Importing to the UK - VAT & Delivery info

[suchanoo]

Also need to take into account the Parcelforce 'handling charge' which seems to be either £8 or £13 on top of whatever your import tax is charged at.

I still haven't figured out why there are two different charges. Thieving bastards are probably making it up as they go along.

[Fattyramone]

Yeah , i know its an excessive fee that they charge for paying the VAT upfront for us and then charge us when they deliver it to us , but thats set in stone , as much as I loath it i know by clicking the button to buy i am going to get hit by their "fees" for being the middle men between me and our Government taxes.

But what does choke is the clearing agents not doing ( or knowing ) the job that they are surposed to be doing and marking a "print" ( 5%) down as a mass produced"poster" (20%) ......and its endemic , endemic to the point of near criminality in everyday life.

If I were to try and charge you £24.50 a pint instead of £3.50 and rely on you to challenge me before admitting that i was overcharging you i would be hauled up infront of the judge ...and rightfully so?

These are THEIR rules , so play by them.

[Fattyramone]

I have a good friend/customer who works for a clearing agency in Heathrow , and he tells me there are sooooo many differing levels of VAT charges to ABCXYZ items its bewildering , and they have thick books full of the diffrent codes/charges of differing items that he maintains they couldnt possibly keep up with them.

I argue back that its their job to know these things , thats why they are there and getting a wage.....to know their job ....is that too much to ask?

[suchanoo]

Makes sense from the Inland Revenue point of view not to train them better though...overcharging the public is a great 'stealth tax'. After all, 99% of people either don't know that they may be being overcharged, or can't work their way through all the paperwork to figure out what they shoudl be charged. Even then, most wouldn't know that they could claim it back, or how to do it.

Things haven't changed much since King John's days

[jampar5000]

thanks for this awesome thread... keeping track, and i#ll update if i have any issues. Just bought something which i am pretty sure is going to attract the 20% rate.

[suchanoo]

ROYAL MAIL SHIPPING - MAX TUBE DIMENSIONS

http://www.royalmail.com/royal-mail-you ... aignid=pip

When shipping from the UK, maximum tube length is 90cm AND twice the diameter plus length cannot exceed 104cm.

As a rough guide, this means:

3" tubes cannot exceed 89cm in length
4" tubes cannot exceed 84cm in length
5" tubes cannot exceed 79cm in length
6" tubes cannot exceed 74cm in length

If you stay a couple of cm under these lengths, you should be fine. Take a tape measure and a print out of the above web page when you ship from a new post office though, as they most likely will challenge a large tube.

[suchanoo]

UK ROYAL MAIL SHIPPING OPTIONS

In price order (prices shown are for a 4" tube, value £50, 500g, sent to US):

RM 1st class - max £46 value, no tracking, no sig, delivery aim 5 days - £7.98

RM 1st class recorded - no tracking, sig on delivery, delivery aim 5 days - £13.13

RM Airsure - tracking in UK, delivery confirmation but no sig, delivery aim 4 days - £13.38

Parcelforce Globalvalue - not tracked, delivery aim 5-9 days - £26.80

Parcelforce Globalpriority - tracked, delivery aim from 3 days - £45.40

Parcelfroce Globalexpress - tracked, delivery aim from 1 day - £49.75

[djdrever]

Also need to take into account the Parcelforce 'handling charge' which seems to be either £8 or £13 on top of whatever your import tax is charged at.

I still haven't figured out why there are two different charges. Thieving bastards are probably making it up as they go along.

I checked with RM - £8 is the charge if the parcel is sent "normal" delivery. £13 is for "express"

dd

[suchanoo]

I checked with RM - £8 is the charge if the parcel is sent "normal" delivery. £13 is for "express"

dd

Thanks for checking!

That takes the piss right? As if it makes any difference to the service you get this end from PF. They deliver the day after you pay the charges in any case, so it's the same service. What a rip off!

[middayshadows]

This post needs to be made a sticky.

[jampar5000]

Sooo my parcel is stuck in customs. Question - anyone ever have any luck having the charges changed before payment? I am going to give it a bash as soon as i get the letter, as long as it has been marked correctly.

[suchanoo]

Sooo my parcel is stuck in customs. Question - anyone ever have any luck having the charges changed before payment? I am going to give it a bash as soon as i get the letter, as long as it has been marked correctly.

By the time you get the letter, your package is already with Parcelforce, and the tax has been paid (by them).

Even if you could get through to someone at border control before they handed it over to PF, any flags waved about a particular package might encourage them to open it up for a look inside!

[jampar5000]

thanks - i may call them anyway to chew the fat

[suchanoo]

Just an idea...how about sending the seller your own address label to print out and tape to the tube? Something like...

__________________________________

UK CUSTOMS TARIFF 9702 00 00 (REF. HMRC NOTICE 702 - APRIL 2010)
HAND SCREEN PRINTED LIMITED EDITION ART @ 5% VAT

NAME
ADDRESS
CITY, POSTCODE
UNITED KINGDOM

UK CUSTOMS TARIFF 9702 00 00 (REF. HMRC NOTICE 702 - APRIL 2010)
HAND SCREEN PRINTED LIMITED EDITION ART @ 5% VAT
__________________________________

[suchanoo]

thanks - i may call them anyway to chew the fat

Good luck, let us know how you get on!