Import Tax?

earthshayker

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I'm looking to buy an amplifier from the USA and would like to know a bit more about how much import tax to pay, the item is valued at approx £220.
Thanks
 
i dont know if this helps m8, but i bought 4 M3DS cartridges from hong kong, cost about 70 quid with delivery, and the packet got pulled by customs or whatever happens, i had a bill for 16.23, but thought as id already had the package that id not pay it :proud: lol
 
Lucky that Digidude that they still let the package through.

Another example would be that i have had an American Football shirt stopped through customs. They held the package until i paid the tax due which was £40, as much as the shirt cost me in the first place.

Im sure they just make it up as they go along.
 
Customs duty is difficult to work out without knowing the exact TARIC. With some faffing about on the "TARIC Consultation" page (http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/dds/cgi-bin/tarchap?Lang=EN) it might be 4.5% (assuming its classed as televisual equipement).

Import VAT is more vauge without paying HMRC stupid money to get an electronic copy of the rates. (Why they do this when requesting them under the Freedom of Information Act should get you them for no more than £50, I don't know). However, if you assume the standard 17.5% you won't be disapointed if you only pay 5% or even if it qualifies for the zero rate.

IIRC these are charged seperately. Working with the above numbers: 220 x 1.045 + (220 x 0.175) = £268.40

Lucky that Digidude that they still let the package through.

Another example would be that i have had an American Football shirt stopped through customs. They held the package until i paid the tax due which was £40, as much as the shirt cost me in the first place.

Im sure they just make it up as they go along.
The courier probably charged an administration/collection fee on top of that... Not unheard of for it to be more than the tax due. Some people have claimed these charges back in the same way that the banks have been taken to task over overdraft charges.
 
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I buy stuff from the US all the time. Rule no.1: NEVER, NEVER, EVER use FedEx, UPS, or any of those premium delivery services. They virtually always get "busted" by customs.

Regular US mail is the way to go. Whenever possible, I always ask the sender to label it as no or low value gift and not put any insurance on it, which means the value won't be declared on the outside. I figure the odds of losing something are fairly slim, and I haven't had any problems so far. I've bought DVD players, PC components and other stuff from the US, and only had customs check them twice in at least 50 shipments.
 
Cheers little pob.

Thats interesting to know. Il keep my eye on it next time. Just thought it was the tax due and paid up last time but will have a look next time.
 
The tariffs we normally pay are

UK Customs Duty
VAT
Customs Clearance
Import Airline Handling Fee
UK Haulage Fuel Surcharge

Its always good to try and confuse the shipper with taric codes. Usually they will just give up and charge you just the VAT which is OK.
 
I'm looking to buy an amplifier from the USA and would like to know a bit more about how much import tax to pay, the item is valued at approx £220.
Thanks

Current VAT + Handling?

I've bought a few items from the US and I see that the deciding factor can be if the entity sending the goods is a company or a person. As far as I've found; you can't get a gift from a company!
 
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