David Ayers Posted April 9, 2003 Report Posted April 9, 2003 Well I have been caught by Customs and Excise before but this takes the biscuit. Ebay purchase declared at $25 plus shipping ($12) from US. Customs charges £25 ($37). 100%. Something like this can determine a person's whole mindset - is Government something you can work with toward a common good or is it just a form of organised crime? I haven't seen the package yet (delivery on Friday) but I know it will just be made up of additional 'charges' on top of the 17.5% VAT (=sales tax). Has anyone else had this kind of problem? With an item UNDER the taxable value? I can't risk this kind of hit any more so I won't be importing any more CDs. I can still hardly believe it. Quote
JohnS Posted April 9, 2003 Report Posted April 9, 2003 David, Anything coming into the country with a declared value of over £18.00 is liable to duty. On top of that there is a handling charge. With an ebay purchase ask the seller to declare the value at less than the equivalent of that amount. That said some items will get through unchecked. In my experience items coming by post are less likely to be inspected by HM Customs than those coming by air freight(for example a Mosaic set). Quote
David Ayers Posted April 9, 2003 Author Report Posted April 9, 2003 John I got him to quote it at $25 which is less than £18. I don't know HOW they have calculated this charge... but I intend to find out! Quote
Green Dolphin Posted April 9, 2003 Report Posted April 9, 2003 I find that stuff that ships Global Priority sneaks through-but stuff from Tower US and Amazon .Com gets hit-for shipping aswell which I think is out of order.The Music Resource out of Floyd Knobs(good range of stuff)kindly write educational material on the green ticket,of no value,so that gets in ok.Like JohnS,I've found getting Mosaics via the long wait of post gets through uncharged aswell. Quote
JohnS Posted April 10, 2003 Report Posted April 10, 2003 (edited) It's also as well to get the "gift" box ticked on the grren customs label. Mercandise is probably dutiable in any event. I used to work for Royal Mail and this problem arose from time to time. Take it with C&E. In my day they used to be fairly helpful. Edited April 10, 2003 by JohnS Quote
Son-of-a-Weizen Posted April 10, 2003 Report Posted April 10, 2003 Well I have been caught by Customs and Excise before but this takes the biscuit. Ebay purchase declared at $25 plus shipping ($12) from US. Customs charges £25 ($37). 100%. Something like this can determine a person's whole mindset - is Government something you can work with toward a common good or is it just a form of organised crime? I haven't seen the package yet (delivery on Friday) but I know it will just be made up of additional 'charges' on top of the 17.5% VAT (=sales tax). Has anyone else had this kind of problem? With an item UNDER the taxable value? I can't risk this kind of hit any more so I won't be importing any more CDs. I can still hardly believe it. I have what's called eBayoculous...a type of neurological disorder that always forces my hand to write $3 and check 'gift' in the box. It's the damnest thing....I think I'll consult a specialist about it at some future date. Quote
JohnS Posted April 10, 2003 Report Posted April 10, 2003 No need Weizen, it's a common ailment. Quote
Jason Drake Posted April 10, 2003 Report Posted April 10, 2003 I had a sitaution where customs charged duty incorrectly (the supplier had included shipping in the stated total). I rang Customs and they sent me a claim form. I sent them copies of the invoice and packaging to show the error and they sent me a cheque. Frankly there are more important things to worry about but I guess I had a bee in my bonnet about it (and a lower income as well). Quote
JohnS Posted April 10, 2003 Report Posted April 10, 2003 Jason, I get the occasional bee too. Nothing wrong with that apart from the Meldrewish feeling afterwards. Quote
J.A.W. Posted April 10, 2003 Report Posted April 10, 2003 Jason, I get the occasional bee too. Nothing wrong with that apart from the Meldrewish feeling afterwards. Ahhh... Victor... I really miss him Quote
David Ayers Posted April 10, 2003 Author Report Posted April 10, 2003 I still haven't seen the package. Maybe my guy went to write $3.00 and wrote $300 instead. That would just about account for it. Ho hum... Quote
Claude Posted April 10, 2003 Report Posted April 10, 2003 (edited) This is horrendous indeed, and looks like a mistake. In my country (Luxembourg) I have to pay 19% customs fee on small shipments valued above 22 Euro (from a company) respectively 45 Euro (from an indidual). This includes VAT. A lot of shipments slip though customs, although controls have gotten much tighter lately. The customs webpage mentions EU legislation, so the rules may be the same for all EU countries. http://www.etat.lu/DO/petitsenvois.htm One problem I had in the past was with shipments from the US made by Parcel services. They arrived at Frankfurt airport, the EU centre of the parcel company, where a german subsiduary made the customs declaration and charged me 20 Euro for this service, in addition to the customs fee. I had to pay more than 60 Euro for an Andrew Hill Mosaic that I auctioned for $250. That's why I always request to have things sent by regular airmail. Edited April 10, 2003 by Claude Quote
David Ayers Posted April 11, 2003 Author Report Posted April 11, 2003 Turns out my guy entered the value as $100. I think he just forgot what we had agreed and thought he was doing me a favor by in effect over-insuring the delivery. £2.75 Import Duty £14.25 Value Added Tax £8.00 Handling Fee Makes this my biggest music related 'D'oh'... Quote
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