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Author Topic: customs tax on USA purchases!!!!!  (Read 13839 times)

Offline manic _miner

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Re: customs tax on USA purchases!!!!!
« Reply #30 on: February 28, 2020, 09:10:03 PM »
 Had that the other week on one figure.£3.49 vat then the £8.00 handling fee.Such a con.

Offline Coenus Scaldingus

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Re: customs tax on USA purchases!!!!!
« Reply #31 on: February 29, 2020, 06:59:34 AM »
Honestly wouldn't mind it so much if it wasn't to incredibly random.
I guess the best thing to do would be to expect the additional costs to be a thing, and just be relieved when they're not. From the few times I've ordered things from outside of the EU though, I have so far never had to pay extra (and many of these were over that price threshold). So in effect, it's so unlikely you get hit, you assume you don't.. making it more painful when suddenly you do, and the costs of a small order increase by tens of percents.
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Offline Silent Invader

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Re: customs tax on USA purchases!!!!!
« Reply #32 on: February 29, 2020, 08:32:10 AM »
Quote
I guess the best thing to do would be to expect the additional costs to be a thing, and just be relieved when they're not.

That’s pretty much my approach. I don’t see it as a con or whatever as it’s just another element that I price into the expected total cost. If I don’t get hit, then Happy Days!  :D

Of course it does mean that I don’t make a lot of outside of EU purchases that will breach the limits, as few items are worth (to me) what I expect them to cost.

I did have a great run of buying Star Wars bendies from the USA, which compared to the UK were so cheap that even with international postage I could get a nice handful for under the thresholds. I always included a message to the seller to be careful not to overstate the invoice value, which did then  happen the once: I could have rejected the delivery but I ‘paid the man’ and then raised it with the store, who gave me credit for the extra cost that .... of course.... I then spent on more minis.
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Offline mcfonz

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Re: customs tax on USA purchases!!!!!
« Reply #33 on: February 29, 2020, 11:17:31 AM »
Sorry to be a killjoy but what you're suggesting is illegal  (certainly in the UK) and the penalties can be severe. I won't take the risk.

Ah ok, I didn't realise that.

Do you have any knowledge on the other bits?
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Offline Andrew Rae

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Re: customs tax on USA purchases!!!!!
« Reply #34 on: February 29, 2020, 11:49:40 AM »
UK VAT rates are here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/rates-of-vat-on-different-goods-and-services

Books are 0%.

VAT (and duty if the package is over £135) will be applied based on the HTS codes that the sender puts on the customs label. https://www.gov.uk/trade-tariff

HMRC requires that you ensure the sender correctly declares the goods. https://www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad https://www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad/documents

Customs can seize goods. https://www.gov.uk/customs-seizures

Edit: Also, gifts cannot be from businesses to individuals. https://www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad/gifts
« Last Edit: February 29, 2020, 11:53:06 AM by Andrew Rae »

Offline Gribb

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Re: customs tax on USA purchases!!!!!
« Reply #35 on: February 29, 2020, 07:17:19 PM »
Ah, Yes. That’s why I always preferred to make small orders. Suits the wallet, space and pace of painting. Now with upcoming laws hammering parcels from the first cent I won’t place more international orders. I enjoy the hobby, but not enough to pay what amounts to GW prices after VAT&handling-fee has taken it’s swing.




Offline Daeothar

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Re: customs tax on USA purchases!!!!!
« Reply #36 on: March 01, 2020, 12:35:05 PM »
I really don't mind the VAT, after all it's taxes like these that (eventually and partially) end up paying for fun things like health insurance, servicable roads and safety through law enforcement.

What I do object againt though, are the ridiculous administration fees that parcel services charge. And especially the fact that they are flat rates.

So my parcel worth €23,- costs me €11,- in admin fees (+ the actual VAT, obviously), while a business pays the exact same amount for their shipment worth €23000,- !

If only they would charge those fees as a percentage of the VAT due instead of that flat fee, I would be OK with them...
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Offline 6milPhil

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Re: customs tax on USA purchases!!!!!
« Reply #37 on: March 01, 2020, 04:38:12 PM »
Obviously only with smallish orders though. If you order £200 worth of product, don’t expect a retailer to mark the value of the goods at $20. But for smallish orders, many sellers are (in my experience anyway) willing to be helpful and flexible in this regard...

I've found this too, and as my stuff is 6mil it's very believable. ;)

Offline Huascar

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Re: customs tax on USA purchases!!!!!
« Reply #38 on: March 02, 2020, 08:42:12 AM »
Interesting thread; here in Australia,at the moment we only get charged customs tax over $1000. Which is good,makes up for our sporadic dollar value.
I have gone over $1000 a couple of times, once before the customs changes,and then about 6 months ago,however that was from a mate ;)
Blackwood, you might want to update yourself. As of the start of this FY the Australian tax threshold is now $0. Sellers are supposed to collect it (10%) and send it to Aust Govt (there is a turnover threshold, but it is pretty low). If the tax is not collected imports/packages can be seized until the tax is paid and I bet an admin fee is charged! Basically we are now in the same lottery as our UK friends.

Offline Cait Sidhe

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Re: customs tax on USA purchases!!!!!
« Reply #39 on: March 02, 2020, 12:02:25 PM »
Sorry to be a killjoy but what you're suggesting is illegal  (certainly in the UK) and the penalties can be severe. I won't take the risk.

Pretty much that and as Andrew points out, it's you that's liable if caught, not the sender.

The worst I had was the opposite where for some reason Reaper Miniatures declared a $30 order as like $100 on the package and I got absolutely hammered. They said it was a computer glitch and offered $10 in store credit... The worst part is, if you do get charged the VAT then they calculate it on the value of the package plus the postage.

Offline Brummie

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Re: customs tax on USA purchases!!!!!
« Reply #40 on: March 02, 2020, 01:05:00 PM »
It's always been expensive.

In the past it just wasn't as consistent.

I used to buy periodically from Khurasan in the states a five years ago and was hit maybe 1 in 4 times. And these were hefty orders often between 50-100 dollars worth.

In the last few years though if I order anything from the states I get hit unless it's below the value threshold. Irony is though if you buy small you're still losing out as postage is like 15-20dollars anyway, so you're going to get hit one way or another.

There's a lot of excellent figures coming out of the states, so these days I've just resigned myself to paying that bit extra.

Offline zemjw

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Re: customs tax on USA purchases!!!!!
« Reply #41 on: March 02, 2020, 03:08:31 PM »
Pretty much that and as Andrew points out, it's you that's liable if caught, not the sender.

The worst I had was the opposite where for some reason Reaper Miniatures declared a $30 order as like $100 on the package and I got absolutely hammered. They said it was a computer glitch and offered $10 in store credit... The worst part is, if you do get charged the VAT then they calculate it on the value of the package plus the postage.

Reaper caused me problems as well - they added the p&p charges to the declared total, taking it over the threshold. It got flagged and I ended up having to pay vat and charges on an order I'd carefully kept below the limit. I think I got a credit from them when I complained, but I stopped buying from them directly from the States after that.

Postal and customs charges have resulted in me buying very little internationally in the last few years  :(

Offline Gribb

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Re: customs tax on USA purchases!!!!!
« Reply #42 on: March 03, 2020, 04:19:34 PM »
The worst part is, if you do get charged the VAT then they calculate it on the value of the package plus the postage.

This and the handling fee is what bothers me. I would be fine with paying VAT for the item itself.

Offline Gribb

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Re: customs tax on USA purchases!!!!!
« Reply #43 on: March 03, 2020, 04:26:53 PM »
Sorry to be a killjoy but what you're suggesting is illegal  (certainly in the UK) and the penalties can be severe. I won't take the risk.

Rather Captain Obvious ;) Everyone knows this is illegal. It’s a simple Yes or no question if asked really. It’s not like toy soldiers are the pillars of the economy. Books are not taxed at all where I live. Politicians and of course business owners are all about preserving the market, though besides UK and USA very few produce historical miniatures. And local hobby stores have no interest in importing them. I’ve asked and it’s all GW if anything.

Offline Andrew Rae

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Re: customs tax on USA purchases!!!!!
« Reply #44 on: March 03, 2020, 06:38:01 PM »
Books are not taxed at all where I live.

Worth noting that if a package has only 0% rated items such as books (and is declared as such) and no duty is levied, Royal Mail shouldn't issue a handling charge. The charge is only issued if VAT or duty has to be paid.

Does anyone know if Royal Mail handling charges are applied if you chose to do the customs declaration yourself? https://www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad/documents

I'm guessing yes but confirmation might be useful to some.