Singapore - sending things to the UK

[HollyMadison]

Hi. This was our first Christmas in Singapore and we sent gifts back to the UK for family. Our family have said they had to pay tax on it to receive the parcel. I had no idea!

For the previous 13 years my mum has been sending me gifts from NZ to the UK and I've never had to pay to receive them.

Does anyone know the deal with this tax?!

It's UK Customs tax. When I lived in the UK I had to pay it a few times on parcels received from the US and once from Australia. Both were gifts so it was annoying! I received lots of parcels in the UK where I didn't have to pay it and I've sent lots back since living in Singapore and no one has had to pay to receive them. It seems random but for me it happened when it wasn't clear that what had been sent was a gift (as opposed to something being imported). Did you fill in the Customs Form from Singapore Post and declare it as a gift?

Yep all customs slips filled in. I listed what was in the parcels but can't remember if I used the word "gift". I recall I put the value at $300 and listed everything, given that Singaporeans can be sticklers for rules. Next time maybe I'll try a low total and just put "gifts". How strange that it's so random.

There's a box on the form to tick to specify "gift", "documents", "sample" etc., I think. The two times I had to pay, the value listed for the items was high so I'm sure low balling that will help too! Good luck - so annoying for your family. One of the times I had to pay was on some second hand crockery my MIL sent us when we got engaged. A pretty tea set but it had been in the family for a long time and it then cost us £75 to receive it!