British Customs (Hmrc) And "pop-Up" Tariffs Andcharges

[Dinger2]

Can any A.B,er tell me where a member of the public can see and read an in depth statement showing exactly WHAT goods/commodities the importer has to pay import duties upon (or not). Freely available for public view?) I don't believe any such document exists,I think they make it up as they go ! I'm not talking about alcohol or tobacco here. I recently bought online some mineral supplements (selenium,lycopine and curcumin) which are available in U.K. but less expensive in U.S.A. To my horror a week later I received an email from agents of H.M.R.C, asking for around £49.60 duty and handling charges on top of the £150 approx that I had already paid.I said NO and R.T.S. I consider this nothing short of extortion.How are the public supposed to know ????

[goodgoalie]

Some good info here:
https://www.gov.uk/trade-tariff

[Buenchico]

As the UK is a member of the EU (for the time-being, at least), the Import Duties applied by HMRC (for imports from non-EU countries) are those set by the EU. They can be found here:
http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/dds2/taric/taric_consultation.jsp?Lang=en
(Click 'Browse' to search for the relevant classification).

However there is no duty to pay when the value of the goods comes to less than £135.

VAT (at 20%) is charged on exactly the same things that attract it in the UK. That's basically everything except books, periodicals, children's clothes, non-luxury foods and a few other items.

However VAT isn't charged when the value of the goods is less than £15. (NB: Note that VAT is charged on the goods AND on the carriage charges AND on any duty payable - Yes, that really is a tax on a tax!)

Then there's a customs examination fee to pay, which is usually £8.

So you'll ALWAYS get hit for import charges when buying from non-EU countries unless they're valued at less than £15 (or, if they're exempt from VAT, at less than £135) .

For example, if you buy something for £20 (+ £5 p&p) , you'll have £5 VAT to pay (= 20% of £25) plus an £8 examination fee, making £13 in total.

As a further example, if you were to by cotton-based goods from the USA, valued at £200 (with £20 p&p), you'd be charged the normal rate of Import Duty for cotton-based goods (12%) plus an extra 'penalty rate' (15%) applied by the EU because the USA is in breach of World Trade Organisation rules in respect of state subsidies to cotton farmers. (So that's 27% of £200 = £54). Then, assuming that the goods aren't in the form of children's clothing, there's 20% of (£200 + £20 + £54) to pay (= £54.80). Adding on the £8 examination fee produces a total of £54 + £54.80 + £8 = £116.80.

[Buenchico]

PS: What quantities were you buying?

A year's supply of Selenium costs around £24 on Amazon UK: http://tinyurl.com/ms4ol3p

A similar quantity of high-strength Lycopene costs around £33:
http://tinyurl.com/lbypygk

£11 will get you the Curcumin: http://tinyurl.com/mfe7vrb
or £28 for the super-strength stuff:
http://tinyurl.com/mmexfe8

[Peter Pedant]

and now you know why they were cheaper
VAT not chargeable there ( god knows about their local sales tax)

for import ( from a non EU country to here) VAT is payable
and since you were asked for £50 VAT the bill was £250 before tax and £300 including VAT - (from inside the EU - they are called acquisitions. You pay VAT as part of your bill and if you wish to reclaim VAT because you are registered - then the VAT bill has to have the number AND the country code)

oh OK if you paid £150 then the VAT was £30
and the extra twenty quid was handling

well anyway we can make sense of it
and it depends on whether you wish to pay the taxes

https://www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad/tax-and-duty

altho there is an exemption for good under £250 somewhere for something
it strikes me that it is far too high for import VAT and you have been correctly charged

Basically what you are telling us is that bargains may not be bargains But we really kinda knew that anyway
( dont you feel good that after all this, masked men ( CIA probably) havent bust thro your door and shouted - " Terroristen!" ?)