Import taxes and handling fees

I know this sounds petty but I just bought a shirt from a western site in america (sheplers)

And I paid £16.00 for the shirt the "shipping "cost was £19.00 which I thought was a lot but to be expected. 3days later a guy from U P S KNOCKED ON MY DOOR AND ASKED FOR ANOTHER £18.75 TO RECEIVE A PARCEL.obviously the £16.00 shirt .in total £53,75 for a £ 16 .00 shirt. So I refused delivery

now u p s own the shirt and will auction it off in germany .I lose £37.00 just a note to buyer beware.go east to china india or pakistan for real value for money and stuff the yanks

Pssst pop down to Matalan

i dont know if this link will work but all you should have extra is £7.20 vat, appeal

http://www.dutycalculator.com/new-import-duty-and-tax-calculation/saved_calculations/view_details/193635569/

i dont know if this link will work but all you should have extra is £7.20 vat, appeal

 

http://www.dutycalculator.com/new-import-duty-and-tax-calculation/saved_calculations/view_details/193635569/

... plus UPS's clearance and handling fees.

... plus UPS's clearance and handling fees.

Them as well, Bloody hell

If you import goods in theory you should pre-pay the duty and get the sender to enclose the receipt to avoid the handling fees. Everyone can get a bargain if they don't pay tax, but HMRC are clamping down on this as it harms British businesses.

I know this sounds petty but I just bought a shirt from a western site in america (sheplers)

And I paid £16.00 for the shirt the "shipping "cost was £19.00 which I thought was a lot but to be expected. 3days later a guy from U P S KNOCKED ON MY DOOR AND ASKED FOR ANOTHER £18.75 TO RECEIVE A PARCEL.obviously the £16.00 shirt .in total £53,75 for a £ 16 .00 shirt. So I refused delivery

now u p s own the shirt and will auction it off in germany .I lose £37.00 just a note to buyer beware.go east to china india or pakistan for real value for money and stuff the yanks

... or buy British?

... or buy British?

I import Scottevest clothes from the US. No British equivalent for most of their stuff (Ayegear do some knockoff versions of some of their stuff) nor is there a UK stockist.

I use Bundlebox, so that all charges are paid in advance.

http://www.bundlebox.com/welcome/

You'll always get clobbered for import duties though, but I like Scottevest stuff.

I import Scottevest clothes from the US. No British equivalent for most of their stuff (Ayegear do some knockoff versions of some of their stuff) nor is there a UK stockist.

 

I use Bundlebox, so that all charges are paid in advance.

 

http://www.bundlebox.com/welcome/

 

You'll always get clobbered for import duties though, but I like Scottevest stuff.

The OP was talking about a shirt for £16 and he was ripped off with charges to receive from the US. He then suggested that buyers 'go east' to purchase items for real value.

I know there's not much British made stuff to buy in the clothing line, but just suggesting that he might buy British. Maybe I meant buy in England.

just a note to buyer beware.go east to china india or pakistan for real value for money and stuff the yanks

What, and get a poor quality knock off, stitched by a six year old?

"The Yanks" are hardly to blame for UK import duties. Maybe do some research next time.

What, and get a poor quality knock off, stitched by a six year old?...

And still pay import VAT on the total price of the order if the item costs over £15, plus a handling fee on top of that from the appropriate postal service (Royal Mail: £8 ).

The basic rule is pretty simple:

(i) if it comes from within the EU, there's no import duty, but there is VAT at the rate in force in the seller's EU country (paid at the time ordering - think about the VAT rate on your Amazon orders). VAT can be omitted if you're a VAT-reg'd business, and you have the EU seller put your VAT number on their invoice.

(ii) if it comes from outside the EU, there may be an import duty (subject to the value of imported goods), there is no sales tax (VAT/equivalent) paid at the time of ordering, but VAT must be paid at the UK's rate for the goods type at the time of entering the UK.

The decade(-plus) -old rule of thumb is, if you use an international courier such as UPS, DHL, etc. you're always going to cop for import duties (because import rules and amounts are coded into their computerised tracking system and your barcoded parcel is in there), but not necessarily so in the case of standard (international) post (through Royal Mail & your usual postie for the UK leg of the delivery).

Anecdotal evidence supports that, e.g. I've been importing stuff from far and wide (outra-EU) for close to two decades now, and never had an import/VAT invoice for anything that came through (from outside the EU, with no pre-paid import/VAT duties) via Royal Mail (or An Post when in Ireland). But always had an invoice if it was of rateable value and coming via a courier.

I've even received import duty/VAT invoices from DHL before the parcels actually arrived on my doorstep, and once had an epic fight with DHL in Ireland in the mid-00s about just such an occurrence, because the parcel was classed lost in transit and DHL were trying to get me to still pay the import duty/VAT invoice (they even passed it to a debt recovery firm threatening Court). Never paid that one, of course.