one thing to say.. ALWAYS CHECK THE AMOUNT !!!!
I have had things before, where someone has written the duty/vat... . and someone else has written the handling fee.....

and guess what, someone has to mentally calculate those two figures together- and they DO get it wrong. I was charged an extra 5quid because someone couldn't add two numbers together.

You need to call the parcel firm that is handling the UK side of the mailing to clear charges.

how do I find this out DCM?

I've checked the info sent and it doesn't tell me.

Also make sure if there is a customs fee to be paid, they have converted the amount in $ to £'s before add the charges. As I have been charged vat on the value on the box not taking into account that the figure was actually in $'s, if they had converted it I would have been within the allowance:mad: . And it's a proper pain in the ass to get your money back from customs.

If you have the tracking number or the sellers courier, they should tell you, most Postal services end up using Parcel Farce

order from asia
 

ive never been taxed with any order from there they always put gift and value ten dollars :D

sorry mister brown but to be honest you get enough anyway :cheers:

Its a great feeling to beat the tax man:D :king:

actually it is called defrauding HM customs and excise, after all they only use it to pay for hospitals etc, so nothing important then.

I stand corrected :oops:

Not if the product that you are bringing in is duty free, i distrubute motors for a US based tuner, if these motors were to be used in a plastic car they would of been deemed taxable, now i explained that the cars we used them in have very little plastic, 5% max its all Cf and alloy nowadays, so they were tax free, when parcel farce got hold of them they ignored the 11 digit number for the category that they were in and hit me with a £300 tax bill, granted it may have gone to a hospital but its more than likely gone to fuel one of hordon browns jags and its another £300 out of my pocket before i even start. And believe me i pay more than enough tax in my proper job before i even think about model cars:mad:

Lol, thats parcel farce for you. We have had it before where they have lied about trying to deliver a package, I think its quite common also. They will come to your door and post a "sorry, we tried to deliver", not even attempting to deliver anything, just the note so you have to go pick it up.
jokers!

just had a letter today from Parcel Force, so all moving smoothly.

thanks for your help guys.

Tax - Hospitals.... your having a giraffe on that one aren't you.... it goes to pay off one of the biggest deficits this country has had in 50 or 60 years.... don't be fooled where the money goes.

i too import from the USA, last week three cases all properly marked with the correct value and contents, 2 attracted a charge no duty but VAT and the handling fee for parcel force, one did not, in this case the government appointed people chose not to charge me for 33% of my goods. that was there choice. i do not have a problem with people not being charged, i do have a problem with people who deliberately avoid paying by marking down the value or contents and then bragging about it. the excuse you pay enough tax is lame, you pay more tax because of people who avoid it, yes your £7.50 you avoided paying isn't going to make a huge difference to the countries economy but several hundred thousand £7.50's are. this sounds all very bitter and it is not meant to be, so to lighten it, do tax inspectors frequent this forum and if so could your admission of tax avoidence in a post be used in court?:D

I am always scared of 'going on record' claiming that you 'got away' with something, or a situation like that.

I have to agree with Modelimages, be honest and feel good!

I think, mountain out of a mole-hill comes to mind. There is an issue, I feel, where companied importing goods and evading tax is an issue, and should be dealt with, but individuals bringing stuff in, if they want to run the gauntlet and have there parcel stuck in customs, thats up to them. I have never asked for an item to be sent as a 'gift' but if there are ways and means of either circumventing or lowering the customs charge, then do it, cause I am sure there are lots of businesses doing that legitimately.

Oh, I have far less hassle with stuff coming from Asia than I do from America, and sometimes, the UK, lol

Only if they could prove it:D

i dont mind the tax bit, its the totally rip off handling charges that are offen far more than the tax itself....last time i got done, £4ish tax £12 in total handling charge! and if uk price's were more in-line with other countries who still make profits on there sales then more people would buy from uk suppliers!

so far this year i have brought in 100 19t motors , 100 27t motors, batteries, kits, the list goes on, sometimes you do get lucky abd something will slip through the net. but 8 times out of 10 customs will get hold of it, i have has packages opened (cells) by customs to see what they were, i didnt get charged, so its not like everything gets charged if customs get there hands on it, its parcel farce i have the problem with £13 for putting an envelope on a shelf and sticking a letter in the post is a bit steep!!