UK Customs Duty

Enzo Matrix · 2005-04-13T17:52:01+00:00

This may well be common knowledge to many UK modellers, but I certainlydidn't know about it.I received a consignment from Ultracast in Canada today. I was concerned tofind that I was required to pay customs duty on the package. This was newsto me as I have made numerous orders with Ultracast and never before had topay anything to customs. On enquiry at the post office, I found out that allitems from outside the EC which are over £18 in value are subject to customsduty at 17.5% (ie the equivalent of VAT). The Post Office will also chargean extra £4 handling charge.My order from Ultracast came to Can$79.55, which at the current exchangerate is £34.29. My customs duty came to £6.12, plus the handling charge of£4, a grand total of £10.12. This is effectively 30% of the cost of myorder. Did I feel stung? You bet I did!I made a largeish order to avoid paying postage and packing, which comes toCan$5.50, £2.37 per package. On further consideration, I realised thatpaying P&P on two seperate smaller orders would have been cheaper than thecustoms charges that I paid. I will do this in future.Now I fully realise that duty needs to be paid on items such as tobacco,alcohol and perfume - but resin model parts? I phoned customs and excise tosee if I could find a reason why. Apparently they are considered "luxuryitems" and so attract duty at the highest rate. The young lady to whom Ispoke was also faintly disapproving of my choice of country of supply andactually stated that if I had sourced the items from a manufacturer withinthe EC then I wouldn't have had to pay duty. I pointed out that similaritems are unavailable from EC manufacturers, but she was unsympathetic. She*did* mention that the duty was an EC requirement. Surprise, surprise!Anyway, I hope that this will help others not to be stung in the samemanner. Incidentally, there *may* be some relief for people who haverelatives or friends in countries outside the EC. If the items are sent toyou as a gift, duty is...

UK Customs Duty

Apr 13, 2005 23 Replies

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Dave Fleming 21 years ago

Only problem with 'gift' is that it is as equally liable to VAT as the others.

Enzo, you were unlucky. Sometimes you get hit, sometimes you don't. The things that attract Customs interest are (a) size of package (b) content (e.g. CDs) and (c) weight (or more particularly size by weight ratio)

I know folks who have ordered £100 plus from overseas at at time and not been hit, yet others who get hit for £20 worth of goods.

Don't reply to the btconnect address - and remove nospam!!

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Matt Bacon 21 years ago

Lets just say that every package I get from a certain major US on-line retailer contains "model airplane parts; value: $10" irrespective of how much beautifully cast resin is in the box!

Bestest, M.

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Max Henry 21 years ago

There's always a smart alec, I quote from the site :-

" We cannot discount any of our prices for whatever reason but would like you to note that all items in our catalogue with an individual value of under £18 are exempt from any Sales Tax (VAT). "

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Max Henry 21 years ago

Remember you could forfeit the goods and be charged with conspiracy to defraud.

Mind you there will be plenty of modelling time in the Scrubs..

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