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[slewis]

OK I have paid for a model from the states and am wondering as to what I am going to get asked to pay when it gets to my place of work as I may not be there when it arrives and would like to leave the relevant amount of ££ in reception for posty .
The cost is $440 inc post and packing.
So if anyone knows or indeed works for HM Customs  can you give me an idea so I can leave something along the right lines in ££ for them when its delivered .

Ta chaps 

Shane

[Scottie]

If it's coming via royal mail and there are charges to be paid they will deliver a notice of payment required. At least they did when I had a radio set sent from USA.

BTW, you won't like the charge the post office make for this service, it's exorbitant.

Hope this helps,

Scottie

[slewis]

Its £13.50   but I WANT to know how much the customs bit is so I can leave the right or close to amount in our reception area when it gets here .

[Scottie]

Sorry, perhaps I wasn't specific enough. They will deliver a notice of payment NOT the goods. The goods won't be delivered until after they've received payment.

Scottie

[slewis]

Ta Scottie but I want the goods delivered and the payment made to my work place   so if anyone has a % of the amount its going to be against the cost price it would be beneficial to me .
It hasnt to be spot on   but I dont want the money i leave to be outside of the bracket as it were so the poor girl on reception is chucking in her lippy to pay for it .

[FullLeatherJacket]

Shane

Sorry, mate, but it's just not that easy. Nothing involving HMRC ever is.......ask me how I know. There are two elements to any import charge. The first is the duty, which in turn depends on the tariff code which applies to the item in question. This is a 13 digit number which should be declared by the shipper, usually either on the package or with the accompanying documents. There may be a NIL rate of duty or it might be positive - there's no logic to it. If the rate is, say, 5%, then this will be added to the fully-delivered cost to obtain the "value for importation". Even then the bu66ers haven't finished with you, because there will be a VAT addition which is calculated at 17.5% of the import value, including the transport costs and duty. Yep - in this case you pay VAT on the duty. Who said life was fair?

A fag-packet guesswork calculation says that, if you work on 10% duty, that will give you $484 + 17.5% VAT = $568, which is very roughly £300 if you include the £13.50 for Royal Mail. I may be high on the duty rate - hope so. Can't see Office Doris having the pay Postie behind the door at that.

Before you complain to me about the silliness of all of this beaurocracy, please be aware that I retired from HMRC six months ago and I haven't missed it one little bit.

The best of British luck, mate.
FLJ

[Bunkerbarge]

Shane

Sorry, mate, but it's just not that easy. Nothing involving HMRC ever is.......ask me how I know. There are two elements to any import charge. The first is the duty, which in turn depends on the tariff code which applies to the item in question. This is a 13 digit number which should be declared by the shipper, usually either on the package or with the accompanying documents. There may be a NIL rate of duty or it might be positive - there's no logic to it. If the rate is, say, 5%, then this will be added to the fully-delivered cost to obtain the "value for importation". Even then the bu66ers haven't finished with you, because there will be a VAT addition which is calculated at 17.5% of the import value, including the transport costs and duty. Yep - in this case you pay VAT on the duty. Who said life was fair?

A fag-packet guesswork calculation says that, if you work on 10% duty, that will give you $484 + 17.5% VAT = $568, which is very roughly £300 if you include the £13.50 for Royal Mail. I may be high on the duty rate - hope so. Can't see Office Doris having the pay Postie behind the door at that.


Before you complain to me about the silliness of all of this beaurocracy, please be aware that I retired from HMRC six months ago and I haven't missed it one little bit.

The best of British luck, mate.
FLJ

Spot on FLJ and obviously the voice of experience.  I think the most profound comment you made was " There is no logic to it" and that says it all.

You can't predict or even try to estimate as it all semms to depend on who you are dealing with at the time and not just thier interpretation of the rules and an items value (which is nothing to do with what it cost you!) but also thier mood at the time!!

Shane, even if you ask them up front there is no guarrantee that they will honour such comments so you are not going to be able to say for certain what it is going to cost.

As FLJ says, best of british luck!

[uboatbuilder]

When we order anything from overseas we ask that it is declared as a "gift", or "plastic parts", and that they declare the value as small as they can (normally $20)

we havent had to pay anything yet.

Grant

[BlazingPenguin]

Model boat kits....unpowerd have no duty other than standard VAT.
The import code must be sourced 'before' purchase or the charge may indeed incurr duty.
Theres a little about it on my site at www.badbills boatyard.co.uk

[FullLeatherJacket]

When we order anything from overseas we ask that it is declared as a "gift", or "plastic parts", and that they declare the value as small as they can (normally $20)

we havent had to pay anything yet.

Grant

I bet no-one in UK Customs has thought of that trick! 

I'm certainly not going to moralise about the evasion of tax - when you see how some of the money collected is wasted you could cry. All I can do is to warn anyone who tries this that they risk having their goods confiscated AND paying a fine equal to the amount of the VAT and duty evaded AND having to pay the VAT and Duty again if they want their goods back AND having a criminal record set up.

If you want to scare yourselves silly then full details of HMRC rules about postal imports appear elsewhere on this forum. Play it straight and you'll have few problems. Try to be sneaky and sooner or later you'll come unstuck.

Suit yourselves, but telling porkies to the Chalkies is illegal.

FLJ

[BJ]

My last import from US worked out at £1 (GBP) to $1 (USD) so $77 of K&B spares cost me about £77

[wombat]

SWMBO frequently imports chocolate making stuff from the US - the suppliers are open and honest about what is in the packages. The collection of duty seems to be vartiable, but never particularly excessive. There have been occaisions when duty has been due but it has been waived because of the cost of collecting it was excessive

Wom

[Marks Model Bits]

when i have ordered parts for my car i have always asked them to mark it as a gift or used parts. i have been doing this for 5 years now and never paid a penny in import duty or vat by the way dont tell anyone

[slewis]

Thanks for ALL the information , as the model has already been brought and paid for I will just have to sit back and see what figure materialises when it gets here .
I,ll make the money up to £70  that should be more than enough I reckon 

Some good information there chaps

Many thanks 
Shane

[Colin Bishop]

when i have ordered parts for my car i have always asked them to mark it as a gift or used parts. i have been doing this for 5 years now and never paid a penny in import duty or vat by the way dont tell anyone

And now you've told the world...

[slewis]

Sorry, perhaps I wasn't specific enough. They will deliver a notice of payment NOT the goods. The goods won't be delivered until after they've received payment.

Scottie

Why not the goods ? A few years ago I ordered maybe 3 planes from different suppliers in the states and they all arrived with postie demanding the ££ . I dare say if I hadnt got the money on the spot then yes they would of taken it away for me to go and collect when paying my cash out.
The reason for this thread is that as its been a few years I had really forgotton the way its sorted out and things are now beginning to make sence to me .

Ta lads

Shane

Oh I also DONT think its such a wise idea publicly admitting defrauding HMRC either 

[Colin Bishop]

Over the last year we've had several people on here advocating the scam of declaring imports as gifts. Model boat stuff must represent a tiny, tiny proportion of the items coming into the country which are declared as such. It beggars belief that the Customs authorities are not aware of this and will regard such declarations as not worth the parcels they are written on. So in fact you are probably more likely to have a "gift" package opened than a regular one. The big difference is that if you have had it declared as a gift and it isn't then you are likely to be hammered as FLJ quite rightly points out. Seems to me a no brainer that you play it straight and are just as likely to escape charges, but legiimately, on the basis that the authorities are too understaffed to check everything that comes through. Not your problem, but you will benefit from it.

[slewis]

I agree entirely with that Colin
Indeed I would go so far as to say if you "have" found a way around it   DONT publicise it on a public forum where your ip address can be collected .

I have NO qualms about paying what ever is due I just want to know what it is so I dont have to go collect the damn thing myself when it gets here ! 

Oh and I will still save £35 on the best price I can find over here if I can find a supplier as they all say its not being imported into the Uk . I am happy anyway 

[FullLeatherJacket]

Over the last year we've had several people on here advocating the scam of declaring imports as gifts. Model boat stuff must represent a tiny, tiny proportion of the items coming into the country which are declared as such. It beggars belief that the Customs authorities are not aware of this and will regard such declarations as not worth the parcels they are written on. So in fact you are probably more likely to have a "gift" package opened than a regular one. The big difference is that if you have had it declared as a gift and it isn't then you are likely to be hammered as FLJ quite rightly points out. Seems to me a no brainer that you play it straight and are just as likely to escape charges, but legiimately, on the basis that the authorities are too understaffed to check everything that comes through. Not your problem, but you will benefit from it.

Spoken like a true Admiral! Customs Preventive staff (aka Chalkies) are only human. Imagine that you are one of said staff and your personal seizure rate is down, probably through no direct fault of yours (folk don't tend to write "Drugs" or "Kiddy Porn" on packages - well, not often). You're being heavily leaned on by the Senior Officer, under threat of a lousy appraisal and perhaps a "Less Effective" performance marking. This means no pay increase - not even the promised 1.9%. Malpaso! Suddenly a great big brown box appears from the USA, weighing several pounds, with an iffy/vague Tariff number and the word "gift" scrawled on it. This beggar just HAS to be worth more than £37 quid so it's gotta warrant a shufti at the very least. What are you going to do, hey? Out comes the box-cutter......

Yes - we all would, wouldn't we? Just like the traffic warden down on issuing tickets or the copper down on traffic offences.

HOWEVER if it wasn't for folk playing fast and loose with the law then there'd be no Customs staff and the price of Class A filth would hit the floor.

So keep it up, guys, and let's support our local Chalkies!

[slewis]

With you all the way FLJ  :) :)

Can someone get Martin to instate a damn thumbs up smiley as its soo usefull 

[jenno]

I've just ordered the Dumas American Beauty from mack products and after reading this thread i'm now sh#ting myself
 about the bill that i'm due. keeping fingers crossed it's not to heavy.

                                          jenno.

[tigertiger]

If you send it to a commercial adress you will pay duty.

I have had to pay duty and the processing charge on educational books because I had them sent to a work address.

If you send stuff to a home address it is recommended.
Worst case is you have to go and collect it from the local parcel depot.

[Bunkerbarge]

I once rescused four huge terracotta plant pots from the garbage room on the ship.  I asked my missis to look into what such a thing would cost in the UK and decided that shipping them home would be well worth the effort as it was going to cost me in the region of $200.00 to ship them to the UK.  50 bucks each, 25 quid, can't go wrong!

I asked the chippy to make me a packing case (rank has it's priveliges!) and sent them on thier way.  Unfortunately the estimate of shipping costs was a bit out and they ended up costing about $300.00, never mind still worth it.  When I eventually got them I unpacked them and they went superb by the side of the drive.  Weeks later I received a bill from the Chalkies for an additional £200.00 for the import duty!

As we have said there are no set rules of any sort.  This was only a couple of years ago and I had no choice other than to pay!!

And the punch line?.......during the first winter they all cracked and fell apart after the first frost and they all went into the skip!

[Colin Bishop]

And the punch line?.......during the first winter they all cracked and fell apart after the first frost and they all went into the skip!

That's a shame Bunkerbarge - still, I bet they were hurricane proof though!

[cbr900]

It would seem to a bit simpler over here, as any item ordered from overseas, as long as it is not also produced here, incurs no duty or any other costs, works for me....



Roy