Unbelieveable taxes /import duty on gift to the UK.

[tmma 467]

Yesterday a dress I sent to my sister in the UK arrived there- with a bill for 68.00pounds sterling! the declared value of the dress was $220.00 on the customs form and it was marked as a gift. She told me that 22.00pounds was VAT and 46.00pounds was import duty!

OMG!

I had to put the accurate cost of the dress because I needed to insure it. Wish I hadn't now

[elmcitymaven 9,712]

Yesterday a dress I sent to my sister in the UK arrived there- with a bill for 68.00pounds sterling! the declared value of the dress was $220.00 on the customs form and it was marked as a gift. She told me that 22.00pounds was VAT and 46.00pounds was import duty!

OMG!

I had to put the accurate cost of the dress because I needed to insure it. Wish I hadn't now

My brother once sent me a webcam he'd bought at Costco on sale for $20. He put the declared value down as $20, and marked it as a gift. It came with a bill for 35 quid! HM Customs and Excise had decided that it couldn't possibly be worth $20, opened up the package, decided it was worth 100-some odd, sealed it all back up and then tried to collect the money from me. I refused delivery and told them to send it back to my brother, but he never received it.

Mysteriously, 2 months later it showed up on my doorstep without the demand for any duty.

[photomile 101]

HMRC are well known for making up charges for customs duty out of thin air.

Edited April 5, 2012 by photomile

[Darkmoonfaerie 19]

I didn't realize ALL jewelry had VAT and stuff added to it when you send it. I mailed a $20 necklace as a gift and we got charges valued at more than the necklace. Granted, I got it on a GREAT sale so it should have been a lot more. But I felt so guilty with Alan having to pay the fees to give his sis in law her birthday pressie. We also had problems with shipping and fees when mailing a Patriots AFCS champions limited edition football last month. It passed customs but was held by Royal Mail for almost 2 weeks when I paid for Express mail. We got fees to release it and now the USPS won't issue a refund because they state it's not their fault it didn't make it in the guaranteed time. Stupid thing cost $75 to ship when all was said and done. I still have no answer as to why it took 13 days to get from the post office to delivery notification. I'm guessing someone didn't believe that the $120 listed value for a football was real and decided to investigate?