Author Topic: £90 customs bill on the £300 lens I bought in the states (Read 1484 times)

sirlylos · « **on:** January 14, 2011, 08:13:53 AM »

Arrgghhh, I'm gutted. I've just received a bill from customs saying that I have to pay £90 on the £300 lens I bought in the states. The lens was about £100 cheaper which is why I bought it but I'm sad it's cost so much in tax.

popo · « **Reply #1 on:** January 14, 2011, 09:40:53 AM »

Not unexpected. Let's see... 20% VAT on £300 is £60. The shipping company usually puts on a fat handling fee for good measure. Was there a duty component too?

voyager · « **Reply #2 on:** January 14, 2011, 01:34:39 PM »

Ouch!

peterb666 · « **Reply #3 on:** January 14, 2011, 02:14:55 PM »

The only two things certain in life are death and taxes.

mikmas101 · « **Reply #4 on:** January 14, 2011, 04:24:15 PM »

Yep - them's the costs...I think this was mentioned when you talked about getting it from the US.

There are some ebay dealers who don't put the full value on the Custom's slip but bona fide businesses usually play it by the book.

sirlylos · « **Reply #5 on:** January 15, 2011, 11:31:10 AM »

I knew in the back of my mind that I'd have to pay them but kind of hoped that it would slip through the net....no such luck. Never mind, just looking forward to getting hold of that lens now!

count_zero · « **Reply #6 on:** January 15, 2011, 01:30:50 PM »

What was the reason America revolted against Britain? Oh yeah, taxes...

Handheld · « **Reply #7 on:** January 15, 2011, 01:50:55 PM »

My state does not even have a sales tax. I've had people ask me if I would buy a $$$ item for them and ship it. So far I have resisted. Guess I'm not very nice.

voyager · « **Reply #8 on:** January 16, 2011, 01:50:38 PM »

Quote from: count_zero on January 15, 2011, 01:30:50 PM

What was the reason America revolted against Britain? Oh yeah, taxes...

lol

JohnF · « **Reply #9 on:** January 16, 2011, 02:04:09 PM »

Quote from: Handheld on January 15, 2011, 01:50:55 PM

My state does not even have a sales tax. I've had people ask me if I would buy a $$$ item for them and ship it. So far I have resisted. Guess I'm not very nice.

No, you just don't want to be an accessory to tax fraud.

It's sad, but true: you really are expected to pay the taxes on whatever you buy in your locality. Even if you buy something online, you're supposed to file that and pay the local sales tax (one of the least-obeyed laws in history, I think...).

When importing to Europe, you'll have to pay an import tax equal to the VAT (usually), plus duties (usually not much), and if things work out poorly, you'll also have to pay a handling fee with a customs broker that you neither requested nor tasked with getting something to you.

Been there, done that. If you are an EU resident and bring stuff back, it's also not unlikely that you'd be discovered at customs when coming back: then your import tax doubles because they caught you. Fairly strong deterrent, that...

Taxes suck. :-(

JohnF

sirlylos · « **Reply #10 on:** January 17, 2011, 08:11:40 AM »

Quote from: JohnF on January 16, 2011, 02:04:09 PM

Taxes suck. :-(

That's it in a nutshell and yes they do!

cosinaphile · « **Reply #11 on:** January 17, 2011, 06:23:38 PM »

OBSCENELY HIGH ,my condolances

Tercha · « **Reply #12 on:** January 17, 2011, 07:33:31 PM »

Strange how it works , here in Australia I just took my receipts to the airport and had the GST (VAT) on my camera refunded as I flew out on business, also it would be tax deductible as it was bought "mainly" for business.

sirlylos · « **Reply #13 on:** January 18, 2011, 01:25:05 AM »

I've heard that if you can convince the seller to mark it as 'gift' then you can avoid paying the high tax. I'm not all for tax dodging but I think it's fine in isolated cases.

Tercha · « **Reply #14 on:** January 18, 2011, 01:53:57 AM »

Education is exempt VAT, perhaps if you were to do photography course, either teaching or being taught you could claim a refund?

adash · « **Reply #15 on:** January 18, 2011, 09:14:49 AM »

Quote

Education is exempt VAT,

Not everywhere....

Quote

I've heard that if you can convince the seller to mark it as 'gift' then you can avoid paying the high tax.

Unfortunately not too many sellers will agree to do so (it is considered fraud in some jurisdictions) and in case of a lost package the post may agree to compensate for the marked value only. Your package may also be subject to inspection and the customs officers may find its value different from what is marked on the declaration, thus you may end paying both VAT and penalty fees. At least some countries' customs office may trend to do so from time to time.

popo · « **Reply #16 on:** January 18, 2011, 04:04:42 PM »

In the UK there is no super special exception on "gifts". All ticking that box does is change the chargeable limit a bit, but not significantly as far as most photographic kit is concerned.

mikmas101 · « **Reply #17 on:** January 18, 2011, 06:00:34 PM »

Quote from: popo on January 18, 2011, 04:04:42 PM

All ticking that box does is change the chargeable limit a bit, but not significantly as far as most photographic kit is concerned.

Have never been charged for anything marked 'gift' - mostly small value items from China though (usually adapters)

popo · « **Reply #18 on:** January 20, 2011, 10:03:15 AM »

I haven't checked if the limits have changed recently, but it use to be £18 allowance for most things, declaring as gifts which I think doubled that. If the value is under the allowance, you shouldn't get taxed but I've seen several cases of mis-reading $ for £ before. Above that, you're supposed to be hit, but they don't always. And for low value items, it isn't the tax that's annoying, it's the grossly excessive "handling fee" that Royal Mail and Parcelforce charge for the pleasure that rubs salt into the wounds, as it is often much bigger than the tax itself! If you don't get charged when you could be, consider yourself lucky. Given the low allowances, any half serious photographic kit isn't going to make it under. On cheap ebay accessories, I even deliberately place many small orders, and not few big ones to legally avoid passing the taxable thresholds.

Note the above applies to normal post. If you use a courier they may operate differently, but the big names will do it by the book and you will get charged according to the declared value.

Author Topic: £90 customs bill on the £300 lens I bought in the states (Read 1484 times)

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