Expensive DCC Decoders

Perhaps you should put a few prices on your web site. How much do you charge for postage on something like a decoder?

Mark Thornton

The EU meeting to rescind the punitive duty was held in early Feb. The cancellation of the duty was backdated to Jan 1st so the info you were given mid Jan was correct. Check again and the info should have changed!

Nigel

In my experience, I get away without paying duty about 50% of the time.

wrote

Thanks Nigel.

John.

"Mark Thornton" wrote

Whatever the Post Office charge me.

John.

Canada has no import duty on toys or scale models. However, my orders from the UK occasionally get waylaid and the postie arrives on my doorstep wanting 7% federal and 8% provincial tax, plus a service charge (not as punitive as yours). Most orders just get delivered to my mailbox at the end of the street with no charges. Last year, Canada Customs were "working to rule" and a couple of packages got returned to sender - 4 months later - because of incomplete documentation.

"John Turner" wrote

Ooops, that's not quite true, we have a minimum £1.00 charge for postage.

John.

My fear was that novice importers would read your post and assume they could do the same. I've known Customs to waive a parcel through with no charges in order to encourage someone to place a much bigger order which they then hit with maximum charges. Most often the novice will opt for a courier service like UPS or Federal Exprss to speed things up and find they have even bigger charges.

Consider yourself lucky. I ordered a CD from Japan and had it sent via EMS (extra £5). When it arrived I was charged import duty plus VAT on the goods+duty+postage plus Parcel Force's minimum £13 collection fee for items sent by EMS.

(kim)

The two parcels, from America, I received this week had C&E duty on them so they are still charging ....

Yes, you'll always pay duty (if you get caught) but they are not charging (or at least shouldn't be) the *additional* punitive duty imposed on goods originating in the USA due to a trade dispute, which was 15%. Normal duty is, I believe, around 5% for model railway equipment.

MBQ

"David Skipsey" wrote

David,

If you think you've been charged the trade dispute escalator the the following is the crucial points of an email I received yesterday from Customs & Excise:-

As you are aware the additional duties charged on certain goods imported from the USA have been removed with effect from 1 January 2005. This means that any additional duties paid by importers after 31 December 2004 may be claimed back from H M Customs.

Applications for a refund should be made on a C285, however, we can accept a letter from you provided it contains the same information required by the C285. The application should be accompanied with the supporting evidence (including a copy of the original Customs declaration) and forwarded to:

NATIONAL DUTY REPAYMENT CENTRE (NDRC) BUILDING 22 PRIORY COURT ST JOHNS ROAD DOVER KENT CT17 9SH

Section 8 of Notice 199 provides full details. This Notice and the Form C285 can be downloaded or viewed at our website

John.

The latter charge is a quid-pro-quo in retalliation for US import duty. The government has always stated its intention to abolish the charge if the USA does likewise. I would love to know when exactly the limit on personal imports was fixed at £18 and what that figure would be today if it had been raised in line with inflation?

(kim)