Customs charges

[Tajmaster]

Should I be paying a customs charge on a second hand item I bought abroad?

I dont usually trade outside the UK so know nothing of what I can potentially have to pay when it comes to customs.

 

[LjL]

If you're buying inside the EU, there is no customs tax.
Outside, there is in theory, but it all depends on whether your item actually does gets held by customs, and I don't know the specifics of UK laws.

 

[Tajmaster]

Ahh, that kinda makes sense since I never got charged one for stuff I sent to Europe this week and last, but I did for something outside Europe

 

[StrontiumDog]

From the HMRC website:

Gifts sent from outside the EU

If you're sending or receiving a gift from outside the EU:

• Customs Duty is payable if the value of the gift exceeds £135, but will be waived if the amount of duty is £9 or under.
• Import VAT is payable if the value of the gift exceeds £40.

To qualify as a gift:

• It must have been sent from a private person outside the EU to a private person(s) in the UK.
• The Customs Declaration must be completed correctly.
• It must be for the use of either you or your family.
• There must be no commercial or trade element and it must not have been paid for by the recipient either directly or indirectly.
• It must be of an occasional nature only - for example for a birthday or anniversary.

 

[Tajmaster]

I payed "Import VAT" and a "Clearance Fee" totaling £34.92

To be clear, Im not having a go at anyone, I was just surprised I had to pay these fees

 

[moijk]

I payed "Import VAT" and a "Clearance Fee" totaling £34.92

To be clear, Im not having a go at anyone, I was just surprised I had to pay these fees

Oh poor guy, you had to pay impot vat and clearance fee. I feel SOO SORRY FOR YOU.



(Everything we import into norway is a subject to that)

 

[AndyLandy]

You do have to pay import tax on second-hand items. The golden rule to remember with tax is that it's levied on transactions, not items or services or anything else. It sucks a bit, but that's life, I guess.

 

[ShambleS1980]

Just dont use FEDEX those guys suck when it comes to extra charges..

rule of thumb usually is if its £30 or less and marked as "gift" you dont pay any taxes. (has been like that with all my transactions anyway) if its actualy valuable then you will want to state the value or if it gets lost you loose out.

honestly import taxes in other countrys i understand (countrys that make items) but when your in the uk and hav to import some stuff because honestly we dont actualy make anything anymore, then i think its a bit rediculous that we have to pay such a high %

for instance.. a £40 item with import tax and deliverd by fed ex incurred me an aditional cost of £20 I mean really?? 50%??
FederalExpress?? I think FederalExtortion And thats after the aditional stupid amount of money for the actual postage. "that was like £20+ for a relitivly weightless item"

however on a + note they did not ask for the money before they deliverd the item, and now send me letters asking for it.. Well i aint going to pay. They can say what they like. they have nothing but my home address and name i signed nothing. they can say what they want i wont pay, they should have asked for the money when they deliverd, for all any one els knows they are making this stuff up!
Take that fedExtortion. you should have had more reasonable prices!

 

[Tajmaster]

I payed "Import VAT" and a "Clearance Fee" totaling £34.92

To be clear, Im not having a go at anyone, I was just surprised I had to pay these fees

Oh poor guy, you had to pay impot vat and clearance fee. I feel SOO SORRY FOR YOU.



(Everything we import into norway is a subject to that)

Are you taking the piss?? I was just asking, I dont normally buy stuff from abroad and didnt know whether I was being fleeced

---------- Post added at 14:20 ---------- Previous post was at 14:17 ----------

To the rest of the respondents, thanks for your constructive comments, I understand the fees I have payed are "normal" and that it wasn't some scam or otherwise

 

[tokyoracer]

I remember about 10 years ago you could avoid these fees if the customs label is marked as a 'gift'. Although I don't know if that still stands today.

 

[AndyLandy]

I remember about 10 years ago you could avoid these fees if the customs label is marked as a 'gift'. Although I don't know if that still stands today.

Did that actually ever work? I thought it was just an urban legend! According to HMRC, gifts are most definitely taxable, although I believe you have a higher allowance on them (Something like £35-£40, marked as gift is still tax exempt as I recall)

 

[Retrograde]

Been importing DVDs for like 10 years, only twice did customs tamper with the goods (to Sweden). Problem wasn't so much the 8-10 quid they added but the extra week. That was annoying. But I reckon UK is different.