Will I have to pay uk customs tax?

Question

I've ordered £190 worth of herbs and incense from an online store in america... will I have to pay customs tax when they get delivered here in the UK and if so, how much would this be?

Is there any way of avoiding the charge? Could I ask the shop to write that it is a gift on the front?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Answer 1

Far too much value for a gift. As to what you'll be paying on it's arrival you would have to visit the Customs & Excise site. You'll be paying VAT on top of that as well on the total + import duty.

Answer 2

Bit late now isn't it ? Typically only items of £30 or less are passed through without charge (this is NOT 'the law' == it's a case of so much stuff coming in that Customs can't cope == so they focus on the higher value stuff first ... if your package arrives with a lot of other higher value, you will be OK - if not & they are bored, they will still 'do' you ..) One item I won on ebay USA for $350, I was charged a total of £90 .. this consisted of 17.5% VAT, Import Duty and about £25 in Handling Charges .. (different Couriers charge different handling - I believe FedEx is one of the worst for handling charges BUT they will pay the Customs charges for you, deliver the package to your door and collect the money = others just leave your parcel at Customs and expect you to sort it out ) Another time I won two USA auctions at about £35 each and the seller 'bundled' them together in the same package (and still charged me 2x postage :-( ) .. however the package must have arrived on a busy day because I recieved it without paying any Customs charges

Answer 3

Bit late now isn't it ?

Typically only items of £30 or less are passed through without charge (this is NOT 'the law' == it's a case of so much stuff coming in that Customs can't cope == so they focus on the higher value stuff first ... if your package arrives with a lot of other higher value, you will be OK - if not & they are bored, they will still 'do' you ..)

One item I won on ebay USA for $350, I was charged a total of £90 .. this consisted of 17.5% VAT, Import Duty and about £25 in Handling Charges .. (different Couriers charge different handling - I believe FedEx is one of the worst for handling charges BUT they will pay the Customs charges for you, deliver the package to your door and collect the money = others just leave your parcel at Customs and expect you to sort it out )

Another time I won two USA auctions at about £35 each and the seller 'bundled' them together in the same package (and still charged me 2x postage :-( ) .. however the package must have arrived on a busy day because I recieved it without paying any Customs charges

Answer 4

It's a lottery as to whether your parcel will be examined by revenue and customs. Some get through untouched some don't. Probably due to the sheer volume of mail coming in and limited resources to check it.

If your item is examined you can at the very least expect is import duty at 10% and then VAT at 17.5% on top (yes they tax the tax) of the combined order and shipping cost. On occaision the carrier will pay this for you and bill you upon delivery... with a small service charge on top. How kind of them!

Answer 5

Jenny i'm afraid you will, bought my sons lego from lucas arts store in usa and could not believe it when i got bill through for over £40 pounds. The lego came to roughly £150 so you could guestimate you'll pay about £50. But don't know if different goods have different tariffs.
Goods came by FEDex so they paid custom duty and then billed me.
I tried phoning customs but once its above certain amount you cant claim gift although if store did mark it you may be lucky.

good luck.