Import Tax.

Grant_C

Grand Master
Supporter
Joined
Sep 16, 2011
Messages
8,609
Location
South Wales
Just bought a ESB TFP MOC from the states for £100 and got nailed £32.36 import tax.

I never usually get taxed. 33% seems excessive.

Am I right here?
 

Pomse2001

Grand Master
Joined
Mar 13, 2012
Messages
16,181
Location
Denmark
wrighty said:
I just got tax £8.68 plus £8 service fee for a $30 item labelled as gift!! :shock: :shock:

:shock: did you contact them about it was a gift ? or was there a bill inside the box that they saw :?

I had only a few times got a letter about tax for a packet that was mailed as a gift, then they wanted proof and seller mailed me a letter that I could mail back and then I got my packet and no tax :D

Service fee £8 in denmark it is £17 :shock:

I have also heard if seller mails from a company address then it can't be mailed as a gift and you have to pay tax :(
 

Frunkstar

Grand Master
Joined
Sep 5, 2007
Messages
5,653
Location
North Wales - Beyond The Outer Rim!
Hope this will help you, I just cut & paste this from an earlier post I did some time back -

Right after a rather contrived call to HMRC I have had success! :D

If importing SW toys & they confirm to the below criteria they will qualify for the 5% import tax bracket -

Must be -

30 years old
In original packaging :?
& no longer in production

If so you can add this to your parcel & (in theory & with an insane amount of luck) you will only get charged the lower Tax bracket of 5%

commodity code 9705000090

Failing this & they do charge you, you WILL qualify to make a claim for the over tax via claim form BOR286 which you can download & print @ - http://www.hmrc.gov.uk

I hope this will help others out & that I get my monies back, about bloody time for a victory for us collectors Vs the customs.

EDIT - BTW I did get my money back :D
 

wrighty

Sith Lord
Joined
Jan 18, 2013
Messages
1,406
Location
Sydney
Thanks Frank for reminding us to use this code.

My understanding for the allowance is merchandise £18 and gifts £36 before any taxation.

Yes the label was from a Toy store so marking it gift is a dead gift away. Better to put it under $20 as merchandise!!

Lesson learned!! :D

Simon
 

PGowdy

Grand Master
Joined
Apr 11, 2010
Messages
6,738
Location
London
£33 sounds about right. They are thieving bastards; they take 20% of the value, 20% of the shipping costs, and then they slap on an £8 handling fee.
This is why i get packages marked down to £18 by whoever is sending them or i don't buy. Has stopped me buying from the states as most seller there won't do it.
 

Nick_IoW

Sith Lord
Joined
May 15, 2013
Messages
1,078
Location
Isle of Wight, England
One time I got something from the states and they never even had to fill out a customs form, it just got sent as is - no customs labels or anything. Was happy as it was over $500. Not sure how it got through customs without a customs label though :)
 

Frunkstar

Grand Master
Joined
Sep 5, 2007
Messages
5,653
Location
North Wales - Beyond The Outer Rim!
Bramistuta25 said:
I received my package from the USA this morning, marked as $30 and $65 postage.

Haven't paid a thing and was fully tracked global shipping.

I will post a picture of the label later.

Hope this helps

Its a case of roulette Bram, they don't pull everything, bit like at the airport nothing to declare isle mate, they only putt the odd one to check all is as it should be, usually mine :lol: :|
 

plantman

Sith Lord
Joined
Jan 21, 2009
Messages
4,658
Location
Yorkshire
i had mine opened and inspected, they cut the packaging and damaged a carded figure, then slapped inspection tape all over it.

i go for marked down value every time now, i dont care, **** the government the thieving bastards
 

spoons

Grand Master
Joined
Oct 22, 2006
Messages
8,314
Frunkstar said:
Hope this will help you, I just cut & paste this from an earlier post I did some time back -

Right after a rather contrived call to HMRC I have had success! :D

If importing SW toys & they confirm to the below criteria they will qualify for the 5% import tax bracket -

Must be -

30 years old
In original packaging :?
& no longer in production

If so you can add this to your parcel & (in theory & with an insane amount of luck) you will only get charged the lower Tax bracket of 5%

commodity code 9705000090

Failing this & they do charge you, you WILL qualify to make a claim for the over tax via claim form BOR286 which you can download & print @ - http://www.hmrc.gov.uk

I hope this will help others out & that I get my monies back, about bloody time for a victory for us collectors Vs the customs.

EDIT - BTW I did get my money back :D

Thanks to this I got a guy in the states to add the code - still got charged 20% though and £8 handling. Off to fill the form in now
 

spoons

Grand Master
Joined
Oct 22, 2006
Messages
8,314
Just got a letter from customs - they are refunding me £6.50 so that means I've paid £8 handling for a £2.50 customs fees, total bastards.

I'm going to send them an invoice for my handling time. Has anyone tried this?
 

sith-smith

Grand Master
Joined
Oct 25, 2006
Messages
7,400
Years ago I had stuff delivered from the US via UPS.

They phoned me up before customs to confirm what the items were saying they would try and get me through on a lower 5% tax and it worked.

They said it was limited edition toys for my own use/private collection and not for resale.

A while later I got stung the full amount and appealed stating the above explanation and got a refund.

This was some time ago though. Around 2007 I think
 

jasdev999

Jedi Master
Joined
Jun 19, 2013
Messages
555
Location
South Yorks/North Notts
Coughed up £30 for a few MOCs few months back as a RS seller put commodity and real value on the customs form

...got quite a few packages from US since and .so far not paid customs as long as they put Gift , plastic toy under $50.
 

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