Any HM Customs import duty & VAT experts about?

[toomanyboxes]

Hi there, I'm pretty sure I know the answer to this, but just need confirmation.

The firm I work for imported some goods from a manufacturer in the USA and were delivered by DHL to whom we paid import duty and VAT. All good.

We then sold the goods to our customer in France, and despatched them via UPS with a tracking number and all the necessary documents. Our customer never received the goods, and despite numerous attempts by both ourselves and our French counterparts to resolve the matter, the goods were never delivered to our customer.

It appears that the goods had a three week holiday at Charles de Gaulle Airport, and then UPS decided to return them to us using a different tracking number, and the first we knew about it was when the parcel was unexpectedly delivered back to our warehouse.

We have now received an invoice from UPS for import duty, fees and VAT on these goods, as they seem to be treating the return to us as an import.

The import VAT is also now showing on our monthly import VAT C79 certificate.

They are wrong, aren't they?

You could go back to the courier and request to use returned goods relief I think.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/pay-less-import-duty-and-vat-when-re-importing-goods-to-the-uk-and-eu

Why should we have to do that though? We didn't re-import them. We despatched the goods and the courier fucked up. The goods were never cleared through their customs, so if they were never technically imported into France, they can hardly be exported again, can they?

We've since sent them out to France to the customer again (by a different courier) and they have been delivered this time. The customer has paid the French import customs fees.

Ups should have had this down as return but because they haven't, you will have to pay, but you will be able to claim a refund. Hopefully if you contact ups they will confirm it's a return to make it easier for you to get your refund, if not, you can still do it yourself but my take a bit longer

Thanks @Atmytethersend - we are already in dispute with UPS as they charged us an arm and a leg in carriage costs to send the thing in the first place and are refusing to refund us despite their inability to deliver. They are also trying to charge us carriage inwards for the returned goods. Ruddy cheek. I really don't feel inclined to pay them at the moment!

We certainly won't be using them for exports any more.

We had a similar situation with a shipment that also got stuck at CdG! It was returned to us and we were erroneously charged, but one phonecall to DHL and the charges were cancelled and all of the shipping costs refunded (as the shipment was never delivered).

We moved all of our shipping from UPS to DHL a couple of years ago and have found them infinitely better to deal with - I have a named contact who picks up the phone and deals with any problems/questions, rather than having to wade through the UPS switchboard. So far, I've been pretty impressed by their service and efficiency.

I've contacted UPS customer service for various things over the years. The less said the better. 💩

You need to carry on fighting UPS. Complain and then threaten say small claims.

@Oblomov23 It's been a long time and endless hassle, but we finally got there. They have admitted they fouled up, and they've cancelled the invoice.

So to anyone else fighting a case against a big multinational where you know you are right and they are wrong - don't give up!