Import tax

[jezmatron]

I'm looking at buying an item from eBay, to be shipped from America.

The item cost is ~£20
The shipping is ~£12

How much import tax would I have to pay overall, and is there any way to avoid it legally?

Thanks!

[Buenchico]

Customs Duty = Nil (because the value of the goods is less than £135).

VAT = 20% of £32 = £6.40 (payable because the value of the goods exceeds £15)

Customs examination fee = £8.00

Total to pay = £14.40.

You can't avoid the fees unless the package can be split into two. e.g. if you're buying 2 DVDs at £10 each then sending them separately would avoid the VAT (and the examination fee is then waived because there's no Duty or VAT to pay).

The foregoing assumes that the item you're purchasing actually attracts VAT. If, for example, it's a book, then there's no VAT and consequently no examination fee, so there would be nothing to pay.

Chris

[SpikeyBush]

What are you bringing in? You can check the duty rates here www.tariff.businesslink.gov.uk/ and VAT is based on the value of goods plus shipping costs plus insurance plus duty (so you are paying tax on tax).
So for example if the duty rate is 5.7%, you would pay duty of £1.83 and VAT of £6.77. It is possible that HMRC will not be interested in collecting such a small amount as it would cost them more in admin than the revenue generated. What you need to be careful of though is whether or not what you are importing is prohibited or subject to an import license.

[Buenchico]

There's no Customs Duty, SpikeyBush, because
(a) the value of the item is less than £135 ; and also
(b) because Duty of less than £9 is always waived anyway:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/customs/post/buying.htm

[jezmatron]

It's a stand for a ukulele. Just can't seem to buy nice ones over here. Maybe I could ask in the music section for a recommendation. £32 was pricey enough, £47 with tax is far too much.

Thanks for all your help.