Uk Customs Duty?

[zimkip]

I'm considering purchasing an item on eBay that will be an import from Japan, the value of the item including postage is £ 691.99. Can anyone give me an idea of how much import duty/customs charges I will be liable for? The item in question is a DSLR camera & 2 lenses.

[goodgoalie]

Already answered

[Buenchico]

Things are never easy where Import Duty is concerned!

If your camera is seen as just that (i.e. a 'camera) there's no duty to be paid (although, as I posted on your other thread, there will still be VAT, plus a customs examination fee).

However the EU has ruled that a camera which can "record at least 30 minutes of a single sequence of video in a quality of 800 x 600 pixels or higher at 23 frames per second or higher" shouldn't be classed as a 'camera' but as a 'video recorder'. That means that Import Duty of 4.9% needs to be applied to such an item.

So if your package is classed as a 'camera' there's no Import Duty to pay and my figure of £146.40 (on your other thread) should apply.

If the entire package is classed as a 'video recorder' you'll pay 4.9% on the cost of the items (but not on the carriage) and a further 20% VAT on the cost of the items, on the cost of the carriage and on the Import Duty. (Yes, that really is a tax on a tax!)

So, assuming (for the sake of convenience) that cost of the items is £660, with roughly £30 for the carriage, you'd pay about £32 in Import Duty plus about £144 for the VAT and £8 for the customs examination fee = around £184 in total.

However if HMRC (or Parcelforce Worldwide, who actually carry out routine customs examinations, under contract to HMRC) split your consignment into a notional 'video recorder' (attracting duty) and photographic lenses (with no duty) the final figure might be somewhere between my two estimates above.

[bhg481]

Most DSLR cameras limit their recording time to 29min 59sec for a single "take". This is to ensure that they are defined as cameras and not as video recorders.