Import duty/taxes

[mike1222]

Does anyone know if I would be liable for any sort of duty or tax when buying golf clubs and having them shipped to me in the UK from the USA? They would cost about $200 in the States. Cheers.

[kjn2]

Simple answer is yes. Anything coming in from the USA over a small amount of dollars will attract further costs. I once bought some energy tablets from the USA and the final bill on top was about 30% more than the cost of the tablets

[Buenchico]

$200 is roughly �100, so here's how the figures would work out:

The first thing HMRC do is to calculate the import duty payable. The duty on golf clubs is much lower than on most other imports; it's only 2.7%. So that means the duty comes to just �2.70. However, where the duty is less than �7, it's waived. So you won't have to pay anything in respect of duty.

Next, HMRC calculate the VAT. This is 17.5%, so that's �17.50 on your bill.

Lastly, they had on a fee for examining the goods. This is �8.

So, your total bill, in respect of the golf clubs, would be �25.50.

However, HMRC can also charge VAT on the carriage costs, so you need to add on 17.5% of the carriage charges to estimate your final bill.

In general, you can only avoid paying duty and/or VAT on imports from non-EU countries if either:
(i) the goods are exempt from such charges (e.g. books) ; or
(ii) the value of the goods is less than �18. (Below this figure, VAT is waived. If there's no duty or VAT to be paid, the inspection fee is also waived).

Chris

[mike1222]

Thanks for that explanation.