timtemple Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 OK, after reading a shed load of posts in relation to import tax & charges one of the posts suggested checking online to see what you might get charged. So I did I have been to HM revenue and customs website http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/customs/post/internet.htm#1 I saw this Goods ordered online from outside the EU If you buy goods online from outside the EU for delivery to the UK, you'll have to pay Customs Duty and Import VAT on top of the purchase price if the goods are above a certain value - though Customs Duty is waived if the amount of duty payable is £9 or less. You can find out which types of goods you have to pay tax and/or duty on in our guide below. It depends on what they are, their value and where they're from. All other goods If you order or send purchased goods other than alcohol, tobacco, perfume and toilet water from a country outside the EU then you: •don't have to pay Excise Duty •may have to pay Customs Duty on goods with a value that exceeds £135 •will have to pay Import VAT on goods with a value that exceeds £18 Note that on all goods from outside the EU, Customs Duty is waived if the amount of duty calculated is £9 or under. My shoddy maths make me think $60 is roughly £36-£37 which at 20% VAT would be £7.40 just below the waiver figure. Fingers crossed Post office site states Letters or parcels from abroad sometimes have a Customs charge – for example VAT, or fees for tobacco or alcohol. Occasionally there’s an £8 handling charge. So Im going to be a ' my glass is half full ' person on this. Hope this info is A) Correct Useful c) isnt misleading 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottie Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 well done for looking and thanks for the info , storm in a tea cup imo. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Offshoot Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 This is similar in New Zealand, although our allowable amount is a bit higher. In NZ though the amount on which VAT is charged also includes the cost of delivery, so you might want to check if this is the case in the UK. Actually, if you look at the UK DHL site (not sure if links are allowed here, but a search on "DHL UK duties and taxes" should put it at the top) it says: "What is the value for VAT? The value for VAT is the declared value of the goods plus the transport costs to the country of destination plus the customs duty." When I lived in the UK I remember being hit for about 14 pounds on a $50 hat, though I'd always heard tales about how it was quite random whether your item would be targeted or not. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wodin Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 It says you will pay Customs duty and import tax...telling you now DHL wanted £30 for an $80 game..so no way will it be £7.50... The rest of your quote is aminigous..seems to read las if it's talking about you sending good abroad.... It's way more than just VAT...you get well and truely ripped off...it's not good when the man from DHL has hold of the game and demands a payment you haven't got...by by game... Seriously Scottie it's no storm in a teacup mate....you listend to me on CMSF then listen to me here...don't take the risk if you don't want to be ripped off or you have little money. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magpie_Oz Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 Crikey!, unlucky for you blokes, in Oz we can import anything that is valued under $1000 and there is no GST (aka VAT) or Excise. Surely they cannot police online downloads ? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Battlefront.com Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 Stuff coming from the US to the UK should arrive through Royal Post, not DHL. So whatever is relevant for the former is applicable, whatever is relevant for the latter is not. At least that's the way I understand who takes care of international mail between here and the UK. Could be wrong about that if they have privatized all mail out to DHL. Steve 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeyD Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 You just reminded me of an old friend from Canada discussing package import problems he's had. He said it changed from one day to the next, apparently all dependent on how hung-over the customs inspector was that morning. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fetchez la Vache Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 Yeah but Royal Mail will charge you 8 quid for a handling fee on top of the VAT charge. So total extra to paid is going to be 7.4+8 = 15.4 pounds. So Brits are going to be paying an equivalent of an extra 40% surcharge on their copies of CMBN. Rip-off Britain. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waycool Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 We must send to their local Customs office a bottle or 2 for the greater good 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aka_tom_w Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 You just reminded me of an old friend from Canada discussing package import problems he's had. He said it changed from one day to the next, apparently all dependent on how hung-over the customs inspector was that morning. In Canada that is sort of true, but the Law of the Land is the NAFTA or the Free Trade Agreement with the USA, and in it there is a section about software and ALL software shall be imported and exported between Canada and the USA duty free. The real problem is the inspectors and customs agents don't know the law or worse, presume the consumer does not know the law and apply the tax illegally and unfairly. If you are in Canada you "should" get the game duty free. But you may have to bitch about it and complain if a duty is levied by Canada Post are complete idiots to begin with. Ymmv. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joebloggs Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 Stuff coming from the US to the UK should arrive through Royal Post, not DHL. So whatever is relevant for the former is applicable, whatever is relevant for the latter is not. At least that's the way I understand who takes care of international mail between here and the UK. Could be wrong about that if they have privatized all mail out to DHL. Steve Hi, As long as BF send the game by USPS then it should arrive through normal Royal Mail. I was going to ask if BF were using DHL but this hopefully clarifies the situation. Still going to have to pay VAT (which I can live with) and the hostage money to Royal Mail to get the game though. It's the overpriced Post Office "admin" fee that really annoys. The upside, if there is one, is that there will be no customs duty to pay as the value of the goods is below £135. At least that is how I interpret it. Please correct me if I am wrong. Don't want to mislead anybody. Some people may be lucky and and a few slip through the net. If it is sent by DHL though, then expect a huge ransom note from them. No plan survives contact with the next turn button. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan/california Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 We have family in the UK, and the Royal Mail can ruin your whole day. Whatever you do DON'T insure anything. It can turn a hundred dollar gift into a 250 pound hassle. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phil stanbridge Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 I don't think we'll get charged anything extra. Let's wait and see. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tagge Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 Waaaaait a minute... CM:N doesn't ship from inside the EU? Well this is not good news. There should definetely have been a mention of this in the orderpage. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gumboots Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 One thing to look out for with Royal Mail. Sometimes they 'forget' to convert the product value to Sterling before calculating the Import VAT. They conveniently assume $1 = £1. They've tried to pull this trick on me a couple of times. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catacol Highlander Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 All of this is exactly why I didnt preorder the Steelbox version and posted early doors that the total cost of the preorder game seemed to me to be steep. Download is the only viable option that makes sense, otherwise people are going to be paying a lot of money in the UK when most games off the shelves nowadays are actually cheaper than they used to be. Not a problem for me - I have no issue with downloading games as, let's face it, boxes and manuals just take up space and gather dust anyway. Having said that I am fortunate enough never to have been hit with a HD meltdown - were that to happen then I may end up with a different view! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottie Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 http://www.dutycalculator.com/new-import-duty-and-tax-calculation/ --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From where to where you import Edit Importing from: United States Importing to: United Kingdom 2 The type of product, its value and where it was manufactured Edit Product description: software game Product category: Games in Disc Format Product value: US$60.00 Country of manufacture: United States 3 The cost of shipping and insurance of importing Edit Shipping costs: US$20.00 Insurance costs: US$0.00 Calculation results Edit Total customs value: £48.91 Import duty: £0.00 Import VAT: £9.78 Total import duty & VAT due: £9.78 Total landed cost: £58.70 at USD/GBP exchange rate of 0.6114 Calculation notes Notes on duty & VAT rates software game is duty free and has a VAT rate of 20% Get HS code for £2.99 Notes on import taxes due Please note, if your goods have been insured for international transport, and the cost of the premium is not already included in the value, you must declare it separately to ensure accurate duty and VAT results. Please note that your shipping provider may add an additional handling fee --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Will there be any extra charges from the shipping provider? Additional charges will vary from company to company, however the shipping provider may charge: a customs clearance fee, or customs handling fee for processing the import declaration an advancement fee for paying the duty and VAT on behalf of the recipient an airline handling fee for loading and unloading the goods a security fee for screening or x-raying the goods a fee for preparing the customs declaration See below examples of additional charges on goods shipped to the UK: Import handling fees by Royal Mail: £8 per parcel liable for customs charges Import handling fees by DHL for import to UK: £1.25, or 2% of the shipment value, whichever is the greater. Import ancillary service fees by FedEx vary on the country of import. UPS charges include a disbursement fee of minimum $5, a transportation handling fee and a pre-release notification fee for import shipment --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- approx £9 in vat handling fee £8 via royal mail dhl £1.60 So maybe £10 to £20 ish, annoying and unexpected ? well yes but will know about it in future and im willing to take the hit in this instance. ps could not remember the shipping charge so simply used $20. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wodin Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 thast about right I'd have thought around the 20 mark...as it's cheaper by about 20% than the game I had to pay 30 for... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wodin Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 Just read that stuff coming over is coming though royal Mail and not a courier... This changes things and could well mean you get away with any costs...I've never been charged anything UNLESS it comes by Courier... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodwood Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 Like Magpie states, no taxes to OZ, all the good reasons to migrate to this land, not to mention a good exchange rate, footy and no terrorists 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottie Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 Like Magpie states, no taxes to OZ, all the good reasons to migrate to this land, not to mention a good exchange rate, footy and no terrorists sounds like the place to live , where do you stand on adopting small Scottish people with a keen interest in history ? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatoichi Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 Well, even though the steelbook will go in a cupboard after a week or two, the disk will probably never get used as I'll have the downloaded .exe backed up on my external HD and I may or may not be scalped by greedy middlemen, I'm still glad I've pre-ordered! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcmil Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 The only reason I didn't pre-order was the fact the local PO will shaft me on duty. I had $200 of goods come in from the US & got stung for £68 incl the helpful PO charge "We've helped you by paying customs fees-that little favour is costing you £%" The worst thing to me about the duty situation is tax must be paid on fees of foreign couriers. I couldn't believe that the 1st time I got hit with it. & the way it's calculated is deliberately weighted - ((£goods+duty)+S&H)x VAT) +PO handling. Had a mate buy a video DVD from the US had it snatched by the PO & they charged him £15 for a $12+S&H DVD. Software is officially listed on the Revenue site @3.5% for import, technically this is for a business import, but they aren't shy about saying "we're taking it" & "you need to lodge an appeal to prove our charges are wrong." They know most people will avoid hours of paper work & possible court time & just pay it. Bottom line I don't think BFC's $60 is a problem & I'd like the box & manual but I'm not paying the Post Office for nothing but profiteering. Whether the local office branch is particularly zealous/bad I don't know but it seems to be. As an aside I regularly mail to Oz - the main difference is the cost of an identical service on the same package is around double if posted from the UK. & thats before we even get to duties... And all to keep "lord'' Mandelson in rent boys... :mad: 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dieseltaylor Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 Good thing this is not UK domiciled jcmil : ) And you are not apparently in the UK for that matter. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.