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Old 26th May 2020, 11:27 pm   #21
AdrianH
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Default Re: VAT & Customs Duty on imported items

These are just my musings:

I received two boards today shipped from China, came in with with no extra charges and supposed free delivery cost to me was £19.98, but a light weight box and a declaration that said it was a component at a value of $1.99. So I took that as a win, several times now I have needed to pay the VAT and Royal mail charge, win some, lose some.

Payed for some good's supposedly shipped from the UK, (UK vat and reg number) not arrived, so sounds like a China shipping company with a UK registered office, will get my money back eventually.

I believe the big problem to us all will be when the United Nations stop subsidizing the China Postal service.

Not sure if this is still true, or what trump is trying/has stopped between China and the US but, the Chinese were being charged from $1 per kg for bulk post from China to USA.

See http://www.vatfraud.org/blog/stop-su...terminal-dues/

Now at present there seems to be a lot of flack going towards China for recent developments and if it changes or tariffs are brought in to balance the playing field then it could be that many costs will rise soon.

I have also seen on several forums, such as AMSAT.de about fake electronic components, YouTube about fake power transistors etc, the old adage if it looks to good to be true!

If I can then I will stick with the likes of CPC, Farnell or RS, if I have to buy the cheaper stuff it's Amazon before Ebay.

Adrian
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Old 27th May 2020, 12:48 am   #22
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Default Re: VAT & Customs Duty on imported items

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.... if I have to buy the cheaper stuff it's Amazon before Ebay.

Adrian
Which is no guarantee.

A lot of that stuff is the same sellers as on the other auction sites.
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Old 27th May 2020, 8:53 am   #23
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Default Re: VAT & Customs Duty on imported items

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.... if I have to buy the cheaper stuff it's Amazon before Ebay.

Adrian
Which is no guarantee.

A lot of that stuff is the same sellers as on the other auction sites.
That is true and why it is 4th on the list, but at least it gets delivered by someone in the UK and the costs are that bit higher probably to pay the small delivery charge.

Ebay I use for second hand gear, old valves, bits to break down for parts etc.

Adrian
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Old 27th May 2020, 9:31 am   #24
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Default Re: VAT & Customs Duty on imported items

Back on topic please. This thread is about VAT & Customs Duty, not the merits of various suppliers and the outlets they sell through.
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Old 27th May 2020, 9:52 am   #25
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Default Re: VAT & Customs Duty on imported items

Graham, post crossed while writing, I do hope this one is ok.

To quote "I received two boards today shipped from China, came in with with no extra charges and supposed free delivery cost to me was £19.98, but a light weight box and a declaration that said it was a component at a value of $1.99. So I took that as a win, several times now I have needed to pay the VAT and Royal mail charge, win some, lose some."

Firstly, nothing personal intended whatsoever as we all like a bargain.

I have two observations.
That label would indicate the item value was less than £2.00 with shipping of £18.00 according to the value you indicated. I doubt that item value is true as none of us would pay £18.00 for a lightweight parcel.
If you had to return it at your own cost you would need to declare the value of contents for customs and that would dictate the compensation (plus actual postage cost paid) that Royal Mail might award if a claim was made for loss.

Royal Mail compensation for item cannot exceed the stated customs value. It is recorded on your proof of postage receipt that is needed to make any claim.

Secondly.
By deliberately under declaring any item's customs value so that vat and duty where applicable to be levied, is wrong. It is avoiding our own government income revenue and will no doubt be clamped down on in the hard economic times to come. They will no doubt see all the fake Chinese and other businesses that are trading within UK falsely as "London" or whatever and avoiding paying their proper taxes and take fitting action, hopefully. It is after all giving them an unfair trading advantage over our own businesses already struggling.

Have I bought "post free" or 99p items including post from China in the past. Yes!
Do I falsify customs CN22 documents when exporting anything. No! Despite often being asked to.
IF I was buying anything imported and expected there to be a customs, vat, postal collection fee, then so be it, it would all have to be paid.
Rob
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Old 29th Jun 2020, 10:38 pm   #26
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Default Re: VAT & Customs Duty on imported items

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Quote:
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Also there is a new shipping option for US ebay sellers called "ebay send" this works very similar to GSP, the item goes to a warehouse in Kentucky, but the difference is that customs fees are not prepaid and it's then taken by DHL.
Got my first item arriving by this service, I don't know how much they will charge yet, in fact it's very hard to out if anyone has had trouble with this service due to the two common words they chose to call it.

David
Well the "ebay send" parcel was delivered by the local postie today, but the label said Deutsche Post, I still think I might get a bill for VAT as it was over £15.

David
Well I didn't get a bill for that one, but the next one did, I got the standard Royal Mail fee to pay card and at first I had no idea why I was getting a charge as it showed a tracking number ending in DE (Germany).
Once paid & delivered it was obvious it was the "ebay send" item which had vanished from the ebay tracking about ten days before (ebay send tracking starts with ESU).

David
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Old 29th Jun 2020, 11:23 pm   #27
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Default Re: VAT & Customs Duty on imported items

the VAT/duty is rarely a great deal more than the VAT you'd pay on goods from a uk retailer, but it's the admin charge that the courier levies in order to administer the tax on your behalf that can be the killer. Here's the dot-gov page on the matter.

https://www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad/tax-and-duty
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Old 30th Jun 2020, 8:02 am   #28
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Default Re: VAT & Customs Duty on imported items

One "Gotcha" to be carefull of is receiving gifts from abroad, my son's fiance sent him a small gift of a poster from California but instead of buying it and shipping herself (personal gift, no duty up to £135, No VAT up to £39) she ordered it and got it shipped direct from the seller. Cost my son £15 in duty, VAT and charges, as Kevin says, its the charges that's the killer.

Peter
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Old 30th Jun 2020, 9:38 am   #29
Dave Moll
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Default Re: VAT & Customs Duty on imported items

I've not been in a position to put it to the test myself, but a discussion in Telephone Heritage Group implies that eBay have started adding the appropriate tax at source. I assume others may follow if they haven't already.
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Old 30th Jun 2020, 10:49 am   #30
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Default Re: VAT & Customs Duty on imported items

Advocating breaking the law in these forums is not acceptable.

One post deleted.

Thread closed.
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