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add 30% to the sale price. Gives a good estimate.
That will allow for cost of insurance, cost of currency conversions, VAT @ 20%, duty (if any), costs of postage and packaging charges, additional charges by carrier.
Been offered a cracking deal on a watch from another very well known watch site, the watch is in the states and I've never imported a watch before.
Is there an easy way of working out how much duty etc I will get stung for.
add 30% to the sale price. Gives a good estimate.
That will allow for cost of insurance, cost of currency conversions, VAT @ 20%, duty (if any), costs of postage and packaging charges, additional charges by carrier.
Last edited by MartynJC (UK); 30th April 2016 at 10:52.
I'm thinking VAT, so 20 per cent of the sale price. Plus £13-£14 for Parcelforce or whoever else conveys it from the US to these shores.
VAT is charged on the shipping cost too.Originally Posted by seabiscuit
I thought that the dreaded vat would be added, but wasn't sure about any other charges.
How is the vat calculated, what figure do they go on, the figure that's written on the customs label?
How do they know if this is correct or not, ( I'm sure you know what I mean ).
9 times out of 10 they will go by the declared value, however they can and sometimes do open up and check, they will make their own assessment if they find a Rolex with a declared value of $100 . Also bare in mind the package will only be insured for the declared value if it went missing ( sellers problem though ) Sellers sometimes help out a buyer with the declared value, a lot don't.
A package labelled `SS measuring instument` may not attract the same amount of customs attention that one labelled `Expensive Wristwatch` might.
Just sayin`...
Remember HMRC do have panels of experts on call if valuations are needed of art, jewellery, collectibles, etc.
You mean the declared value is lower than actual value?
I am sure this topic has been discussed before - try 'search' right hand of the forum header.
Invalid declaration may lead to shipment being seized - but hey - it's your money - you take the risk.
Last edited by MartynJC (UK); 30th April 2016 at 10:54.
If you're buying anything from outside the EU, factor 20% VAT into your price calculations. You may end up paying that, or you may not, but you must be prepared to.
Ask them to send it USPS priority mail. This doesn't use parcel force who are just thieves and often gets through unmolested. Even if not, you'll only pay the duty, not a release fee and a package that gets to the uk in a day or two and then hangs around for a week until you get fed up and go to the depot to pick it up while paying a kings ransom to parcel farce for the privilege.
Lots of information at http://dutycalculator.com/
But I'm pretty sure it will just tell you 20 per cent VAT.
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As mentioned earlier it is usually 20% VAT on the declared value of the item AND shipping cost plus what ever the UK carrier charges as a clearance fee which can be anything from £8 upwards, so this all needs to be factored in to get a more accurate cost of the watch to you.
I bought a ZEX from the sates and the seller marked it as metal tool or something like that - I didn't get hit with any charges
Probably not so helpful re a Rolex - this was relatively low value
Having imported other things, mainly musical instruments from abroad I have found that UK customs seem to pay closer attention to things arriving from the USA. On one ocassion they opened a package and made their own assessment of the value which was way above the declared one - this was for a Theramin, hardly a well known instrument. I think that they just pulled a figure out of the air. On the other hand Ive never been hit with a charge for things from Japan (well once, come to think about it), Hong Kong or Australia. Perhaps Ive just been lucky.
Undervalued declaration doesn’t mean seizure, it’ll simply result in a letter querying the value with a request to prove you paid what is claimed.
If you can’t do that, then you merely provide proof of actual purchase cost, and pay the VAT on that amount when you receive RM/PF’s letter.
Legitimately importable goods don’t get seized for trying to save yourself some money.
This is incorrect – USPS is handled under contract by RM and PF. Packages that fall under RM’s remit have an £8 charge for paying the VAT on your behalf.
PF charges £15 (inc VAT) for their processing of the same.
Sorry PJ - not trying to pick a fight, but I did want to bring the OP attention to with warning on the .gov site:
And yes as pointed out above to the OP - to answer your original question - there IS an easy way to calculate
VAT and duty (nil) on a watch from the USA -
http://dutycalculator.com/
Last edited by MartynJC (UK); 30th April 2016 at 12:36.
In that case I've just been incredibly lucky repeatedly and USPS Priority mail has always happened to actually arrive through RM (usually without charge) while other methods haven't. What are the criteria for the differing remit and why do parcel force always hold your parcel?
Firstly, that's not true - they can seize them if they choose to do so.
Secondly, seriously undervaluing the declaration is not "saving yourself some money"... it's fraud.
Simon
I don’t know what the particular mechanism is for parcels being split between the two – perhaps it’s the service option used.
As for PF holding the parcel – maybe their channel is scrutinised more closely by Customs, as more valuable goods will be sent using the quicker services, which have an associated increase in insurance coverage.
Seems logical, but purely guesswork.
No, PF hold the parcel after it has passed customs and require you to pay them before they release it for deliver. RM don't. In my experience at least.
One thing that annoys the hell out of me is when a seller undervalues an item or lies about the content and you don't know they have until it arrives. It's common out of Russia and India. You end up feeling faintly tainted by another person's dishonesty. Mind you, I had someone once who sent me an Omega tuning fork and sent me an email saying something like, I've removed the battery and the mount for it. Unfortunately, since I did that It appears to have stopped working so I have sent it as a broken watch. I've enclosed the parts I removed but don't know how to replace. Good luck with the repair. I didn't know whether to admire their ingenuity or be disgusted at their deviousness.
No fight being fought here – that is simply a disclaimer and frightener.
That’s not to say some things don’t get seized, but more often than not the opportunity to correct the value used for assessment will be given – quite likely on a single item of personal importation, but maybe not for 50 or 100+ items (effectively or actually a commercial concern).
What constitutes “seriously undervaluing”? Is there a legally definitive amount.
As said, personal goods don’t get seized when there’s a considered discrepancy between declared and perceived value.
I have only one instance personally to work from, where an imported package was queried, and a letter was received in relation to it.
I made contact, was provided with an email address to which I sent a screenshot of the amount paid – that was it, and the goods were released as normal.
To the OP............ you should in theory have to pay 20% of the declared value and shipping. If it is of low declared value they will probably charge nothing. If they do charge you will probably have to pay an 'administration' fee to the carrier, Parcelforce charged me £14 the last time this happened.
The last watch I bought from the states was bought new from a dealer, I made no contact with the seller, apart from paying for the watch but he under-declared its value dramatically and I paid nothing.
The question of value is interesting. If you are buying new I suppose the value is more obvious being the transaction price, plus extras. What if you do a swap though for instance?
It seems you would have to estimate the actual value. How do you do that exactly? I have bought many used G Shocks from Japanese auctions, what is their true value?
Often these used watches are not working with a probable dead battery. So what is the intrinsic value of a used, plastic, Casio watch that is not working?
Seems like the Custom authorities themselves would put very little value on it. What someone might be prepared to pay for it subsequently would vary sharply between individuals, most people would be prepared to pay very little for it. Is that its true value then or is its value the amount a much rarer individual might be prepared to pay?
Mitch
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