What a fabulous organisation these people are.  Order anything from the United States, and they are right there with their hands out.  Today I've been charged more than ever before.

I purchased a Kato loco from a guy in Chicago.  The robbing gits charged me £20.50 in VAT and then of course there is the extortionate standard £8 Royal Mail charge on top.

For a loco which cost me £85.00, I have had to pay a third extra on top to the Customs and Excise and Royal Mail.

Has anyone else fallen foul of this "professional" organisation, as I feel they make the charges up as they go along.  Only three months ago, I bought a completely identical Kato loco but wearing a different colour scheme, and was "only" charged £10.25 plus the Royal Mail £8 charge.  Shipping was exactly the same in both cases.

Very disgruntled.

Andy
UK

Hi Andy
With VAT at 20% did they explain how they arrived at £20.50 on an item worth £85.00 ?

It is standard import VAT of 20% each time - that is why on the face of it many UK stockists of non-EU items are more expensive.

Sounds like the seller either used a different USD value or the exchange rate used was different.

If HMRC have charged you different amounts for the same value item then I would ask them why...

Cheers, Mike

er, HMRC not HMCE

Sounds like you did not contact the retailer in advance, to request Duty Import exemption

Strange the Import Duty has changed from £10.25 to £20.50
You can of course appeal their charge or request a refund with a valid reason
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/vat-customs-dutyimport-vat-relating-to-imports-by-post-bor286

Does that £85.00 include the postage?  I have been stung for UK VAT on items from Japan inclusive of the postage...even though the majority has been 'spent' outside of the UK. I wouldn't be surprised if the same happened on items from the US also.

Quote from: ngaugepaul on October 18, 2017, 06:53:52 PM
Hi Andy
With VAT at 20% did they explain how they arrived at £20.50 on an item worth £85.00 ?

Calculation :
Cost in USD converted to GBP (as shown on label)
Import Duty 2.5%
VAT 20%
Royal Mail Handling fee £8.00

There should be no import duty on model trains: https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/trade-tariff/commodities/9503003000 or rather the rate should be 0%.

So should only be VAT plus handling charge, but the VAT will include the shipping cost IIRC.

Cheers, Mike

Quote from: red_death on October 18, 2017, 07:12:51 PM
There should be no import duty on model trains: https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/trade-tariff/commodities/9503003000 or rather the rate should be 0%.

So should only be VAT plus handling charge, but the VAT will include the shipping cost IIRC.

Cheers, Mike

The commodity code for importing is 9503003000.

Goods are subject to VAT standard rate.

Importing from outside the EU is subject to a third country duty of 0.00 % unless subject to other measures.

Import measures and restrictions for specific countries can be found under the import tab.

I have a package on the way from the USA which has a shipped value of USD213. I know that I will face a bill of over £40 when it gets to Heathrow for its break of journey - usually about 5 days. The sender has declared the shipped value as they should.

There are some roundabouts though if the sender under declares the value. I once had a package from Australia where the declared value was only 10% of what I paid, and the contents were conveniently mis-described as well. It arrived unscathed and in very quick time.

To me, this cartoon is precisely how democracies have found themselves in pickles all around the world. Comparing the levying of a tax on imports with an extortion racket carried out by armed thugs is missing the whole point -- import taxes are there to generate revenue for the government, which is spent on things that clearly matter such as the NHS, schools and Social Security.

Sure, it's a funny gag, and sure, we'd all like to avoid spending more on buying our toy trains. But at the end of the day the 'government's cut' is there to do good. If you think it too high, then find out what each party proposes to do with it at the next general election, and choose your MP accordingly. But if we all pay less in tax, the government will have less to spend on all those things it has to pay for.

Cheers, NeMo

Quote from: Snowwolflair on October 18, 2017, 08:43:25 PM

Importing N gauge is laughably cheap even with the VAT and VAT collection fee. I have bought G scale locos from the USA and the postage plus 20% VAT on the price including postage would make everyone here wince. Many of the items bought just cannot be obtained in the UK.

I have to agree with the 'pay up and look big' opinion regarding taxes but truly resent the £8 fee charged by the PO who do pretty close to nothing for the money.

A not too recent incident with said organisation went sour when having got a card to say duty was payable I went on line, paid the tax and with some resentment the extra fee and requested a redelivery.

The parcel wasn't delivered so best part of a week later, armed with my receipt, I drove 16 miles(there and back) to collect it. The uninterested chap at the counter said my payment wasn't listed; 'It happens sometimes.'

Dave G

Agreed that the VAT collection fee does wrankle a lot - especially when its Parcelforce at £14.00.

Quote from: daveg on October 19, 2017, 07:50:07 AM
I have to agree with the 'pay up and look big' opinion regarding taxes but truly resent the £8 fee charged by the PO who do pretty close to nothing for the money.


Dave G

The Royal Mail fee is at the lower end of the scale when it comes to service charges. I would not do it for less either. I have a neighbour who constantly complains about the cost of sending a letter, and gets incensed because he converts every amount to pre-decimalisation £sd, which is a reminder of 46 years of price inflation. I couldn't find a willing child to take a letter to the posting box for what RM charge to deliver it to the ends of our country.