Buying from outside the EU

[Rob_B]

Does anyone no of a way arround paying import tax on goods brought in from overseas, or how it work eg,How they work it out, is it on weight of the package or value. I have tried on google but cant seem to get anywere. Thanks

[Bagman]

I can't remember the limit offhand but if it's less than 22 Euros ish then you don't need to pay. Buying second hand it's easy to get the sender to put "gift" and a value of about 10 dollars. It helps if they put toy car parts then it sounds like it should be cheap anyway and the price sort of matches up. Some will some wont, you don't get sent to jail for asking.

I heard all of this from someone else. I always do it by the book of course.

[Rob_B]

Right so am i right in guessing that eveythink over the limit will get stopped, or is it just some they randomly check.

[sly]

If its £18 or more and marked as goods you might get stung
If its £36 or more and marked as gift you might get stung

If its vat, its 20% of the marked value
If its import duty it can vary some what i have found.
Dont pay over th phone as they them complete the delivery and charge the handling fees
But if you go and pick the items up, you can refuse to pay the handling fee of parcel farce as they have not completed the delivery.

[sly]

Originally Posted by Rob_B

Right so am i right in guessing that eveythink over the limit will get stopped, or is it just some they randomly check.

Random as they like. or if its on ems delivery they will look at it and 75% of the time i have got done but then refuse the handling fee.

[Bagman]

Thinking about buying an Australian Durango?

[Rob_B]

No, it will be worth it though, nice one si.

[mark christopher]

Originally Posted by sly

If its £18 or more and marked as goods you might get stung
If its £36 or more and marked as gift you might get stung

If its vat, its 20% of the marked value
If its import duty it can vary some what i have found.
Dont pay over th phone as they them complete the delivery and charge the handling fees
But if you go and pick the items up, you can refuse to pay the handling fee of parcel farce as they have not completed the delivery.

Originally Posted by sly

Random as they like. or if its on ems delivery they will look at it and 75% of the time i have got done but then refuse the handling fee.

does not work trying to get out of the handling charge, thats bull, if you dont pay they dont hand over. the handling charge is not for the delivery its due to it being stopped by customs, other wise every parcel they deliver would have a handling charge on it

[sly]

Originally Posted by mark christopher

does not work trying to get out of the handling charge, thats bull, if you dont pay they dont hand over. the handling charge is not for the delivery its due to it being stopped by customs, other wise every parcel they deliver would have a handling charge on it

£27 in my pocket better off for refusing to pay.

[eyeayen]

I don't know if this will work for sure but if you put on it, returned / for warranty work they won't charge you.

[DCM]

There is no 'legal' way around paying the duty. If you 'ask' the seller to put a fraudulent value, you can get fined. It is a different matter if the seller 'chooses' to put a lower value on the Customs invoice.

As for refusing to pay the handling charge, Parcel Force are well within their rights to refuse to deliver it, and return it back to the seller.

[Neil Skull]

Originally Posted by eyeayen

I don't know if this will work for sure but if you put on it, returned / for warranty work they won't charge you.

Sorry that does not work.

When our team drivers send their cars to the uk to race with we even have to pay duty on them even though they are going back!!!!

It sucks for the distributors who have to pay import, especially when people try to break the law and avoid paying duty when sourcing in the far east.

[Chrislong]

Import duty is charged to protect UK trade. But the true cost of importing from overseas to save a little here and there, is the loss of UK shops and that would be a huge loss.

Its worth paying the extra from UK shops, as you are guaranteed the aftersales support and valid warranty where there is one.

[ian h]

Originally Posted by Chrislong

Import duty is charged to protect UK trade. But the true cost of importing from overseas to save a little here and there, is the loss of UK shops and that would be a huge loss.

Its worth paying the extra from UK shops, as you are guaranteed the aftersales support and valid warranty where there is one.

Totally agree. Without the local shops the sport would suffer. I would only source outside EU if I couldn't get what I wanted locally. So far hasn't happened to me. The wait times would also do my head in.

[Nige]

Originally Posted by Neil Skull

Sorry that does not work.

When our team drivers send their cars to the uk to race with we even have to pay duty on them even though they are going back!!!!

It sucks for the distributors who have to pay import, especially when people try to break the law and avoid paying duty when sourcing in the far east.

Surely you can reclaim the VAT once the item is shipped back out of the UK or wouldn't this fall within 'temporary admission' category of imported goods --> http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsP...HMCE_CL_000220

[SlowOne]

Originally Posted by ian h

Totally agree. Without the local shops the sport would suffer. I would only source outside EU if I couldn't get what I wanted locally. So far hasn't happened to me. The wait times would also do my head in.

Pretty much I do the same, with one notable exception just recently where I couldn't source the parts despite them usually being available in the UK. All other items I buy from the UK.

The duty/handling thing is a lottery. I've paid duty on the full price of an item despite it being sent to me as a commercial sample for a magazine review, and I've paid absolutely nothing on other items despite them being fully marked, priced and delivered through the door.

Wait times are also a lottery. Again, I've received large packets in days, and small packets have taken longer. There is no guaranteed way to minimise shipping and duty costs, not shipping time. Most importantly, you get no warranty at all in the UK if you source parts from overseas, and anything from the Far East is pot luck whether it is genuine or a copy. HTH

[DCM]

Originally Posted by Nige

Surely you can reclaim the VAT once the item is shipped back out of the UK or wouldn't this fall within 'temporary admission' category of imported goods --> http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsP...HMCE_CL_000220

If it is an item that is supplied under a 'sponsorship' agreement, if the product leaves the country within 6 months, then the Import Duty can be reclaimed back. (I think thats what HMRC quoted).

[RogerM]

Originally Posted by Chrislong

Import duty is charged to protect UK trade. But the true cost of importing from overseas to save a little here and there, is the loss of UK shops and that would be a huge loss.

Its worth paying the extra from UK shops, as you are guaranteed the aftersales support and valid warranty where there is one.

Here here .... I personal think they are a bit slack and should find a way of making sure more people pay what is owed.

Having seen 2 of my favourite UK model shops close their doors recently, (luckily neither taking a club with them!!) I understand the damage that is being done to the UK trade and thus, eventually, to the sport as a whole.

[TonyM]

Originally Posted by Chrislong

Import duty is charged to protect UK trade. But the true cost of importing from overseas to save a little here and there, is the loss of UK shops and that would be a huge loss.

Its worth paying the extra from UK shops, as you are guaranteed the aftersales support and valid warranty where there is one.

I fully agree with Chris. I always try and source parts in the UK whenever I can (JE Spares first). If that's not possible then I shop abroad. It was nice to buy some Tresrey parts from Positivonegitivo in Spain recently with the knowledge that there would be no import issues and the parts arrived in three days.

[Nige]

Originally Posted by DCM

If it is an item that is supplied under a 'sponsorship' agreement, if the product leaves the country within 6 months, then the Import Duty can be reclaimed back. (I think thats what HMRC quoted).

Somebody better tell Neil Skull then........

Maybe if we've saved him billions of £££, he'll give us each a free kit for our tax advice