to feel Import VAT charges are extortionate?

[MrsClauswearsspanx]

My brother has sent my children a much looked-forward-to parcel from the US. I checked the post today to see I have a letter from Parcelforce saying they are detaining my box until I pay Import VAT charges of £40 plus Parcelforce's "handling fee" of £13.50.

Now the contents of the box are small toys and pyjamas and seriously can't be more than £100, yet HMRC are basically saying the contents are worth £230!

Has anyone had experience with this and how to dispute the charges? I feel gutted because, like a lot of other people, we're having a tough year and this was one little treat we were all looking forward to. I don't think we'll be able to afford the charges as they are and the box will have to go back.

Fucking cunting bollocks.

YABU. Everyone knows to sign the declaration 'gift' to avoid the charges.

Well, no not everyone knows to sign the declaration "gift", I wouldn't! YANBU OP.

It depends what was declared on the customs label, they don't randomly pull numbers from the air. Gifts only get through free up to a certain (low) amount.

I think VAT may be higher on some categories (eg alcohol?) too.

Unfortunately, there is no point in trying to dispute the charges :(

Cogito he did...there is a VAT charge for gifts over £36 apparently, though this is the first time we've ever had this problem.

Yup. Its luck of the draw whether your parcel gets caught or not. Import duty + VAT + charges really add up.

Loads of people get caught out by this, thinking it is much cheaper to buy stuff from the states and get it shipped.

Well, the VAt is at standard rate, but there may be import duty too.

What value/description did sender put on the label, as that is what they'll have based the bill on.

The admin charge is irksome, and could be challenged (it is the sender, not you who has the contract with the carrier). But I don't know what ParcelForce would do if you paid only tax/duty and referred them to sender for all additional payetd.

I wish I realised this was a possibility. We've always had previous family parcels arrive straight to our door. Pissed off with myself for not looking into it. Gutted.

This happened to us last Christmas (though the amount charged wasn't as high). The VAT charge for gifts now starts if the items are valued at £36 or more, as OP says, & it's even less (£18 or so?) for non-gifts.

We ended up having to pay as the charge was based on the amount of money my SIL had stated (on the declaration) that the gifts were worth - so we could hardly dispute the value! That was from Australia, though - how does it work from the US? Does the sender have to state the value, or just the contents (with HMRC estimating from that) or neither? If they've just randomly stuck a value on, it sounds horribly unfair! Sorry, OP, not very helpful, I know. We (& SIL) send gifts from companies that deal with the delivery in our respective countries now - just too much hassle & unforeseen expense otherwise.

Just heard from brother. He valued the box on the declaration form as $200 and swears he didn't under-value. What's that in sterling? So unless I have my maths completely wrong they have ignored his valuation and done their own.

Thanks anyway for everyone's input. Guess we will do the same as you Loonvan next year.

It's just under £125.

Which does make the initial bill sound wrong - it should be about £30.

So unless I have my maths completely wrong they have ignored his valuation and done their own

Shipments from the US are subject to VAT and duty. Your calculation appears to only factor in VAT. Children's Toys are zero-rated for duty, but other things in there may be liable for duty: Pyjamas are 12%, but only if the total value of the whole shipment is more than 135 quid.

And the VAT is, I think, based on the CIF price (ie including the freight and insurance costs paid on it so far).

The idea that shipping "cheap" stuff from the US is cost-effective is usually founded on the assumption that import costs are zero.

I suppose it's not as off as it seemed. Bah humbug! Thanks for replies.

I didn't know that CIF was the basis for VAT. The £135 threshold applies only to Customs duty, not VAT.

As CIF typically adds about 1/3 higher to the value of shipment, then if CIF is the basis for valuation, it sounds about right after all.

The £135 threshold applies only to Customs duty, not VAT.

That's what I said, I think. I don't know if the threshold is 135 quid of stuff in the shipment, or 135 quid of stuff which is not zero-rated.

I got stung when I received a parcel from Canada that a relative had valued at $250. It contained some embroidery that he had done herself as a cheque for $225 to 'get something nice'. Taxes were charged based on the label. If that wasn't painful enough, I then had to pay to get a cheque in Canadian dollars cashed, and take a hit on the exchange rate.
It was a wedding gift so didn't have te heart to tell them. Just thanked them politely. In fairness the embroidery is lovely!