Buying from Abroad

[Idris]

Meanwhile, back at the topic:

It does seem unfair to me that we in Europe get hit by all sorts of taxes and fees in order to be able to reimport goods which were originally manufactured here, whilst collectors in the US are able to buy from Europe, exporting as it were, without having to pay anything other than the postage (and insurance if required).
I wouldn't mind so much if we didn't have the Royal Mail handling fee (although I do think it's a bit rich charging VAT over the p&p costs as well as the actual purchase price). That extra £8 is a killer since it weighs very heavily on low cost items.
Could it be that for European collectors purchasing low-end items, Ebay's much-reviled Global Shipping Programme is actually a good thing, saving them money? If the extra cost (i.e. excluding the taxes and duties) to a UK purchaser is less than £8, surely he's quids in? Mind you, having said that, not all parcels get caught. I think between 25% and 33% slip through without charge. If that's then added back into the equation, where does that leave the GSP?

[SMS88]

Things are similar in Denmark for imports into the EU however our minimum customs chargefor goods valued over £20/200kr including admin fee is 250kr £24 which is very steep - not aware of any charges on import of gifts. I have a deal for stuff we buy in USA and cars a friend buys here.

[motorman]

A cautionary note!!!

Please be careful what you are admitting to doing on the forum. As far as i am aware any attempt to actively avoid paying import tax is an offence under current UK law.

[Fox]

And french law too ! But I can't admit to pay taxes for an item that was made in France ! That's not the spirit of the law. Taxes should be paid for a new item, not for second hand. Of course we can imagine that doing that, cars for instance would be said as second hand because of an odo reading 60 kms... and so on...
But when an item is 50 years old... no cheat no more.

[Idris]

A cautionary note!!!

Please be careful what you are admitting to doing on the forum. As far as i am aware any attempt to actively avoid paying import tax is an offence under current UK law.

I think there's also something in Ebay's rules about asking a seller to make a false Customs declaration (i.e. lower purchase price, gift).

[johnboy]

A cautionary note!!!

Please be careful what you are admitting to doing on the forum. As far as i am aware any attempt to actively avoid paying import tax is an offence under current UK law.

I think there's also something in Ebay's rules about asking a seller to make a false Customs declaration (i.e. lower purchase price, gift).

Falsifying the customs declaration places the buyer and seller at risk of further action.

[MatchboxFreak]

I had no idea about the VAT. To include the shipping and handling as part of the taxed amount seems totally unfair.

I have sent a few items as gifts and I don't remember the values I listed on the customs form but I hope I didn't end up costing anyone a tax bill just to get a treat they may not have been anticipating. That would be an unpleasant surprise and not my intent at all.

From now on I'll list the value at $5 for any gift sent to Europe.

Thank you for letting those of us across the pond know.

Kurt

[YYS4BOB]

I recently got charged £68 import duties on a USA purchase

[Shane]

Wow!!!! Those fees are crazy!

I too get very aggregated over paying tax on used items since tax has already been paid previously.

Anyways, items coming into Canada are subject to duty fees and taxes. In the province of Ontario sales are subject to a Harmonized Sales tax (HST) of 13%.
However, the duty fees and taxes are so random. I have only ever had to pay twice since buying over 500 items from ebay. Duty depends on value and what the goods are.
If I by from another Canadian I may need to pay the HST if the seller is a registered business which is determined by their level of sales.
The ebay Global Shipping Program costs me more money because a) they inflate postage costs and b) they charge a duty fee which I mentioned previously I have rarely had to pay.
In fact the postage fee plus the duty fee imposed by the Global Shipping Program is enough that I ask sellers to ship to me direct and not use the program or I dont bother bidding.
The two times I had to pay the duty, I received a notice of a parcel as opposed to the item coming to my home/mail box. Once at the post office I am told I owe duty fees.

A funny note about the HST. We used to have PST (provincial sales tax which varied from province to province) and GST (goods and service tax which is a federal tax and therefore the same across the country). HST in 5 provinces brought the two together. The east coast initially called it the Blended Sales Tax or BST. And so, tax paying citizens simply refereed to it as BS tax. BS for bullshit that is. They actually renamed it Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) because of that.