Import Duty

[Albannach]

Feckin' ratbags.

I got £100 (including postage) worth of stuff sent over from NZ. HMRC have charged me £34 for the pleasure. I even had to pay VAT on the postage!

Not a happy bunny....

[Diezel Weazel]

That's shoite Andy, sounds like they (HM Government) want ya to give em all ya wages n then ask for a sub when ya need it .... Barstewards

11+ Years of Surfs .... n Faultless to a " T " is my Yota

[Albannach]

It's galling! I don't mnd paying the VAT on the item, it's paying vat on the postage that's annoying me. that postage element wasn't anything to do with the UK, it was money spent by a foreigner in a foreign country, so why the fcuk should I have to pay UK tax on it?

[POPEYE]

Your right! its a real rip off, i got charged £14 for some model wheels that were a gift, from the US, the guy had put 50c in the value box so i guess they thought it was $50, you try phoneing them, feckin impossible, my understanding is the item(s) have to be worth over £15 before you get charged, and to charge ya on the postage paid is just takeing the slash

[Karma Supra]

Yup, it is very annoying... and that is before you take into the consideration how long your parcel sits in UK customs while they scratch their arses trying to work out what to charge you...

[markp2]

It seems to be luck of the draw with HMRC. I have had loads of parcels through with bike parts without paying anything but every now and again they go through the Duty/Vat process.
What I don't like is the charge of £12 for the letter to tell you that they are going to charge you duty!

[GBV8]

It must be luck of the draw. Two packages from the US in the last couple of days, $190 & $230. Postman left them, no charges!

[dieselboy]

Do they charge you to tell you that they're charging you? Seems things are getting worse? Last time I ordered something overseas in UK was 2010. Item was $160 plus $40 postage and import duties were near 40 pounds if I can remember.

I really don't understand why you have to pay tax on New Zealands postage - I think this is another case of someone not knowing how to do their job, as I find this quite frequently happens!!!

[Albannach]

Do they charge you to tell you that they're charging you?

Yep, £13 odd.

[jonathan blane]

On all three occasions over the last 8 years that I imported a Surf directly from Japan
I was required to pay import duty plus vat on not only the headline
cost of the Surf, but also on the $2,000 shipping cost.

The cars could not be released from the port without that payment.

I have often wondered whether it is correct to have to pay taxes on the cost
of transportation. What if I had driven the car ( largely ) overland myself and declared
it on arrival ?

[NiftyNev]

If you buy something from a business here you do not pay our GST. If I want to buy from there most ( I say most because not all businesses do it) want to charge the VAT anyway, which we should not pay. Once here and under a certain amount, ($1000 I think it is) we do not pay import duty or GST on top. You guys get ripped off, but so do others from other countries, who purchase stuff over there.

Nev

[JohnnyWalkabout]

They charge VAT on postage because if you import goods to sell the total value of the goods will include the cost of postage. I.E. you will include the cost of shipping when you sell an item on.

Any item you buy here in the shops you will be paying VAT on the transport costs. If it was made in China your probably paying more VAT than the thing cost to make.

Out of every pound you earn about 78 pence finds its way back to the government.

Tax is a four letter word!!