Import duty VAT and international shopping

[sleepytom]

lots of people here in the uk have been talking about buying stuff from the states as the prices there seem much lower than ours.

however plese be awair that when you import somthing from outside of the EU you will have to pay
Import duty - vairable fee depending on the type of equipment you are importing
VAT - value added tax 17.5% tax on anything you import (even secondhand perchases)
Customs handling fee - charge made by customs form clearing your goods
shipping costs - shipping to the uk can be expensive - make sure you specify shipping to your door as often international air freight is only as far as the airport - you will have to arrange carage once inside the uk


often these charges will add up to the point where you endup paying more for something than you would have done by walking into a shop and buying it - not to metion the whole warrenty issue (alot of stuff sold in the state will have to be sent back there if it goes wrong as it doesn't come with an eu warrenty)

[Ollie]

This is a very valid point... however these chrages are not strictly always made, and generally only occur if the person shipping has stated the contents on the out side of the box, and there is an invoice available to base the additional tax on.

For example i buy all my camera lenses from the states and ensure that no reference as to what is inside the box, is visable on the outside, whith this method i have imported over 1000 quids worth of stuff and NEVER been taxed, or customs handling, or shipping fomr airport etc...

Be cautious, i always take into account the tax they could charge on arrival, plus shipping etc, add total this up before making the purchase, this is generally still cheaper than here by a long way. e.g the Edirol V-4, even if they tax it @17.5% + int shipping, it will still be 200 quid cheaper. and that 200 quid my friends will go a long way for me.

But yeah the warrenty is another issue....nnot much you can do about that unless you get a worldwide one.

[sleepytom]

yes - you could get somebody to send you the stuff as a gift - then theres no tax or duty to pay - but if you do this you are technicaly breaking the law (tax evasion is not taken lightly in the uk) - you will not find any respectable business that is willing to lie on the customs declaration - are you happy to buy stuff from dodgy geezas that avoid taxes? - do you expect the same dodgy geeza to refund you when the product goes wrong?

i would recomend building up a relationship with a uk based dealer - they will be able to offer you a good discount aginst the RRP and you have all the advantages of having a legal, insurable product compeate with a uk warrenty

<paranoia>
if you are tempted to try and avoid import duty on something then i certainly wouldn't post the details on any websites as you never know whos watching.
</paranoia>

[Ollie]

yep, but i never asked them to cover or hide any invoices at all, they shipped it as they do every parcel, and if mr. customs had anytime available to really check what going in and out then i would have been taxed fair and square, and had no problem with it. i've never taken evasive manouvers to avoid import tax, i was simply stating how it kinda works, if a plain brown box comes in they let it go, if a colourful product box comes through with all the markings, model number etc.. then your gonna get taxed for sure.
As for the paranoia, i have'nt done anything wrong have I, does anyone know if the law states that i should go and declare my products to customs house? Maybe i should, but at the end of the day there are much bigger fish for customs/excise and the gov to worry about.
I agree with all your points Tom, and cheers for your concern, but i like you would'nt buy off some dodgy geeza who's prepared to evade taxes,my suggestion is to only buy of reputed companies on the web anyhow.
This situation if fairly individual per purchase, you gotta weigh up the pros and cons of what your getting. e.g i don't buy much electronic's over there cause theres too much chance of malfuction and excessive postal costs, however lenses is another story.

Peace man.

[LEVLHED]

If I ordered something from the UK (umm...like VJammPro or something) and were in the USA, would I be charged the VAT too? Cuz that would really suck, seeing as how we are raped by the current exchange rate as it is...

[sleepytom]

no lev - there is no vat on international (ie out of the EU) sales from the uk - you would be charged import duty to the us and whatever local taxes apply to imported goods in your state (if i buy somthing from the us then i shouldn't be charged the local sales tax ether)

if you were wishing to buy say VJamm Pro the cheapest way for you would probably be to buy it from the audiovisualizers shop which simplyfies tax and shipping costs as its in north america - most uk products have some kind of US distribution

people in the EU have to pay UK vat on things brought from the EU as th EU has a unified VAT system (allthough the actual VAT rate changes from place to place)

> MysticalFish< i think you'll find that it is your responcability to pay the correct duty - if you knowingly recive goods without paying the tax then you have commited an offence (i think - ask an accountant or a soliciter)

as for the shop shipping stuff in brown boxes that should make no difrence as they must fill in a customs decleration - they might be shipping all there goods as "samples" or "gifts" but if so they will eventually get done by the us tax office (hence why most companys will not get involved in this kind of thing)

[Ollie]

sleepytom--> :) i looked into the tax malarkey a bit and your absolutly right it is the buyers responsibilty to delare any import tax due, however this is a very difficult issue to police.

Saying that: having previously being charged on the spot for any delivery requiring import duty, and assuming that if you wer'nt charged then and there... you were'nt going to be. I recived an invoice from Fed-Ex for the tax due on one of my products bought from the states. :( but fairplay... only two things are for sure in this world and its death and taxes (as the old saying goes). but seeing as i had budegted for the tax its not an issue for me, but be warned about my previous comments!!