Import tax and extra costs

[Aluminium]

Hi,


I'm thinking about buying a silver coin from the US. Does anyone know if there are any added costs that might increase my total costs, such as import duty and VAT.

The coin costs £25.00.

Thanks in advance..

[CrazyJays]

Hi,


I'm thinking about buying a silver coin from the US. Does anyone know if there are any added costs that might increase my total costs, such as import duty and VAT.

The coin costs £25.00.

Thanks in advance..

You will have to check that there to see how much import duty and VAT will be there.
If im correct it diffrent country to country.
I do know the sellers from china mark it as a gift and i didnt have to pay any.. lol

[MPS16]

Read this :-

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/customs/post/buying.htm#1

[Aluminium]

Thanks for your replies,

I might stick to buying in the UK after reading the HMRC website. Not worth the hassle.

[MPS16]

..... i think you would be okay price wise in the end

Seems clear enough to me.

[kreativebargains]

Almost certainly no problem. We buy regularly from the US, the consignments are clearly marked and not as gifts, value is usually £25-£40 and we have never had any duty to pay. Even if this was stopped by customs, as the previous post says, duty under £9 is not collected and you are allowed up to £135. As the value is £25 the VAT would be £5 and value is under the £135 anyway.

For things like coins you can ask for them to be marked up as gifts, or for the value to be marked lower on the customs form, this would not affect any compensation if it were lost. Not strictly the right thing to do, and some sellers will not do it, but some will.

[CrazyJays]

Ok you got me on this.
Toilet water lol Do you sell it by the cup or gallon. lol
It dont have any flotters does it. lol

Im sorry your not talking about real Toilet Water are you?

Like a fag there you smoke correct
Here its 2 guys. Tasty

So whats Toilet Water stick it to me.

[brishada]

HMRC seem to have their own rules these days!

They obviously can’t check EVERY SINGLE parcel that comes into the country but we have found that virtually every parcel we have had from the States gets caught for Customs, yet the ones from China simply go through fine!

Their charges are random! First there’s the Handling Fee, then there’s the VAT and the Duty. Friends have told me that they have even included the postage cost in some cases! You have to be vigilant if you do get stung for Customs that they have charged you the right amount. Sometimes they will try to charge two Handling Fees!

I think some of it depends on what Carrier is used as to whether it gets nabbed or not, normal Air Mail seems fine but the Priority Mail and Express Mail seems to make it more likely to happen.

Sometimes Sellers will accidentally include the postage price on the Customs Declaration Value and that can incur charges if the value is above the limit. The parcel SHOULD be for the value of the contents!

If your Seller wants to risk sending it as a Gift that’s their lookout but it is against the Law to do this if it’s not actually a Gift.

Hope that helps
Blessings, Sharon

[JaBek1]

Ok you got me on this.
Toilet water lol Do you sell it by the cup or gallon. lol
It dont have any flotters does it. lol

Im sorry your not talking about real Toilet Water are you?

Like a fag there you smoke correct
Here its 2 guys. Tasty

So whats Toilet Water stick it to me.

Toilet water is a somewhat antiquated term for cologne, if I'm not mistaken, Jay.

[ZenKarma]

Be careful about buying anything outside of the EU, as the extras can easily mount up and there are hidden costs you may not be aware of.

I'll give you an example.

I recently purchased something from the US ($30/£19.35) which was unfortunately just over the £15 VAT qualifying threshold. I was expecting a VAT charge on this of 20%, which should have been no more than £4.00, it was actually £3.81, making the total £19.35 + £3.81 = £23.16.

I was somewhat surprised then to receive a charge of £11.81 on this to pay. Good old Royal Mail charged an administration fee of £8.50 to collect the VAT on behalf of Customs and Excise making the total £31.66. Add in the ship charge of $6.90 (£4.45) and the total came to £36.11, somewhat more (almost double!) than the £19.35 purchase price!

Had I known all this beforehand I'd have never bought the item in the first place.

So my advice to anyone considering buying items from outside the EU, is to do your research thoroughly on what the actual additional costs might be and not just on what you think the additional costs might be.