Reply With QuoteDoesn't work, because if you claim the local tax back, the news gets back to UK customs and excise.
Is this an urban myth, or, something worth trying ?
The myth goes something like this. Buy a watch while abroad, claim the tax back on it, as a tourist taking the watch out of the country.
Put the box and paper work in the post, and send it to your home address. Shoud be no tax to pay on a box with £0 value.
Now the "dodgy" bit, put the watch on your wrist and wear it as you walk through customs back into the country. Not declared, hence, no tax to pay.
I've heard various versions of the above ..... Would it work? Anyone going to admit they know it works, cause they did it?
Last edited by carbon749; 4th October 2012 at 23:24.
Doesn't work, because if you claim the local tax back, the news gets back to UK customs and excise.
No because its illegal. I have had watch boxes that have been stuck in customs until they have established if a watch has been involved also . Would add that I have nothing to hide and that I have bought the box only . It takes weeks also and alot of paperwork and emails to prove that you have not done anything untoward .
seriously If customs have a sniff that there is any wrong doing then they will be over you like a bad rash.
Not promoting it, asking if the tails are true ?Originally Posted by learningtofly
I would never do this.
Yes, of course it could work. Given that in all the years I've been travelling I've never been pulled at Heathrow customs if I was going to do this I'd just put the box in my suitcase.
It doesn't stop it being illegal though & there is the slight possibility on future trips you could be asked to prove you bought the watch/iPad/camera in the UK or have paid duty on it.
I've also heard rumours that serial numbers can be checked on subsequent trips through customs, if they decide you might be of interest.
AbsolutelyIts a complete no no
I'm sure the OP was speaking hypothetically.
I heard that a guy in our mid-east office used to buy zero tax watches, have some bloke in the local souk (sp?) make a replica case back for it and have "Presented to Mr X" with a date a year or so previously then post the original back with the paperwork. If customs questioned the watch box in his case he would say he used it to put the watch in the hotel safe when he was out working on the pipelines.
Given he flew home every other week for 4 years I suspect he must have made a good few grand out of it...
It amuses me that some people believe that posting the empty boxes back to the UK will somehow pass under the radar of HMRC. They are just as interested in packages that are light as those that are heavy and will inspect both with equal interest.No because its illegal. I have had watch boxes that have been stuck in customs until they have established if a watch has been involved also . Would add that I have nothing to hide and that I have bought the box only . It takes weeks also and alot of paperwork and emails to prove that you have not done anything untoward .
seriously If customs have a sniff that there is any wrong doing then they will be over you like a bad rash.
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
Some years ago I worked for a contracting company and when we hard work overseas, the guys often used to split the packages up - one guy brings a 'bare' watch in (usually not wearing it) - a colleague travelling separately (maybe a few days before/later) would bring in the box in his checked-in luggage. There were several variations and combinations of this. Basic rules seemed to be no-one ever came back with more than one watch or went through customs with watch, box and papers together. I know about it because they used to meet up at the head office and put them all back together. No-one bothered with the post as it was too hit/miss. It was just viewed as a regular perk of the work/travelling. I cannot condone it but it was great to see the booty as there was some lovely watches - all sold on. No good to me though at the time as I didn't have the funds.
Swearing or otherwise displaying rude manners is?
Actually; advertising that you have several high value Veblen watches in the house isn´t.
Right; till the next guy who doesn´t like the idea of paying dutie/vat on a watch bought outside of the EC.
Kind of funny if you think about it. Buying a Veblen good and than moaning about the tax bit. That is even worse than haggling with the AD about a Veblen watch
And then go and read what Thorsten Veblen's theories were really about, because while you quite clearly like using his name as a catch-all expression for your ridiculous soapboxing, you also clearly have no idea what sort of goods he was referring to.Go and have a lie down, this isn't good for your blood pressure
claiming the tax back them hmmmmm maybe dodgy but I see no problem in buying a watch abroad, wearing it and putting the box and papers in your suitcase. Its not like you are going to resell it and you have paid the tax in said country.
I bought a full size laser printer in NYC in the early 90s and it came back to the UK with me as luggage with no problem. I imagine a watch might be easier. Just saying :-)
Mmmm.......I have never looked at it in this way before
I thought the idea of shipping the watch box on its own was to declare it as ZERO or min value ........taking the risk of course that if it gets lost , you've no real claim.....but its only a box at the end of the day.
Where as shipping the full watch and box , you would naturally claim the full value of the watch , thus encountering 'standard' customs charges purely on the stated value.
I had never thought about the 'unlucky spot check' they may do on a single box.....
Out of the millions of boxes travelling through the network each day ........any idea how many you think they stop for no reason other than a peak inside?
I've no idea. But it does happen (as evidenced in a previous post) and I've also had packaged goods inspected and queried by HMRC.
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
Swearing or otherwise displaying rude manners is?Hypocrite.
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
Quite agree....
Is it not cheaper to get the watch at Duty Free at Heathrow/Gatwick, given availibility, rather than take risks with HMRC? To be honest the cheapest way to get a watch is via SC or one of the other similar sites sourcing from Europe.
Best bet is to look normal when wandering through customs with your watch. I'm a seasoned traveller and have been through numerous airports home and abroad hundreds of times yet have never been stopped. Weirdly, I very rarely travel by boat/ferry (probably 20 times max) yet have been searched twice at ports...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value_added_tax
I suspect that if you want to discuss it further a visit to the Bear Pit would be in order.
Hi, it will not work because:
When you shop duty free or you claim the VAT back, you have to get 2 separate stamps, one in the domestic country before you leave on the border and another one when you arrive home and you pay the VAT in your own country. Than, with these documents you send them to global vat tax refund and they issue you the VAT.
Now if you buy a watch with a discount and you slap it on your wrist and enter the country, I don't think the customs can do much about it (especially if you don't have any papers with you)
This "option" was suggested to me just the other day by a Tudor AD in Singapore. Needless to say I didn't purchase the watch.
This might be the case in your country, but it is most certainly not the case for all countries.
In my personal experience a watch can be purchased and VAT claimed when leaving the country of purchased and that's that. Of course one is then supposed to pay VAT in country of residence on arrival home.
the few time that i have been caught with watches was when there was a big search on for illegal meds etc, they then always ask for the paypal recipt, which makes bank transfer or dare i say western union a safer bet.
Of course it can be done, just buy the watch you fancy in a tax free location e.g. a nice Caribbean island and at the end of your holiday walk through the Green channel with it (just be prepared to take your medicine if you get stopped) - it's not much different to the folk who go on shopping sprees in New York or elsewhere in their droves - does anyone really think they tot up what they have spent and then dutifully (excuse the pun) line up at the Red channel - I think not.
Digger
I simply think it's fascinating - the myriad ways the state finds to tax almost anything that moves.
I'd presumed that buying a watch at the Duty free excluding tax would not be a problem - even if returning to the same country a day later...
e.g. explorer II at geneva airport is 7700 CHF list price but is 7084 CHF without tax...
.. or is this too liable for tax?
depending on the country you are only allowed to bring goods in to a certain value, it doesn't matter if you have already paid tax or will not be selling it on.
I've traveled extensively over the last few years and would say you have to tread very carefully.
10 years ago I would have happily bought something in the US and just travelled back with it quite innocently.
In addition shipping items across maybe one in 5 would get through without duty, today is very different.
Customs and Excise (not HMRC) will be very aware of what people like to buy abroad and you'd be amazed at the expert knowledge that they can call on.
Watches are a high high high target.
In addition when we (as a watch retailer ship abroad, which we happily do) we have to provide HMRC (not Customs and Excise) detailed information on not only where and who we ship too, but proof that the individual has received it.
We would never never ship with out the full and corresponding tax documentation.
In my humble opinion I would say that if you see a watch abroad that you like then buy it, but make sure that you've already added the fact that you might have to pay VAT and duty on top.
Last edited by jbbusybee; 6th October 2012 at 09:38.
As pointed out above, if you buy at a Uk airport and fly within Europe you will get a 'duty paid' watch with a 17% discount and it's all legal and above board.
I have done this, and and even picked up the watch on my return to Blighty as my travel insurance wouldn't cover it for the trip.
Does 'abroad' refer to outside of EU as you can't normally claim back VAT if you are resident within EU?
A "mate" of mine has done this a few times, Docs in his back pocket,watch on his wrist, then the box with the cheapest watch he could find in the real box in his travel companion suitcase. I think as long has you don't flash it about customs won't notice they must be looking for bigger catches than tax on a 2.5-5k watch and if the travel companion gets caught all they have to say is I bought the watch from the local market and they had nothing decent to put it in so they gave me this box.
Why bother putting an cheap watch in the box, are customs that daft.
No, they're not. And regarding the 'looking for bigger catches', they will happily confiscate for far less.
R
Ignorance breeds Fear. Fear breeds Hatred. Hatred breeds Ignorance. Break the chain.
But confiscate what? If person A is wearing the expensive watch & person B has a £100 Seiko in the box (under the £390 limit allowable for personal import), what is there to link the two? They are hardly going to check the serial number of every passenger's watch to see if they match the box.
I wouldn't have in my mind claiming any tax back in or outside the EU, I would want to be happy with the 'sticker' price, and leave it as that.
Last year I entered the USA three times and took a watch on my wrist and either one or two in my luggage both times....no problems.
I now have two watches in my 'new USA home' a JLC and a Spring Drive.
My fiancée came to visit the UK and returned to the USA with two watches in their boxes and an empty JLC box.
She did have some trouble at customs but that was with the case of wine she was taking back with her.
Next time I go there I may well have several watches in my case if they have not sold on SC.
They are watches of a reasonable value but as they are not new and used and for me to keep (tho I can't prove that) I'm not expecting any problems
I have travelled fairly extensively bringing more than one watch with me on business and holiday trips. I have never had to explain any watch, whether on my wrist or in my luggage, to anyone. Put the watch on your wrist, post the docs in an envelope to your office and the empty box to your mum.
That is correct. A lot of high end watches like Omega and brands alike, can be tracked by customs to where they where delivered by the manufacturer.
It makes sense to assume that if you're travelling with a watch in its box then you're likely to have another on your wrist. It's totally believable that you take your expensive watch in its box to prevent damage. An empty box is probably more suspicious.
As long as you don't have the paperwork in there too!
It's a gamble, I guess.
I presume there is a penalty to pay on top of the VAT if you are caught by customs at the airport? Does anyone know how it is calculated?
Compared with if you use mail, you're either caught or not - and know that all you will have to pay 20% plus handling, or nothing.
It's a shame really since even with today's exchange rates, the US is pretty much the best place to pick up bargains on the more obscure brands. (Although you have to factor in that US prices are nearly always quoted pre-tax, so sometimes it's not quite as good a deal as it sounds - but then again avoidance of US sales tax is another can of worms).
The same.
Back & forth all over the world with up to 3 watches with boxes etc..normally kept in cabin luggage so subject to close inspection through x ray etc.
Never an issue & never even consider spitting docs & box etc, when I have bought something from US.
Darren
You are then liable to pay import duty, this is detailed here:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/customs/tax-and-duty.htm
you would be liable to import tax for sure
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