Importing DVDs (Amazon.com)

[Starburn]

Anybody know the import tax 'rules' ?

I'm looking at buying Dark Angel Season 1 - which is £47 in the UK.. and a nice $14.99 from the US (oh how I love the prices in the UK) plus shipping it works out to only about £11/12 .. so quite a saving.

Cheers.

[alexander]

I think if you ship it as a gift which is under the value of 25 dollars then it is ok, even if you do get caught by customs its only going to be around £4 in taxes anyway?


PS: You have PM about a shuttle :-)

[Stoo]

anything under £18 is exempt

[Flibb]

You dont have to bother about the gift bit. As long as the value is under £18 before shipping costs are added no duty / vat.

[Stoo]

actually, that's £18 including shipping..

[MD]

Its not including shipping, its excluding unless the terms of sale are such that you have to declare the cost of the consignment including import freight fees and clearance fees.

For standard packets from the USA the most likely terms of sale are FOB (Free On Board).

The full list of terms of sales are....

Terms of sale
The point at which sellers have fulfilled their obligations so the goods are said to have been delivered to the buyer. They are shorthand expressions that set out the rights and obligations of each party when transporting the goods.

The different types of Terms of Sale are:

FCA/FOB (Free Carrier/Free on Board). Free Carrier at a named port of export. The seller quotes the buyer a price that covers all costs up to and including delivery of goods aboard an overseas vessel (e.g. airplane).
CIP/CIF (Carriage Insurance Paid / Cost Insurance and Freight). Carriage Insurance Paid to a named overseas port of disembarkation (i.e. import). Under this term, the seller quotes a price for the goods, including insurance, plus all transportation, and miscellaneous charges to the point of disembarkation from the vessel.
CPT/C&F (Carriage Paid To/ Cost & Freight). Carriage Paid To is the named overseas port of disembarkation (i.e. import). Under this term, the seller quotes a price for the goods that includes the cost of transportation to the named point of import. The cost of insurance is left to the buyer's account.
(EXW) Ex Works. Under this term, the price quoted applies only at the point of origin and the seller agrees to place the goods at the disposal of the buyer at a specific place on the date or within the period fixed. All other charges are for the account of the buyer.
(DDU) Delivered Duty Unpaid. Under this term, the seller fulfills his obligation to deliver when the goods have been made available at the named place in the country of importation. The seller has to bear the costs and risks involved in bringing the goods thereto as well as the costs and risks of clearing Customs.
(DDP) Delivered Duty Paid. Under this term, the seller fulfills his obligation to deliver when the goods have been made available at the named place in the country of importation. The seller has to bear the risks and cost, including duties, taxes and other charges of delivering the goods.

As to the £18 limit, this is correct, but under default terms of sale its only the cost of the content not the freight charges too. I have never been charged for anything under £18, I know playusa.com declare the vaule as the exact purchase price, hence anything under £18 equivalent I have got free from duty, I did only get done once, on a $24.99 DVD box set, and the PO charges £9.45! Including thier '£6' admin fee for clearing it.

m@

[Starburn]

Thanks for all the info

I've ordered it, comes to £11.72 including shipping.. (way cheaper than the R2 version ). Also marked it as a gift..
So I think I'm pretty much safe

[Stoo]

Its not including shipping, its excluding unless the terms of sale are such that you have to declare the cost of the consignment including import freight fees and clearance fees.

As to the £18 limit, this is correct, but under default terms of sale its only the cost of the content not the freight charges too. I have never been charged for anything under £18, I know playusa.com declare the vaule as the exact purchase price, hence anything under £18 equivalent I have got free from duty, I did only get done once, on a $24.99 DVD box set, and the PO charges £9.45! Including thier '£6' admin fee for clearing it.

m@

If that's true, then why did my mother get charged when she ordered a dvd from the states that was only £17?

The postage costs bumped the price over £18 and she was then charged vat and clearance fees.

[MD]

because the person they sold it from probably imported it to her under a different term of sale other than the one Amazon.com use.

Its all down to how its declared, especially gift shipments, they are actually looked at more now than correctly described items.

The gift idea is actually a worse thing to do that clearly telling customs what it is.

If your mum was charged, and the value of the goods was 17 and imported on FOB then she should dispute the charge.

Unless the terms of sale are altered from FOB, all packages are presented to customs with thier actual charge. FOB represents 99.9% of one of the major courier companies traffic.

I would imagine that your mum had the DVD sent to her CIF/C&F, therefore as per the terms of sale with that choice, the total cost of transportation and insurance is included in the presented cost to customs.

m@

[Flibb]

Copy from pdf,
customs linky, its a pdf guide

3. Postal packages from the rest of the world
3.1 How and why do we examine packages? We examine all postal packages arriving in the UK from outside the EC to determine whether import duty and VAT are payable. We also look for prohibited or restricted items such as drugs, indecent or obscene material, weapons, endangered species and counterfeit goods. We will sometimes need to examine the contents of the package, particularly when the sender has not completed the declaration fully. In such cases the opening and subsequent closure of the package is carried out by Consignia plc, not by us.

3.2 Do I have to pay duty or VAT on goods sent to me from outside the EC? Most goods arriving in the UK from outside the EC are liable to any or all of these charges:
Customs Duty;
Excise Duty; and
VAT. These must be paid whether:
you purchase the goods or receive them as a gift;
the goods are new or used; or
the goods are for your private use or for sale.

3.3 Can I get relief from duty or VAT on any goods? Yes. EC agreements allow relief from charges on certain imported goods if they:
have an intrinsic value of £18 or less although this particular relief does not include alcohol, tobacco products, perfume or toilet waters which are covered in paragraph 3.4. The intrinsic value is the actual value of the goods excluding postage, packing and other miscellaneous costs;
are gifts worth £36 or less which comply with the rules shown in paragraph 3.5; or
are entitled to any other relief, as explained in paragraph 3.7.

[Stoo]

How odd.. *shakes fist @ Customs*

That reminds me, customs opened one of my packages from cd wow the other day, lazy sods didn't bother to repackage it, and it got here with half the box falling apart..

[Starburn]

hmm.. reading that pdf; maybe I shouldn't have set it as a "gift" - although I suspect from amazon this only means they'll put a gift message in with the product.
they can't really mark it as a gift for customs as I've paid money for it.

hopefully I won't get charged :/

[Odc]

Sorry to resurrect this from the dead but does anyone know what courier Amazon.com use for shipping to the UK? I thought I'd treat myself and buy the ultimate matrix collection on HD DVD from them and I got a tracking number but no courier name. I tried the obvious (fedex and ups) but nothing came up. Any ideas?

[burble]

The last time I imported something from amazon.com it came via USPS.

[Agent]

Amazon UK has always been Parcel force / RM for me IIRC.

[Odc]

The last time I imported something from amazon.com it came via USPS.

Ah that worked but it said 'Delivery status information is not available for your item via this web site.'. How long did your stuff take to arrive? (I selected the standard international shipping option).