TopCat
Putin fanboy
They put the font in 4pt tpe man.I get packages from China, but they always have customs labels declaring the value as less than what HMRC start charging on, and usually declare them as a 'gift', clever fuckers.
Help! being asked to pay £100 customs duty and import VAT on my own effing jacket
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Puddy_Tat
naturally fluffy
blargh
mum-tat is on an interweb community that has quite a few people in america - they do a sort of secret santa thing, and she got stung last time on a present from someone in america (was stuff someone arty had made, but they had listed the value at the price they would have sold it for at full retail price)
mum-tat is on an interweb community that has quite a few people in america - they do a sort of secret santa thing, and she got stung last time on a present from someone in america (was stuff someone arty had made, but they had listed the value at the price they would have sold it for at full retail price)
Wookey
Muppet is not a slur
I was furious a few weeks ago when I ordered a new eyepatch from America, and unlike previous eyepatches it was replaced with a postcard demanding I pay this HMRC tax charge, plus the handling fee - which almost doubled the price of the damn eyepatch!!
I WAS furious, but having heard about this one poor bloke who got unavoidably taxed on his OWN FUCKING JACKET, I have to say I am not that annoyed any more.
I WAS furious, but having heard about this one poor bloke who got unavoidably taxed on his OWN FUCKING JACKET, I have to say I am not that annoyed any more.
8ball
Decolonise colons!
So you lost your jacket that you got at a bargain £50 and replacing it will cost £60.
As opposed to months of dealing with bureaucratic fuckwits and the cluster headaches that will result.
I think it’s time to think about how much your time and sanity is worth to you.
(and I’m partly saying this to myself, because in a similar situation I would probably do exactly the wrong thing)
editor
hiraethified
Oh I've done all I'm going to do. I tried. I made calls. I got angry. I failed. I don't need a jacket like it now till the autumn, so I'm going to forget about it, unless I bump into Mr HMRC wearing my jacket in a bar one night.So you lost your jacket that you got at a bargain £50 and replacing it will cost £60.
As opposed to months of dealing with bureaucratic fuckwits and the cluster headaches that will result.
I think it’s time to think about how much your time and sanity is worth to you.
(and I’m partly saying this to myself, because in a similar situation I would probably do exactly the wrong thing)
pseudonarcissus
fluttering and dancing
Wait til Brexit
collectordave
Active Member
Wait til Brexit
Just practicing!
8ball
Decolonise colons!
I think your jacket is doomed editor - the system is a licence to print money.
But it’s the bloody Government.
They already have a license to print money.
equationgirl
Respect my existence or expect my resistance
Brexit is expensive, money has to come from somewhere...
cheesethief
Well-Known Member
Same here. Paid stupid duty on the last kickstarter thing I ordered, and it never even arrived, think it got stuck in some customs limbo...
Won't buy anything from the states any more, even the big name retailers often don't seem to know how to do it properly. Just not worth the hassle.
equationgirl
Respect my existence or expect my resistance
Could be a huge ruse by HMRC to gain more cash and the goods, which they can sell on ebay for more cash.
It does make me wary of buying from the US though - not that I do it a lot these days, it's becoming too expensive to do so because the import duty is so much.
It does make me wary of buying from the US though - not that I do it a lot these days, it's becoming too expensive to do so because the import duty is so much.
I can’t say I’m particularly against a high import duty from the States. Otherwise, HMRC aren’t seeing any revenue on those purchased goods, since there is no VAT. And I don’t really like the idea of UK businesses being undercut by VAT-free foreign alternatives
equationgirl
Respect my existence or expect my resistance
Post-Brexit won't there be import duties on goods from Europe as well? On everything from outside the UK?
Could be. And this would not necessarily be a bad thing either. Amazon only pay 2.5% sales tax by siting themselves in Luxembourg — is that fair to anyone but Amazon?
Bahnhof Strasse
Met up with Hannah Courtoy a week next Tuesday
I agree. What would be nice though is to get the US sales tax rebated, like you do when you buy goods in person and take them out of the country.
cheesethief
Well-Known Member
Depends whether there's a deal, no deal, customs union, etc...
Short answer: Everything will be worse.
equationgirl
Respect my existence or expect my resistance
Absolutely not - but taxing the general population because amazon isn't paying what it should be isn't a sensible strategy.
Yes, some kind of reciprocity would be good. Makes me wonder why trade agreements are never in the news...
What if general population aren’t paying in tax what they would be paying in tax if they bought an item in the U.K.?
8ball
Decolonise colons!
Even with a “no deal” we’d come to some arrangement with the EU after some initial arsing about.
equationgirl
Respect my existence or expect my resistance
So the general population pays more because amazon aren't?
Bahnhof Strasse
Met up with Hannah Courtoy a week next Tuesday
No, what if VAT was reduced to the amount Amazon pay, 2.5%, or whatever the deem it to be this week?
friedaweed
Me and me girl named Jane
It’s not Amazon that pays sales taxes. It’s the buyer. It’s the buyers that are avoiding tax by purchasing from overseas. That’s why we need customs duties. Amazon can offer things more cheaply to the general population (particularly on US sales I think) by avoiding needing to charge them the same level of sales taxes as would be the case if they sold the same thing locally.
spanglechick
High Empress of Dressing Up
I wouldn’t particularly mind paying 20% vat on goods from the USA - but what you get hit with is far higher than that.
I used to order clothes/bags once every year or two, but the last couple of times the combination of fees was something like 85% on top of the cost of the goods.
I don’t understand why that’s appropriate.
I used to order clothes/bags once every year or two, but the last couple of times the combination of fees was something like 85% on top of the cost of the goods.
I don’t understand why that’s appropriate.
cheesethief
Well-Known Member
Yeah, no doubt. Eventually... From gazing into my crystal ball I can (not very) confidently predict: A) Could be a very long period of arsing about. B) Subsequent import terms likely to be similar or worse.
That’s what happens when you don’t have a reciprocal trade agreement. That’s why Bahnhof and I were saying it would be good to have one.
As things stand, though, I’m not against a high import duty from the States.
wayward bob
i ate all your bees
this is my excuse for being camped out permanently on french ebay atm
8ball
Decolonise colons!
I think your crystal ball is on point this time.
Except that I don't think the situation will arise in the first place.
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kalmatthew
Lurker Extrodinaire
For the states I doubt this would help as sales tax is on a county by county basis as well as state by state rather than being federal
