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Thread: Buying from Japan and import tax.

  1. #1

    Buying from Japan and import tax.

    I am looking for a Grand Seiko SBGX261. There was one on eBay a week ago but sadly, I missed out on that. There's one on Chrono24 in the UK and quite a few in Japan. I was wondering how much import tax is there when buying from Japan. The watch (from what I can see) would be around £1300-£1400 mark. How much tax should I consider on top of it? What I can find on gov.uk is that the tax varies depending on the type of goods and where they came from.
    Thanks

  2. #2
    Master
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    I normally add 20% and £10-15 to work out the full cost. Sometimes it’s worth it, others not. Also consider the risks, I had a new Seiko MM300 go missing between Asia and delivery in the UK. The upside is that very occasionally a watch may be delivered with no additional costs added on arrival to the UK.

  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by frp422 View Post
    I normally add 20% and £10-15 to work out the full cost. Sometimes it’s worth it, others not. Also consider the risks, I had a new Seiko MM300 go missing between Asia and delivery in the UK. The upside is that very occasionally a watch may be delivered with no additional costs added on arrival to the UK.
    Thank you.

  4. #4
    Grand Master Onelasttime's Avatar
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    Also consider the hassle of sending it back to Japan if there’s a problem or the condition isn’t as described.

    I’ve also noticed lots of Japanese eBay sellers take loads of pictures, but in a certain light that hides any marks and scratches.

    Do your research.

  5. #5
    Master Ruggertech's Avatar
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    It's not actually import tax, it's the vat. But same result and as mentioned earlier, it's 20% of the cost, plus £12-15 handling fee. So a 1k watch would be roughly £1215.

    Sent from my SM-A105FN using Tapatalk

  6. #6
    Master FrontierGibberish's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by PawG View Post
    I am looking for a Grand Seiko SBGX261. There was one on eBay a week ago but sadly, I missed out on that. There's one on Chrono24 in the UK and quite a few in Japan. I was wondering how much import tax is there when buying from Japan. The watch (from what I can see) would be around £1300-£1400 mark. How much tax should I consider on top of it? What I can find on gov.uk is that the tax varies depending on the type of goods and where they came from.
    Thanks
    I would not go near eBay these days for anything at that level.
    Have bought a fair bit from Japan. The advice of others here is spot on re taxes etc (although if the FTD with Japan goes through it'll become much cheaper).
    On the expensive stuff, most recently a PD, I tend to apply patience and get it posted to a mate in Japan. He then gift wraps it and sends it on to me at my work address with a card inside. PD was a birthday card but my last JDM Seiko came with a wedding anniversary one. :-)
    Gifts are exempt from the tax bit.

  7. #7
    I've wondered the same.

    Has anyone got experience using a proxy service? Those such as Buyee and fromjapan?

  8. #8
    Master
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    I've used fromjapan to buy a GS a while back. I found the service fast and reliable, and got updates all along the way. The shipping was reasonable, and yes you do have to pay import duties/VAT when it it's to the UK. I would happily use them again.

    Sent from my EVR-L29 using Tapatalk

  9. #9
    Craftsman
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    +1 for FJ here also (and tax as noted above) - pair of vintage GS, and at least four others. The fedex rates are pretty good now - not much more than EMS and far far faster with better tracking.
    If looking on yahoo jp, beware of sellers relisting content from other non-.jp auction sites (eg eBay).


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

  10. #10
    Grand Master markrlondon's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by FrontierGibberish View Post
    (although if the FTD with Japan goes through it'll become much cheaper).
    As far as I can see, it won't make any difference for watches. VAT will still be due on them exactly as it is now.

    A free trade agreement simply eliminates 'tariffs' which are applied in the UK via the money-making vehicle of Customs Duty. And even though there is a Customs Duty rate for watches (4.5% I think), it is never applied in practice to a single watch shipment of any value from anywhere in the world due to the way it is calculated[1].





    Footnote:-
    1: It is bracketed to a very small range of values that are not collected because they always (for a single watch shipment) fall below the minimum collection policy value. Customs Duty on watches will only ever be collected on a shipment of multiple watches and, even then, will hardly ever be worth collecting as it will amount to so little money.

  11. #11
    Master FrontierGibberish's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by markrlondon View Post
    As far as I can see, it won't make any difference for watches. VAT will still be due on them exactly as it is now.

    A free trade agreement simply eliminates 'tariffs' which are applied in the UK via the money-making vehicle of Customs Duty. And even though there is a Customs Duty rate for watches (4.5% I think), it is never applied in practice to a single watch shipment of any value from anywhere in the world due to the way it is calculated[1].





    Footnote:-
    1: It is bracketed to a very small range of values that are not collected because they always (for a single watch shipment) fall below the minimum collection policy value. Customs Duty on watches will only ever be collected on a shipment of multiple watches and, even then, will hardly ever be worth collecting as it will amount to so little money.
    Present plan is for the deal to mirror (mostly) the forthcoming EU-Japan FTA, so it ought to mean you pay the tax on ourchase (which should be less than 20%) rather than at the point of import. And the same the other way.

  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by KingKitega View Post
    I've used fromjapan to buy a GS a while back. I found the service fast and reliable, and got updates all along the way. The shipping was reasonable, and yes you do have to pay import duties/VAT when it it's to the UK. I would happily use them again.

    Sent from my EVR-L29 using Tapatalk
    Thanks guys, good to know 👍

  13. #13
    Master PhilipK's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by FrontierGibberish View Post
    On the expensive stuff, most recently a PD, I tend to apply patience and get it posted to a mate in Japan. He then gift wraps it and sends it on to me at my work address with a card inside. PD was a birthday card but my last JDM Seiko came with a wedding anniversary one. :-)
    Gifts are exempt from the tax bit.
    I don't believe that gifts are exempt from tax - it's just that they are less likely to be examined by HMRC at point of import.

    One other issue with buying from Japan, which I don't think has been mentioned, is that the bracelets are often quite a bit shorter than we are used to in the UK.

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by PhilipK View Post
    I don't believe that gifts are exempt from tax - it's just that they are less likely to be examined by HMRC at point of import.

    One other issue with buying from Japan, which I don't think has been mentioned, is that the bracelets are often quite a bit shorter than we are used to in the UK.
    No, they're not exempt.

    There is a slightly higher threshold for VAT - think it's £39 vs. £15, that's all.

  15. #15
    Thank you for all the help.

    I'm looking at a watch from an authorised dealer on Chrono24 - would there be a concern for the condition of the watch? They say they use DHL and send everything tracked/insured.

  16. #16
    Grand Master markrlondon's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by FrontierGibberish View Post
    Present plan is for the deal to mirror (mostly) the forthcoming EU-Japan FTA, so it ought to mean you pay the tax on ourchase (which should be less than 20%) rather than at the point of import. And the same the other way.
    Interesting, thanks. Seems strangely uneven to me, if so. If they have lower VAT than we do here and the idea is to pay the VAT rate of the country from which one is exporting then it effectively imposes a brand new tariff on UK exporters compared to Japanese exporters.

    That's not beneficial at all from a UK perspective.

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