UK Custom Office, help!

A call to UK flashaholics to help me understand the workings of your Custom Office.



I recently sent one of my MAG 951 II torches to Whitefield in Greater Manchester by Express mail with a declared value of $35.00 USD declared as a 3 D Maglite and charger.



My customer received from the Royal mail a notice that the duty imposed by the Custom Office was at a value equivalent to $100 USD.

In order to get the light out of the post office he will have to pay this duty, otherwise the package will be returned to sender.



It seems that the Custom Office level the duty according to the insured value of the article.



How much per cent they charge for duty?

What guidelines they use?



If I were to send an object with little intrinsic value but high on sentimental value, and I want to insure high against loss, the recipient will get charged an exorbitant duty?



Any input from you guys of the UK will be greatly appreciated.



How I have to send the lights in order that my customers don't get charged for duty?



Best regards

Juan C.

normally if the value is £18 UK pound or around $30 US dollars, you will not have to pay customs charges or vat.

you did not put the value as $350 did you, instead of $35 dollars.

VAT in the UK is 17.5% and you will have to pay an handerling charge.

regards.

some helpful links

http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channels...ntent&id=HMCE_CL_000014&propertyType=document

http://forums.ebay.co.uk/thread.jspa?threadID=400022558&tstart=0&mod=1143477016248

If you insured the Parcel for $100, then Customs will charge tax on this value. Not only do you pay 17.5% VAT, there's also a seperate charge depending on what the goods contained are; i think flashlights are around 5%.

On top of all that, you have to pay a charge to Royal Mail themselves for putting the parcel through Customs in the first place, which is another £5 or so (FEDEX and UPS charge £10 for this privalige).


God bless HM Customs & Excise

Im in the UK and Lighthound.com send me about $400 of stuff, i asked could they declare low charges for customs, they said yes not a problem and said they would tick the "gift box", which they have on the form on the front of the package, they also declared the stuff as being really cheap (Flashlight x4 worth $8, same for batteries and $4 for bulbs)

There is no insurance from lighhound though, it is purely at the risk of the customer as stated on their site, this must be how they get around customs charges when asked to do so by clients

Very good service from them aswell i must say :goodjob:

the only problem with declaring $400 flashlight as $30, is if they go missing you will get nothing.

that`s why i allways split my order into smaller values, hopefully they will not all get lost.

regards.

Yeah it is a bit of a problem if you lose the things I should of probably got a couple different orders, but in my haste i didnt, though even if they did lose them, i could buy them all again from US and it would still be cheaper than rip off UK! But thats an issue all by itself isnt it :lolsign: .

The insured value will be used since let's say if the package was lost, in theory you would receive $100 insurance pay out. Thus if this is so, that means the package is worth $100, not $35 you wrote down. It's actually against the law to over declare just as it is to under declare.

I've seen it happen many times, so it's not a rare occurence. However, again, strictly in theory, regarding packages, over declaring is illegal cuz it's a form of insurance fraud. Customs won't care about that though, what's more important is determining the value of package, and since most people under evaluate anyway, an insurance declaration of $100 is a clear evidence that it's worth $100, why else insured for $100 if not? Can't say the Customs officer is out to get you, cuz if you think about it, anyone will have that logic..declare $35 but insured $100? Surely it's worth more than $35 kinda thought.

Englander: I like lighthound too, but publicy saying you ask them to lower customs declaration and saying they agree to it, can in theory, get them in trouble, I would keep that kinda stuff more private..just my opinion.

Oh and I forgot to mention. The Customs Officer is allowed to not believe the declaration and evaluate the item him/herself. If this is done, if it's a new product, the LOWEST price found at regular retail outlets will be used, if it's used or something, it maybe lowest retail price minus a certain amount. Obviously it's subjective and ymmv. Take into account, ever officer is different. For example, say I saw a SF M6, I'd know the value while a colleague wouldn't. Then while he/she may know the value of a pair Gucci shoes, I might not and think it's some el cheapo $20 pair of shoes...

Customs will always charge on insured value - If its insured for a specified amount - this must be what it's worth.

By the time you've payed import duty, VAT and handling charge - You can expect, as a general 'rule of thumb' to pay around 30% of the total insured value on top of purchase price before the parcell will be released to you.

I believe that the onus to declare the correct value is that of the buyer.
So this is probably why a vendow will declare the value of the goods as you request. There's no come back on them.
Customs will chase the buyer for the duty they believe you ought to be paying.

Try to keep your international orders below $30
Or suffer the exorbitant charges
Or take the risks associated with mis-declaring goods value.


Tim.

Timson is right about the onus being on the buyer! It is the IMPORTER who is liable for tax evasion and not a seller.

If C&E want to get difficult they can legally demand to know how you paid for the item. As most transactions are done through a bank account or via a credit card you are stuffed!

Although you might not think it C&E are not there to screw the little guy but are after bigger fish. It is almost unheard of for them to take to task someone for importing a single item unless it is illegal or of high value. Think thousands not hundreds! After all if you don't pay up they usually confiscate the item. You will then have X amount of time to pay up or they sell it off at auction.

Doug

A lot of parcels, I recieve are marked as gift by the sender, even for items well under $30.

what would happen if the seller, is say from china and dosen`t have the best english, and puts the wrong price on the customs declaration.

say $1000 instead of $10.00, just because he missed out the decimal point.

I wonder what would happen then.

regards.

Tinderbox: If a honest mistake was made, you can appeal. Provide a letter as to why it is a mistake, and provide proof....transaction records etc. There will be paper work and delays, but that's bureaucracy coming into place.

Just to give you a small insight of bureaucracy, if someone thinks the item was charged excess tax, first it goes to the appeal dept. which reviews it. If the appeal dept deems that it possibly was over charged (any small reason), it will be sent to the officer with the information. Then it's up to the officer to research/answer etc. back to the appeal...then the answer is sent to the appeal dept for review and then sent out to person..so u can imagine how slow it takes. On top of this all, some people play the system that way.

Heck said:

Englander: I like lighthound too, but publicy saying you ask them to lower customs declaration and saying they agree to it, can in theory, get them in trouble, I would keep that kinda stuff more private..just my opinion.

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I agreed! This is for the benefit of all Lighthound's UK cstomers, lets keep this private, lets not get anyone into trouble.

Yes Juanco, the same thing happened to me, I was on the Gladius Passaround II and I was asked to pay Custom duty of around £40 ($100) for 3 days!

I suppose european countries have got to raise taxes somehow to pay for their free health service.:lolsign:

the only problem with the UK, is that by the time you have waited 18months to see a surgeon, you are to far too gone to save.

regards.

UK customs !! grrr, thieving scumbags ..... make my blood boil
yeah import duty, vat, AND "lets kick him while he`s down" the handling charge....
so i always make a point of asking for the seller to declare the contents as a gift / returned lost property / warranty replacement / and total value of $25 or less