customs duty - this can't surely be right.....

[whoneedssleepanyway]

I bought my brother in law a present, a shirt from Diesel costing £60 bought in the UK. My parents went to visit and took it to the USA and gave it to him. Unfortunately it was too small and my parents are staying out there for quite some time so he posted it back to me to exchange for him.

I received a card through the door today saying they can't deliver my item because there is a customs charge of £11.93 (this includes an £8 handling charge).....this can't be right surely. I paid VAT on the item when I bought it, it has simply left the country and come back again. If anything there could potentially have been import duty payable in the USA but surely not further tax in the UK just for bringing something back in that was bought here in the first place....how do I query this and will they give it to me?

Thanks

If you want it, you'll just have to bite the bullet and pay the fee. Then you can put a claim into HMRC to have the money refunded.

If you can show that it was bought in the UK, the customs charges will be removed. The handling fee isn't an HMRC charge though, so you'll have to pay that.