the states, but shipping is £10, then you run the risk of having to pay duty on £28.

Many of my friends have ordered £100's of guns and parts from HK as they're much cheaper over there, and some of the companies offer the option to mark a lower price on the invoice.
At least one of those however has had every parcel sent to the states refused entry because they cottoned on to the scam.