David B2 Posted April 23, 2019 Report Share Posted April 23, 2019 Good day, loosely technical and connected to my thread on the TR4 forum. I purchased my car from USA and paid 5% VAT and Import Duty to HMRC via the shipping agent. All clear with special rate for a classic car. How does this work when purchasing say $100 of parts that come via UPS in a jiffy bag direct to my home address. I presume I should pay at least 20% VAT as its from outside the EU? And is their any Import Duty? Is this collected on such a small sum? And how is it collected? Any body with experience of this. Thanks, David B Quote Link to post Share on other sites
SeanF Posted April 23, 2019 Report Share Posted April 23, 2019 Hi David, You will have to pay VAT and duty on goods imported from the US. It is generally charged by the Royal Mail if goods arrive by post or by the courier company before releasing the goods. VAT is payable at the normal rate on the value of the goods including duty and is payable on all imports over £15. Duty is only payable on goods over £135 and charged at 2.5% So if for example your goods cost the equivalent of £140. you'd pay duty of 2.5% = £3.50 and VAT at 20% on £143.50 = £28.70 ie total of £172.20. If the value is less than £135, only VAT is payable at 20%. If you buy online (eg ebay) this is not mentioned. First I knew was when I got a card from the Royal Mail telling me they were holding my package pending payment. All the info is here. https://www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad/tax-and-duty Hope this helps. Sean Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stuart Posted April 24, 2019 Report Share Posted April 24, 2019 In addition Royal Mail will also charge you £8 for the privilege of charging you the duty and VAT. Stuart. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jfg Posted April 24, 2019 Report Share Posted April 24, 2019 The sender declares the value of the items sent. I used various suppliers over a 3 year period and the nicer ones declared the parts at $10 where practicable. I found the best to be usps and onward by fedex over here. Parcelforce weren't that bad either. There are only a handful of couriers over here authorised by hmrc to collect the duties which if applicable are paid before you get your goods delivered. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
David B2 Posted April 24, 2019 Author Report Share Posted April 24, 2019 Thanks all. Good information. Am currently favouring having something made by a man with a lathe but if that doesn’t work I’m now prepared and know the routine. David B Quote Link to post Share on other sites
PodOne Posted April 24, 2019 Report Share Posted April 24, 2019 I had a mate who claimed that if you get the sender to mark them second hand old car parts and there is nothing to pay? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stillp Posted April 24, 2019 Report Share Posted April 24, 2019 2 hours ago, jfg said: the nicer ones declared the parts at $10 where practicable Which is of course fraudulent, if the actual value is greater. I was reading on another forum that Royal Mail have a duty to inspect a sample of incoming parcels, and they charged the addressee with "conspiring to defraud HMRC" or something like that, which cost him several hundred pounds. Pete Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stuart Posted April 25, 2019 Report Share Posted April 25, 2019 12 hours ago, PodOne said: I had a mate who claimed that if you get the sender to mark them second hand old car parts and there is nothing to pay? Nope that doesnt work either. There has to be a declared value on the package and customs will check if they think its wrong. You will also find a lot of the suppliers in the US specifically state they will not undervalue their items or mark them as "Gift" Stuart. Stuart. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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