Does shipping stuff over to the USA get taxed?

[uklover 1]

Hi

Ok my fiance is shipping some stuff over from the UK to the USA. I know when I have sent him stuff from the usa he has to pay duty fees.

If he sends stuff to me over in the USA...when it gets here will I have to pay tax or duty?

[Harsh_77 718]

Nope the personal household item are not taxed.

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Hi

Ok my fiance is shipping some stuff over from the UK to the USA. I know when I have sent him stuff from the usa he has to pay duty fees.

If he sends stuff to me over in the USA...when it gets here will I have to pay tax or duty?

He does not pay duty on his household goods, meaning in the strict sense of customs anything he has owned more than one year. If he was sending a new camera in a box or a dozen new iPods, then that wouldn't appear to be "household goods". Other things (like clothing) maybe six months old would not be a problem as long as they didn't have tags. They aren't going to be nit-picky over true clothing/possessions of his.

[Operator 1,927]

Hi

Ok my fiance is shipping some stuff over from the UK to the USA. I know when I have sent him stuff from the usa he has to pay duty fees.

If he sends stuff to me over in the USA...when it gets here will I have to pay tax or duty?

Can you more clearly define stuff? Different stuff falls under different requirements. Duty is determined by contents of what is being shipped.

[Operator 1,927]

If he is shipping his belongings to you there is no duty. If he is shipping you 100 pearl necklaces that you are going to sell in your jewelry shop thats a horse of a different color.

[uklover 1]

He is shipping his fish tank and his tv.

[bigdog 376]

Hi

Ok my fiance is shipping some stuff over from the UK to the USA. I know when I have sent him stuff from the usa he has to pay duty fees.

If he sends stuff to me over in the USA...when it gets here will I have to pay tax or duty?

No tax on personal household goods.

[Harsh_77 718]

He is shipping his fish tank and his tv.

TV is something I would advice against shipping from UK, main reason they are 220v compared to 110v in US and they UK tvs are for PAL while US are for NTSC format (this is configurable in newer tvs and you can switch).

In general electronics is much cheaper in US compared to UK, he might be able to buy a whole new tv in US for the amount he might end up paying to shipping company.

Fish tank - same as well if his fish tank is something special then he can bring it or it would be cheaper to buy a new one here in US.

[GDHB 3]

He is shipping his fish tank and his tv.

In addition to the caution about shipping a TV [PAL/NTSC and 240V/120V (and 50Hz/60Hz)] you should be very careful.

I shipped a sofa and when it arrived the caster wheels were crushed; the container must have been dropped. Not a big deal for a sofa, new wheels are a few bucks in Home Depot. But a TV, especially a flat panel TV, may not survive. The manufacturers specifically prohibit shipping them flat for the larger screens. How will you guarantee that the shippers keep it upright?

[Zach41 0]

I know that you aren't suppopsed to get taxed or have to pay duty on importing personal and household goods, however the majority of shipping companies require you to put a value of the items on the shipping documents/packing list. Technically this is supposed to be the purchase cost and not the resale value, however if you are supposed to have owned these goods for 6 months to a year this seems a little silly. I was wondering if anyone knew if there was a value that you should stay below or if you should give an honest evaluation of cost. I know for example that for sending gifts to the USA from the UK anything with a declared value under £50 doens't require any duty to be paid on it. I know gifts are a different ball game but don't want to be stung by being too honest.

Edited August 11, 2011 by Zach41

[Robert&Karen 264]

My fiance is shipping hardly anything except designer clothing. Reason being is that it is cheaper to sell there and replace here than do deal with postage and shipping costs. We can go to a US garage sale (car boot sale) and buy things for 10% of the original price. A 20 gallon fish tank would be about $15 or 9 pounds. I'd not risk shipping anything glass.

Sentimental items are different. I don't know if one can get attached to a fish tank but you never know. Shipping a TV, well I can't ever think of a time it is not better to sell there and buy here. Check the postal rates for larger items and then after you pick yourself up off the floor decide what you want to do.