Customs, is this an abuse?

[austinbob]

See it as speeding, we all do it, the game is to avoid speeding tickets and every day you are not getting one you have won.

With respect, we don't all do it!! - the game is not to speed so we don't kill anybody. Speed limits are there for a reason!!

[ScottyStitch]

I fail to see what the actual complaint is. An item was imported into the country. You have to pay VAT on it. You have to pay the fee for the VAT collection. It is completely legitimate as far as I can see.

[Agrippa]

I think the gripe is that the various fees etc cost almost as much
as the model itself.

[nobby]

is this an abuse , no just a rip off like most things in this country. and I agree with Agrippa , if the items value was higher then its easier to swallow

[dannyboy]

I tend to agree with Scotty - if the prices for items from Japan etc had duty and VAT added before we paid, would they then look as attractive? No. If you buy something from outside the EU and do not get charged duty/VAT etc, then you have got away with it, but when looking at those prices, you should always work out what it would cost if the duty etc was added and then see if it is a bargain. The majority of stuff bought from the likes of Train Trax, (usual disclaimer  ), are not much dearer than Japanese etc imports, (with duty/VAT added), and if anything should go wrong, it is a lot easier to make a complaint. Just my twopennorth. 

[Chris Morris]

Not abuse at all.

With all respect, you took the gamble to buy something cheap outside the UK, get caught and now you have to pay tax. As per the topic how long price rises etc, a wholesaler/ genuine shop in the UK has to pay tax as well when they but abroad, that's one of the many things why they are more expensive.

Mu 2 cents, If you buy abroad and we all do it so no offence her and you are not caught, heho hoezee, we have saved a lot of money, do you get caught, ships, ships, ships. It might have been smarter to buy it in the UK.

See it as speeding, we all do it, the game is to avoid speeding tickets and every day you are not getting one you have won. Do you get one, well you have lost. This time you have lost.

Live can be so easy if you see things simple

I usually only buy from abroad because what I want isn't available in the UK. Tomix chassis are sometimes available in the UK and sometimes not.
The bigger gamble with buying from outside of the U.K. is what you do if there is a problem with the item you have bought.

Unfortunately for me I buy G scale from the US. A loco starts at a very reasonable £220 which sounds great. Postage is a hefty £75 ( G scale locos are very big and rather heavy). When it gets to the UK it will cost about £60 VAT plus probably a £14 fee. Total cost about £370 which is still pretty good value. The big risk I take is that if there is a problem it ain't going back!

[JayM481]

As already mentioned, Parcel Force's fee is twice that of RM, and if you really want to "feel the love" use UPS, who charges a variable brokerage fee based on the cost of the item.

Also, by the way, if you read the HM customs regs, you'll see that above a certain amount any duty and VAT are to be applied to both the item cost and the postage.

Finally, if you think this is a uniquely British phenomenon, it isn't. I think the US is one of the few, if not the only, country who's postal system rarely collects tax and duty, if at all.

[Oldman]

Personally I have found it to be the luck on the day, I have had much more expensive items get through without duty that I fully expected I had to pay, but have also had items literally pence over the official limit get stopped .
It also varies from sorting office to sorting office as well, stuff in a jiffy bag seems to get through the system but once a box is involved very much pot luck.

[daveg]

I don't mind paying the VAT but get a nasty twinge at the socking great fee the Postal People add (last time it was £8 ish) for passing the collected tax on to HMRC.

Dave G

[Rabs]

Absolutely.  I know RM are inefficient but I find it impossible to believe that a standard, computerised customs declaration takes an hour of somebody's time (£8 fee at minimum wage = ~1h).   Even with 100% overhead rate you're still paying enough to get someone's undivided attention for 30 minutes. 

I would bet a substantial amount of money that it's either fully automated or takes a fraction of that time.  Therefore the charges are unreasonable.

I have no problem of paying tax but I object to padding the pockets of RM's shareholders.  The deal they've had from the public is already plenty generous enough in my book. 

[deibid]

Funny enough that I got several parcels from Japan this year, more costly than the last one... and the first time I get charged is precisely now that ....  ... the Post Office and its financial troubles are in the news....   
Fair enough to all of you that say "it's a gamble".... but when it smells like it smells...
I may get political here, but being Spanish this all sounds way too familiar to me!

[stevewalker]

Considering how high the fees are as a percentage of lower priced items, it is probably time that the exemption limits were raised considerably. Alternatively, that the fee was actually raised, but a lower fee was charged below a certain value, so larger value items would subsidise the handling cost of lower value ones and neither fee would be disproportionate.

[Graham Walters]

£8 of the charge is Royal Mail's handling fee. 

And before the OP jumps up and down at Royal Mail for that handling fee it doesn't actually go into Royal Mail's profits, it goes straight to the Government the same as the VAT charge does.


Paul

Not strictly true, the handling fee does go to Royal Mail, Items that come  into the country are subject to a customs charge, this has to be manually documented by Royal Mail. At the point of collection there is due process of accounting that these packets have to go through, all this takes time and man power.
Royal Mail are actually collecting the tax on behalf of C & E.

[Graham Walters]

Personally I have found it to be the luck on the day, I have had much more expensive items get through without duty that I fully expected I had to pay, but have also had items literally pence over the official limit get stopped .
It also varies from sorting office to sorting office as well, stuff in a jiffy bag seems to get through the system but once a box is involved very much pot luck.

This used to be the case, but HMRC are clamping down a lot on the smaller imports

[ScottyStitch]

But the simple fact of the matter is that the fee exists and you know it exists (or you should before attempting to import something) so its a bit rich to complain about it when you get caught. If you object to paying it, don't import stuff!

Its like getting a speeding ticket and then arguing that the fine/fee is over the odds. Don't break or attempt to break the law if you're unhappy about the consequences.

Either that or just have the good grace to man up and pay up.