Ebay Tax On Postage From Usa

[smurfchops]

Just bought some small makeup from USA, paid postage,have been told I would have to pay tax as well, is this usual and will postie ask for it ?

[DrFilth]

i got a letter saying i had to pay x amount of pounds before i could have the item so went down to sorting office paid them and collected my item

some charge the tax with your ebay bill to save the messing about at his end

[DrFilth]

here is a watch on ebay from america and if you check the postage you will see
> International items may be subject to customs processing and additional charges. <


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CASIO-DW-6900CS-1-G-Shock-CRAZY-COLORS-DW6900CS-1-NEW-/271502404229?pt=Wristwatches&amp;hash=item3f36cdea85

[DrFilth]

this one has the import charges

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-CASIO-G-SHOCK-G8900SC-4-LARGE-CASE-DIGITAL-CRAZY-COLORS-WATCH-/261504621451?pt=Wristwatches&hash=item3ce2e3db8b

[SpikeyBush]

Anything over a certain value coming in from outside the EU has to have duty & VAT paid to HMRC. The vendor will not know the amount at the time of sale so it's not their fault.

I forget the exact threshold, I think it is about £17 or so. I remember a similar question being asked and Buenchico posted with the exact figure so hopefully he'll pick up on this thread at some point.

In the meantime you might want to look at the HMRC website but finding what you want there can at times be like looking for a needle in a haystack.

[Mamyalynne]

This link contains Chris's excellent explanation.


http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Shopping/Question1340557.html

[Buenchico]

If your item is valued at less than £15 you won't get hit for charges. If it's more than that you'll probably get hit for 20% of the value of the goods (theoretically including the carriage charge as well but it's normally ignored) plus an £8 examination fee on top.

So for example, if you've paid £20 for the item, you'll get hit for £4 VAT + £8 examination fee = £12.

For full details of how it works, see my post here:
http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Shopping/Question1340557.html#answer-8971108

[Buenchico]

Oh, thanks Mamya!
(I could have saved myself some typing!)

;-)

[Mamyalynne]

BOGOF offer tonight. ;-)

[inksplotter]

My sympathies, smurf. As you can see it happens all the time...