Have you ever paid duty on an imported item?

[MyCatShopsAtAldi]

I’m looking at buying a toy for our kids (Pikler triangle so over £135) and as far as I can tell, if it’s from outside the UK (now we’ve left the EU), it will be liable for import duty but I’m really struggling to wade through the gov.uk website and work out how much this would be. I was assuming equivalent to VAT but got the impression it might be higher? Does anyone know?

[Iamneverfull]

I've just typed in pikler triangle and loads of carpenters around the country make good copies!

[ListeningQuietly]

Bungle
Interesting - I've never seen that on the UK
www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21
and I'd be amazed if .uk are touching it with a bargepole at the moment

[FuckOffBorisYouTwat]

All the time when l buy equipment for my job usually £25ish for items over £50.

[WaxOnFeckOff]

DH bought a special leather weightlifting belt from USA, it was about £150 and then by the time we added on postage it was getting on for £200, and then import tax etc ended up around £250 if I remember rightly. It's now our DCs legacy...

[Blibbyblobby]

@ListeningQuietly

How could the seller quote for something over which they had no control
as it happened in any one of over 100 buyer countries

Not the seller, the courier.

The seller quotes delivery charges based on courier charges for each destimation. Why do the courier charges not include their own handling fees?

[ListeningQuietly]

Blibby
If you ship USPS it delivered in the UK by Parcelforce - not the same business

[Blibbyblobby]

@ListeningQuietly

Blibby
If you ship USPS it delivered in the UK by Parcelforce - not the same business

I know. But presumably Parcelforce don't work for free so part of the cost paid to USPS is for the Parcelforce leg of the delivery. So I don't understand why this customs handling component isn't included as well.

[ListeningQuietly]

Blibby
Basically the UK has just added a load of Concrete to Kent
and a tonne of red tape to half of its trade
during a pandemic
and has bollocksed it up

[BungleandGeorge]

You can generally opt to pre-pay everything or just pay the postage costs. It costs more to pay the courier after the event as they are effectively lending you the money and taking the risk of not paying. They also have extra admin. I expect it’s only available from some companies as they would need to have an IT system which was able to calculate it prior to purchase, they’d need package weight etc pre-programmed. It is available from quite a few US sellers though, presumably they have high international sales.
You order directly from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk don’t have anything to do with the transaction

[nedtherobbot]

Have a look at so roe, I got our triangle and ramp/slide from them about 2 years ago for around £180. May be more cost effective.

[WaxOnFeckOff]

Has anyone tried ordering from one of the other European Amazons lately? I've often bought stuff from german or french amazon for cheaper, sometimes they've then shipped it from a UK warehouse - crazy.

[Tr1skel1on]

Oh dear. Brexit effects I would assume. Am I allowed to say it's what you voted for, you won, I have to get over it.

Or maybe it wasn't project fear, just reality. Bit late for that now. Oh well......

[Tr1skel1on]

Or less politely. I fucking told you so!!! No sympathy from me

[Christmasbellsareringing]

Yes I have.

I didn't have to pay it for my pickler triangle a few months back though.

[NotanotherboxofFrogs]

I bought a road legal quad bike about 10 years ago. The bike cost £1k and the import charges came to another £900 so I sold it a couple of months after for £4.5k so it was worth all the paperwork for me. Fully registered but never touched the road until was sold.

[Myshinynewname2021]

We have a deal - so it's not like buying from the US. So apart from the weak pound it should be ok. Oh and getting stuff os a ton of extra paperwork for transporters so they may charge for it.

[Myshinynewname2021]

@Tr1skel1on

Oh dear. Brexit effects I would assume. Am I allowed to say it's what you voted for, you won, I have to get over it.

Or maybe it wasn't project fear, just reality. Bit late for that now. Oh well......

Did you miss the big where we have a deal. No customs charges. I import products from Europe so am very au fait with this.

I think if you want to ever be happy you have to get over this. And you have the tone of a very left wing voter so don't forget Jeremy Corbin was not anti Brexit. Not one bit.

[bluebird3]

I have a lot of experience shipping to the UK from the USA. Not sure about EU countries.

You can import items marked as a gift with the value at less than £39 duty free. More than £39 total value will incur VAT which is 20% of the value + handling fees (usually £8). Shops selling merchandise will not be labelling as a gift so VAT/fees will be charged even if under £39.

If the value exceeds £130 you also pay customs in addition to VAT/handling fees. This amounts to around 3% of the value but I can't remember exactly.

Some things are VAT exempt, such as baby clothes and cloth nappies, but only if the parcel is labelled with the correct HS code. Toys are not exempt.

So you can import a £30 toy, marked as a gift with no charges.

A £30 toy that is not a gift will incur £6 VAT plus £8 fees so £14 charge to pay.

A £150 toy will be £30 Vat, £8 handling fee, £2.25(ish) in customs so £40 in fees

[ListeningQuietly]

Did you miss the big where we have a deal. No customs charges. I import products from Europe so am very au fait with this.
You are in for rather a shock when you read what the deal says then.

You can import items marked as a gift with the value at less than £39 duty free.
Not since January 1st
Please read the new UK rules

[Hollybutnoivy]

Please read the new UK rules

Can you link to these rules as I am only finding conflicting information?

[ListeningQuietly]

www.gov.uk/guidance/vat-imports-acquisitions-and-purchases-from-abroad

[BungleandGeorge]

I don’t pretend to know the ins and outs but as a general principal it seems reasonable that imported goods should be subject to the same VAT as if they’d been purchased in this country. Unfortunately the ‘gift’ category has been abused, a great shame for people who are genuinely sending small gifts to family if it has been amended

[BiarritzCrackers]

The .gov info could be a lot more helpful. This page, the Guide for International Post Users (22nd Dec 2020) states that import gifts under £39 are exempt for VAT, "if you’re sent a gift with a value of £39 or less, which complies with the rules shown in section 2.4, it will be free from Customs Duty and Import VAT", but has the sentence (in the 'what has changed in this edition' section), "The Gift Aid allowance remains at £39." It's nothing to do with Gift Aid! Doesn't fill one with confidence for their editorial skills...

Royal Mail has out of date info too - I was going through their Drop and Go instructions for international post last night, and the videos and parts of the written info still say that a CN22/23 is needed for countries outside the EU only. Helpful.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/notice-143-a-guide-for-international-post-users/notice-143-a-guide-for-international-post-users

[ListeningQuietly]

The .gov info could be a lot more helpful.
Understatement of the year
and applies to EVERYTHING this gang of halfwits have done to do with business and Brexit

[BiarritzCrackers]

Wow, reading more of it, it's so misleading. It says for instance, "(goods you’ve purchased) of £135 or less are free from Customs Duty and not subject to Import VAT".

Well yes - that's because it's changing to Supply VAT. But they don't point that out in the Guide. Your regular person isn't going to think, "I better go and investigate if other forms of VAT will be charged instead". So they will then be charged VAT at the point of purchase, which I can see leading to irate exchanges with international sellers who know the reality, and UK buyers who believe that have a £135 threshold before charges apply.