Buying something for the states, but would like to know...

[silentphoenix]

Hi,

Im thinking of buying a pair of glasses from the states because they work out about £200 cheaper than getting them from the high street.

Obviously, ill have to pay for the shipping, but what about tariffs/taxes? The pair cost about £110, so im geussing ill have to make up VAT @ 17.5%, but will I have to pay any more on top (if so how much would it be?).

Also, how would I pay these taxes - do i get invoiced or something?

Ive never really got anything shipped over from abroad so would really appreciate an feedback - cheers

[directhex]

VAT at 17.5%, Duty at an undisclosed amount (i.e. customs.gov.uk won't tell you), plus a flat fee to whichever courier sends the delivery, for wasting their time and more importantly them subbing you the money you owe to the government (usually £10-£20).

The courier'll turn up with a big yellow "COD" sticker on you parcel, demanding a fist full of dollars. As is my experience (think it was FedEx), anyway

[silentphoenix]

Thanks for that mate

Duty at an undisclosed amount

the money you owe to the government (usually £10-£20)

Are you refereing to the same thing here, or are these different?

plus a flat fee to whichever courier sends the delivery

"Fist full of dollars" - is that just a figure of speech, or will they actually want some dollars?

[silentphoenix]

Also, delivery will be about $8 so how long will they take to delivery you recon?

[unrealrocks]

Tip: Get someone in the US to buy it, then ship it over as a 'gift'

[Flibb]

You will be billed in £. The charges will be 17.5% VAT and a handling charge for collecting the money. Last time I got nabbed it was £8.50 but depends on the courier. Most couriers demand payment before handing the goods over. If you are very lucky you might slip through, but thats getting less common.
Flibb

[Saracen]

Import duty will be charged at a rate according to the class of the goods, This is anything between about 1.5% and 40%, but typically at the lower end of the range. The exact rate is determined by C&E deciding what "category" the goods fall into and looking up the resultant rate in an enormous great book.

You will then be charged VAT on the total cost. i.e. Take the cost of the goods, add the cost of carriage, add in the Import Duty and then add 17.5% of that figure as VAT.

Finally, most couriers add an "Admin" fee. These charges (including the duty and VAT) will usually be collected by the courier on delivery, though I have had occasions wherethey have delivered and invoiced later. I've also had attempts to add up to £20 in "Admin" fee.

On a couple of occasions, where this has been unsolicited items for review, (and where the software house concerned has been stupid enough not to mark the invoice as samples, of nominal or zero value) I've told the courier to come and collect the goods as I am not paying a fee for something I hadn't ordered in the first place. They have yet to actually bother to do so. Of course if they had, I'd simply have handed them the parcel - so it isn't a trick that many people will be happy to try

One such instance was a £500 program, to which was added £20 duty (4%), £25 shipping charges ($40) VAT (>£95) and a £20 Admin charge. I got a bill for >£160

Needless to say, that was one where I told the courier to come get it. They argued, and eventually gave up - and never did collect.

[MD]

Tip: Get someone in the US to buy it, then ship it over as a 'gift'

Bad Idea, Customs have clamped down on this MASSIVELY, the chances of you getting away with a gift shipment that is not inspected is like zero now.

FedEx do not do COD, they do an invoice in the post. COD is done by UPS, but there is nothing official about this.

In terms of the fees including Customs Clearance, VAT and duty fees, you need to add an approixmate 22.5% to the basic convert dollar costs at current rates.

8$ for delivery is standard US Mail, this can take around a week, if they send by this method make sure its insured, in all honesty if they get lost it would be three to four weeks before you could claim, hence why the likes of FedEx are miles more reliable.

m@
(unofficial Hexus Advisor from FedEx )

[directhex]

that'll teach me to post replies when i've had little sleep and am late for a lecture!

anyone know offhand what the allowance is for tax-free imports? i've bought things online (i.e. from people like play.com) which are clearly labeled, but have no duty charged on entry into the country

[steve threlfall]

Play.com are immune from the evils of VAT though arent they? Because they are based in jersey they can sell dvd's without paying the tax- nice loophole

[MD]

Play.com is correct in being the exclusion, officially the Channel Islands are Part of the UK, therefore, even though they have a lower tax bracket you do not get done for import as its within the same country.

Tax Free Imports are usually 100$ worth in the UK.

Regards Matt.

[Russ]

in most cases, its cheaper to get a flight to europe to buy things.

[Theo]

It's possible that the glasses (as long as they're prescription glasses, and not just silly sunglasses) may be shipped as "Medical Supplies", which, I think, is exempt from taxation. As long as the goods within the package are authorised as medical supplies by the customs inspector.

I don't really know about import tax and all that palava, but I have ordered from a US based medical shop on more than one occasion, and I have received my items with "Medical Supplies" on the jiggy bag. Distinct lack of tax forms or whatever, though... which is nice!

[Flibb]

http://www.hmce.gov.uk/forms/notices/143.htm#P193_12762

There you go a nice linky

[shiato storm]

yeah but they're cracking down on medical shipments too now...pain in the 'a'...

[silentphoenix]

It's possible that the glasses (as long as they're prescription glasses, and not just silly sunglasses) may be shipped as "Medical Supplies", which, I think, is exempt from taxation. As long as the goods within the package are authorised as medical supplies by the customs inspector

Lol - i could never justify spending £100 on sunglass (well nto given my particular financial situation); these are prescription specs i am getting.

Again, to everyone, thanks for your replys and advice