Flash light, UPS, Customs and excise = confused

[BigonaBianchi]

I'm confused.

I ordered a powerful flashlight online not realizing it was from a USA based outfit.

It took ages so I messaged th eseller asking for a refund as it hadnt arrived in over a month.

Then th enext day UPS delivered it but wanted IRO £25 import duties (the item cost £20)

So I decided to reject it and take the hit rather than pay the duty

Then a week later UPS arrive again and deliver it saying there is now no duty to pay

So I now have what I wanted, but am left confused as to what the heck was going on????

Anyway...this light is seriously bright.... and perfect for clipping to my helmet for night rides.

 

[welsh dragon]

I think, if they change the packaging to say the item is a gift, then there is no tax to be paid on the item.

 

[vernon]

Look here and try to make sense of it.

 

[fossyant]

It's a mare. Sometimes you get no charges, sometimes you do. US stuff usually gets hit.

 

[welsh dragon]

I have never been caught, either with stuff from america or china

 

[Hacienda71]

I got charged on a carbon frame from the Far East but the value attached to the frame by the seller was something like £30 and customs accepted it, so I only paid somethig like £18 tax and handling charges so I just coughed up.

 

[nickyboy]

I got charged on a carbon frame from the Far East but the value attached to the frame by the seller was something like £30 and customs accepted it, so I only paid somethig like £18 tax and handling charges so I just coughed up.

This is the standard way to avoid significant importation duty charges into the UK. Either that or declare it as a "sample". Either way it's illegal on the part of the company to declare it as such and illegal on the customer's part in receiving it in the knowledge the declared value is incorrect.
It doesn't matter whether Customs accept it or not, still illegal. Up to the individual of course as to whether they are happy or not to be involved in this

 

[nickyboy]

I think, if they change the packaging to say the item is a gift, then there is no tax to be paid on the item.

Again, illegal. It's not that there's no tax to pay, it is that the Company is illegally avoiding the tax

 

[Hacienda71]

I had no idea that they had put that figure on the frame until I looked at the declaration on the label when I got it home. It probably only cost them 30 quid to manufacture.

 

[welsh dragon]

The amount the tax revenue charge doesn't make sense, so I dont see anything wrong with it. It is ludicrus to be charged £25.00 for something that is only worth £20.00. I think they make it up as they go along.

 

[Globalti]

I have quite a lot of experience of this as an exporter to African markets.

In 99% of cases customers wil ask you to under-value the goods so that they pay less import duty, which can be as high as 100% on some items in some countries. When the goods arrive at the local Customs clearance shed, a Customs officer might, on a whim, divert the package and tell the clearing agent that duty is payable. They all know the value is under-declared but don't have the time and energy to find out the true value then enter a dispute with the importer and in any case in most countries the "duty" goes straight into the freight shed pot where it is divvied up in different proportions amongst the staff, starting with the Head of Customs who gets the lion's share in exchange for overlooking the fact that only derisory revenues are actually being given to the Government.

In your case I expect the agent went back to the Customs person in the UK and said "My customer says keep the goods!" and the officer probably just said "Oh feck it then" and stamped the waybill.

 

[ufkacbln]

I ordered some odds and ends from teh US, and again the value was around £30

Yet fees, handling and customs came to nearly £80

Most of these were handling, deliveryetc, so I simply pointed out that it was no longer finacially viable and returned.

 

[nickyboy]

I ordered some odds and ends from teh US, and again the value was around £30

Yet fees, handling and customs came to nearly £80

Most of these were handling, deliveryetc, so I simply pointed out that it was no longer finacially viable and returned.

It does make you question whether the trade in small value goods from outside the EU to UK could ever be viable if everything is declared correctly. The reality is that someone has to "process" the importation and this costs money. Unless the seller illegally declares the goods as samples or illegally undervalues them it sounds like the on-costs make the product unviable

 

[BigonaBianchi]

In your case I expect the agent went back to the Customs person in the UK and said "My customer says keep the goods!" and the officer probably just said "Oh feck it then" and stamped the waybill.

Makes a mockery of th esystem then I guess

 

[screenman]

As a UK distributor for a company called Deltakits I can sympathize with you guys who find the postage high.

As for duties that is variable depending not only on value but also what the product is. Now on top of this duty there maybe VAT plus a clearance fee to the carrier for doing the admin to get it through customs.

Bringing one item in at a time would certainly for me not be worth doing, however in the volumes I do it is.

Also when I buy from a separate supplier in the USA I have it sent to Delta who then send it on to me with my next stock order, this cuts down on carriage costs.