the black mire Posted October 10, 2009 Report Share Posted October 10, 2009 hello all could anyone tell me the situation as regards purchasing reloading equipment from the usa as regards excise duty airport tax ect how much duty would a purchaser have to pay if any. thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malinois Posted October 10, 2009 Report Share Posted October 10, 2009 Hi, I just bought an RCBS Rock Chucker premium kit for $270 with free post to my mate in Florida. He is going to send me it as a present (Nice of him) Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vince Green Posted October 10, 2009 Report Share Posted October 10, 2009 I have bought a lot of bits from America over the years. This week I have bought a scope from Hong Kong. You should get charged import duty which is collected by the postman when he delivers it but often things get through without being charged. Always check out the Foreign sites if you want a bargain. If you get caught for duty its still worth it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flytie Posted October 11, 2009 Report Share Posted October 11, 2009 If they sting you for import duty/tax etc. it seems to work out at about 40% of the purchase price. I am normally lucky on this score, I buy most of my clothes from the states as it is easier and cheaper to by big&tall stuf over there. Far bigger choice too! Shipping on heavy items can be cost prohibitive but it's worth checking them out because there are bargains to be had. Atb, ft Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tungsten Posted October 11, 2009 Report Share Posted October 11, 2009 I purchased quite a bit from Sinclair International, had to take a cheque to parcelforce for the VAT and a very small amount of duty which I couldn't work out for which item(s) the duty was levied, but it was only a small amount. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miniwizard Posted October 11, 2009 Report Share Posted October 11, 2009 (edited) add the cost of your equipment to the shipping charges,this total is what you pay duty on,duty is 10%,then vat is added to the lot ,ie...£100 cost + £50 shipping = £150 + 10% duty = £160 =vat £24 total £184, depends on what your getting Edited October 11, 2009 by miniwizard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mallet Posted October 11, 2009 Report Share Posted October 11, 2009 Mini wizard is right but Parcelforce add a £10 pound charge on top of the other charges as an admin fee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tungsten Posted October 12, 2009 Report Share Posted October 12, 2009 Didn't think VAT applied to shipping costs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stubby Posted October 12, 2009 Report Share Posted October 12, 2009 Ive ordered from the US, when buying, add a note asking them to stamp "happy birthday" on it, alot of sites already ask this when filling out delivery address, as stated, presents dont occur the charges Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamie g Posted October 12, 2009 Report Share Posted October 12, 2009 Ive ordered from the US, when buying, add a note asking them to stamp "happy birthday" on it, alot of sites already ask this when filling out delivery address, as stated, presents dont occur the charges thats right but if you have a dear item and it got lost or nicked in post you wouldnt be able to claim the full amount back on it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casts_by_fly Posted October 12, 2009 Report Share Posted October 12, 2009 gifts ARE VAT/import chargeable. We had a former HMRC guy on here that explained it a few months ago. Also, when assessing the value of the item, the assessors use the UK like item value. So if the item gets pulled, they will use the UK value plus shipping paid, to figure the tax. So if you've bought a scope from the US for $300 that would cost 300 GBP, the will use 300 GBP as the value. Then they will convert the shipping cost to GBP and tack on 27%. Thanks Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vince Green Posted October 13, 2009 Report Share Posted October 13, 2009 All International parcels by law require a statement of content and value. Customs can open any parcel and seize the contents if they feel the statement is deliberately misleading to avoid duty. Yes you do have to declare the value on presents and still have to pay duty. They are not so dumb they didn't work that one out years ago. However, on the good side, more international selling on websites like Sinclair and e-bay means there are more parcels than they can cope with so a lot just go through unchecked. This time of year in the run up to Christmas is probably the busiest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rem223 Posted October 14, 2009 Report Share Posted October 14, 2009 Good advice from Vince it is worth buying anything nearer to Christmas assuming Royal Mail are not on strike. It is many years since I worked for Customs in a PPD (parcel post depot) but I doubt things have changed much. Goods from outside the EU are liable to import duty. This varies on the item. There were three massive volumes they used to look at to assess the rate. Now it is probably all on a pc. Most commonly it is around 4 or 5%. This is added to the purchase price converted to sterling. If you put in a dodgy invoice then they can and will look up the item on the internet. They then charge 15% VAT on the value including duty and postage. This is all totted up and Parcelfarce add in their "clearance fee" If it goes via UPS or Fedex it will be the same process but they will charge you a lot more for clearance. It can still be worth doing, but a lot of American firms are reluctant to ship anything that might be restricted now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kdubya Posted October 14, 2009 Report Share Posted October 14, 2009 gifts ARE VAT/import chargeable. We had a former HMRC guy on here that explained it a few months ago. Also, when assessing the value of the item, the assessors use the UK like item value. So if the item gets pulled, they will use the UK value plus shipping paid, to figure the tax. So if you've bought a scope from the US for $300 that would cost 300 GBP, the will use 300 GBP as the value. Then they will convert the shipping cost to GBP and tack on 27%. Thanks Rick I have had scopes, reloading gear,and RC stuff( a lot )so just about everything I now get sent from the states ends up in the great 5 day wait at customs not once have I ever been charged at uk value latest was a ponsness warren 900 reloader worth a piggin fortune!! cost me including postage £289 ( seller would not declare as a gift or repair return, fair enough by me) I got a charge of £61.35 made up of £8 handling charge £7 import duty rest £40 odd was vat , well well worth importing, as an example the hornady pacific 366 which is not as good as the ponsness would cost you £636 at midwayuk, so states every time customs vat or not :blink: KW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.