Customs Charges!!!!

[seamus]

Declaration of low value doesn't trick customs anymore. If they don't believe it, they ask receipt/invoice, and then go from there.
Of course you can manipulate anything you send them digital format, and it even might work few times. But if they catch you, well, that's fraud then and they'll act accordingly.

wim

What the guys seem to be saying on the other forum is that private sales between individuals are far less scrutinised, and that runs in line with what the lady said when I rang this morning, as long as the costs 'appear' reasonable then that seems to be the key. Customs obvious look at commercial sales in far greater detail. There seems to be a common theme that prior to the sale an agreement is reached regarding this and on the whole everyone seems to be happy to play their part. I guess sellers want to sell their kits at the end of the day so any help they can give to their buyers the better.

I've paid it now as you only have 20 days before the package is automatically returned and she stated this morning that any disputes will take a minimum of 28 days to be responded to, likely longer in these crazy times we are in. I'll appeal anyway and let you know what the outcome is.

Thanks for your thoughts & opinions everyone, back to sticking plastic together.

[43k]

Hi Seamus,
As a UK resident myself, I can tell you Royal Mail take a £12 handling fee on top of the VAT on your declared goods. I suspect the value of your goods, as well as what type of goods that was declared, also fell foul of custom excise duty (different to VAT) rate. So there was a double whammy as otherwise it’s difficult to explain the extortionate amount. Unfortunately, asking the seller to under declared the value doesn’t really work as any goods above £15 (I think) attract VAT. Or £30 if declared as gift. Sellers are therefore naturally reluctant to do it due to insurance. Anyway, so long that you enjoy the kits and that’s all that matter.

[Noddy]

1. You shouldn't be asking sellers to lower the value on the customs form.
2. Any issues I've had with excessive duty have come from commercial shippers (looking at you DHL) using the incorrect classification for the goods.
3. Trade tariffs (the class or category of goods and the rate of duty for each) are standardized and can be looked up on https://www.gov.uk/trade-tariff
4. The correct category is not always clear and the determining factors not obvious to someone who doesn't use the system in their professional life.
5. If the category is demonstrably wrong you have a pretty good case for having the duties reduced.
6. VAT is, of course, totally separate from the discussion of trade tariff classification and is added to your total due.
7. My experience, and this applies to mine only so please don't tell me this isn't how things work - has been that when questioned about incorrect classification commercial brokers often fold with no documentation or proof required and the excess duties are immediately credited back to you. Your mileage may vary and the opinions of hosts, callers, and guests are not those of station management.

[SteveNoble]

If I'm correct you should pay 2.5% import duty on the value of the goods and the postage and 20% vat on the goods and postage, and the £8 Royal Mail fee. Not sure how much you paid for postage? But if you paid £420 for the kits that would be £420 + 2.5% = £430.50 plus 20% vat = £516.16 + £8 fee = £524.16. That's without the postage costs included. Add them in and you may be near to the £177 they are charging.
Anything over £135 is subject to import duty..

[acer709]

Sean,Wow ouch!
That seems an awful lot for customs!
I got some customs charges before but nothing like this when I bought 1/12 917 from Hobby easy
But it was about £37!
Were these kits large boxes 1/12 or 1/20.
Am thinking its a lot worse for us modellers to order outside EU.
I got Tom from TNT Hobbies to send me the 1/20 Wolf kits Williams FW06 and we had a few hiccups like Wolf kits from Brazil sent me a Shadow DN8 but what a Guy he sent the Williams kit straight to me from New York and I sent the Shadow DN8 back to him and he refunded my post charges and no kit got stopped for charges.
But I got him to put a low value and pack in a small box my risk as the kit was £135 so if it went missing I would have to take the hit!
But as modellers we are not making a financial gain out of importing &making a few models.
I would definitely query these charges and want an itemized invoice.
Good luck and your 1/20 Williams Fw07's builds were awesome.
Have a few Williams builds finished 1/12 Fw14,Fw11B,Fw16,
1/20 Fw36,Fw07,Fw06
Will post a few pics soon just don't like the photo upload system here!

[seamus]

Well miracles do happen... good news and bad news here I feel - I received a reply from UK customs today and shock horror I also received a part refund. Whilst I'm happy that it appears I was right, I still can't figure out how they have calculated it, and to be honest I can't be bothered asking for a break down so I'm just gonna leave well alone
I have attached the contents of their email and the explanation, BUT note the mention of even higher fees coming in the near future! It looks like European purchases only for me... or I move to Japan

___________________________________________________________________
Hi Sean,

Thank you for contacting us, and our sincere apologies for the delay in resolving this matter however as I'm sure you can appreciate our staffing levels are somewhat reduced at this time due to the ongoing situation with Covid 19.

We have reviewed the charges that your shipment was subject to and on this occasion it would be appear there has been a miscalculation which unfortunately meant you over paying import duty on the items you received. We apologise for the inconvenience caused. We have refunded your payment card used (ending 0105) the sum of £92.70 which should appear within 7-10 days from the date of this email.

In relation to how costs are calculated you can find a full breakdown on our website at http://www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad

It is worth noting that due to the UK leaving the EU and the current COVID 19 pandemic, importation costs from items received from non EU countries are set to rise considerably in the forthcoming months, full information will be given on our website http://www.gov.uk as soon as possible.

Many thanks again for contacting us and apologies again for any inconvenience caused.

[sky1911]

Sean,

as per the figures cited before. Originally you said you had to pay 177 GBP on top of what you already paid, now you get 92.70 back, so you have paid 84.30.
Goods: 420 GBP (seems to include postage, as otherwise the following calculation would yield different results.
Taxes v1: 177 GBP
Total: 420 GBP + 177 GBP = 597 GBP

Recalc:
420 GBP (=goods incl. pp) * 1.20 (=20% UK VAT) = 504 GBP
597 GBP - 92.70 GBP (=refund) = 504.30 GBP (which is damn near those calculated 504 GBP)

So it would seem the original price (all incl.) was 420.25 GBP?

[stubeck]

Sean,

as per the figures cited before. Originally you said you had to pay 177 GBP on top of what you already paid, now you get 92.70 back, so you have paid 84.30.
Goods: 420 GBP (seems to include postage, as otherwise the following calculation would yield different results.
Taxes v1: 177 GBP
Total: 420 GBP + 177 GBP = 597 GBP

Recalc:
420 GBP (=goods incl. pp) * 1.20 (=20% UK VAT) = 504 GBP
597 GBP - 92.70 GBP (=refund) = 504.30 GBP (which is damn near those calculated 504 GBP)

So it would seem the original price (all incl.) was 420.25 GBP?

Thats what they said in the first post, good math!

[seamus]

my small brain is hurting!!!

[Deegee13]

Hi Seamus,

I recently had a customs charge on goods bought from overseas (a couple of kits from Japan). Despite it being less than £20 I resented the 'handling' charge' and 'effectively' told the PO to get stuffed, send the items back (at their own expense!) and I will get the refund for the goods, which I did.

These charges often make buying from overseas less worthwhile than paying more for kits from UK sellers; e.g. Hiroboy.