buying from abroad & VAT and Duty.....

nickb23 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Apr 18, 2005 Posts: 25

Hi Guys,
I was looking through ebay for the prices of the Globalsat BT-338 on ebay, and came across this amazing deal..

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5189679077

even though it says that it is shipped from the uk, i emailed them to make sure, as I dont want to get a nice bill for VAT and duty. It turns out that it is shipping from Taiwan, and I was told it would be sent as a gift, so bypassing the tax. No mention of duty though. Anyway what have peoples past experience of importing from abroad been. If it sent as a gift, do you get charged VAT and Duty??

thanks guys

Nick B

Darren · Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2005 1:23 pm Post subject:

I've bought many items from eBay and it's very much a lottery where VAT & Customs is concerned. Some have made it through and others have been caught.

If you're lucky, it's labelled as a Gift NCV (no commercial value) and the item is small as in this case, it might slip through unnoticed. If it's interceptd though you will receive a bill for VAT and Duty plus an administration fee.

Work out what the VAT and Customs would be, add £10 for the admin charge and then see if it's still a bargain. If it is then take a chance, if not buy elsewhere and avoid the risk.
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Darren Griffin

Skippy · Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2005 1:38 pm Post subject:

Darren · Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2005 2:00 pm Post subject:

I'm no expert but any 'mis-declaration' is the senders responsibility not yours.

AFAIK they will still just charge you for the unpaid tax and duty.
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Darren Griffin

icsys · Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2005 2:17 pm Post subject:

I believe import duty is levied at 10% of the value plus VAT at 17.5% on the total amount.

So on something costing £100 the total is likely to be:

£110 +VAT = £129.25
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chrismaddock · Occasional Visitor Joined: Apr 24, 2005 Posts: 11

Import Duty is applied to just the value of the goods.
However, the VAT is applied to the total of the goods value, Import Duty AND the postage/packing. If no post/packing value is stated HMC&E will work it out from a table of rates they use - which last time I had that situation started at £18, on a lowish value item that was not a pleasant surprise :-(

KRs
Chris

nickb23 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Apr 18, 2005 Posts: 25

so it is a gamble......

i think i will stick with buying a navman bt gps from my mate at navman.....

thanks guys - again lots of help...

nickb

Darren · Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2005 6:24 pm Post subject:

A Globalat BT338 is a much much better GPS, SiRFStarIII is a revelation in terms of performance compared with the Navman.

You'd be much better waiting for stock in the UK.
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Darren Griffin

nickb23 · Occasional Visitor Joined: Apr 18, 2005 Posts: 25

Hey guys,
had an email from the seller in Taiwan regarding the duty. He has said that I should not pay duty, but if I am charged, he will refund it. So now this is what he has said:

* I wont pay VAT, as he is sending it as a gift
* I wont pay duty, because of the above
* If I am charged duty, he will refund it.

This seems like one of those "too good to be true" deals. Confused

If that is the case, the Globalsat GPS for £110. A good deal?????

should I go for it?? How much are they in the UK

nickb

Darren · Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2005 7:22 pm Post subject:

Few UK dealers have stock but EasyDevices show it listed at £160.98 inc VAT.

It's expensive because it is the best BT GPS available.
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Darren Griffin

DavidW · Posted: Thu Apr 28, 2005 4:48 pm Post subject:

The limit on gifts is very low - I forget exactly what, but it's less than US$40. You are only entitled to the 'gift' rules if no consideration has been received in any case, and by your own admission, you're paying for the GPS.

The last item I imported was a custom Vaja case. They're billed in US dollars but are sent from Argentina. The paperwork contained a commercial invoice declaring the value as around US$40 (presumably the material cost only), "for personal use only" and "not for resale". Initially I thought I'd got away with it, but eventually I got a bill from FedEx for VAT and their handling charge, which came to around £15 on top of the nearly £60 I paid for the case. I had counted on this when making the decision to buy, though, so wasn't upset. I simply phoned FedEx to pay the bill with my credit card.

It's certainly a risk - if Customs and Excise discover that the contents are worth more than the gift limit, you'll get charged VAT at minimum. My personal feeling is that the savings aren't worth the risk in this case (not least as you may have a unit with no warranty and if you get a DoA and the seller becomes uncooperative, may lose all your money).

The availability of SiRFstar III Bluetooth GPSes will improve dramatically in the forthcoming months, especially when the new TomTom 5 packages are available. If you wait a couple of months, the prices are likely to come down.

However, as always, you must make your own choice.

David

chrismaddock · Occasional Visitor Joined: Apr 24, 2005 Posts: 11

topgazza · Posted: Thu May 05, 2005 1:37 pm Post subject:

Tried this about 7 months ago on a graphics card. Similar deal, Customs intercepted it and the supplier did indeed refund the duty and VAT. A negative feedback of that type on ebay would kill their export market. True, its still a risk that they won't pay, and if in doubt buy from the UK.
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