Brexit and Customs Duty

[Anonymous]

Im not wishing to start a Brexit debate as that has been done to death and then some but,

I recently bought a load of bits off Autodoc as i often have in the past but it wasnt until after i paid (2nd Jan) that the penny dropped and i thought 'SH1T!! will i have to cough up customs duty for importing?' (value £370) Luckily the parcel arrived in due course without one of those ominous notes from Parcel Force to make an additional payment. I do however, need to make another order and i have trawled the internet looking for info on value limits for buying and importing from the EU. Unfortunately i just cant find anything relevant and even the .gov webpage has the headline 'this page is out of date..' (way to go westminster, telling everyone else to be ready but you still havent even updated your website... :x )

So can anyone shed some light on this? How much can i order before attracting any attention?

 

[Crazy Harry]

Was this not part of the trade agreement - extra customs checks but duty remains the same for most (all?) goods as long as its under £390 - no idea if you take your chance with exchange rates of if its so many Euro.

PS - happy to be wrong on this one!

 

[Ed.Straker]

No import taxes aka duty prior to Brexit..no customs handling hence no fees prior to Brexit...UK now a ‘third world country’ so same import regulations as USA to UK..duties vary by class of product, VAT charged on product plus duty plus handling at 20%

 

[Anonymous]

No import taxes aka duty prior to Brexit..no customs handling hence no fees prior to Brexit...UK now a ‘third world country’ so same import regulations as USA to UK..duties vary by class of product, VAT charged on product plus duty plus handling at 20%

I'll play devils advocate here....surely what youre stating would have been the result of a no-deal scenario? As we left the EU with some semblance of a trade agreement, there must be some leeway for importing goods?

 

[sars]

No import taxes aka duty prior to Brexit..no customs handling hence no fees prior to Brexit...UK now a ‘third world country’ so same import regulations as USA to UK..duties vary by class of product, VAT charged on product plus duty plus handling at 20%

I'll play devils advocate here....surely what youre stating would have been the result of a no-deal scenario? As we left the EU with some semblance of a trade agreement, there must be some leeway for importing goods?

Tariffs are not the same as duty and it’s the hidden costs that add up. It means that individual items ordered will get penalised, where as quantity shipments are really not that affected, as in business trade.

 

[Ed.Straker]

It’s the UK that chooses to levy duties not the EU..what they choose to levy duty on is their call, under EU agreements there was no possibility of inter country duties...

Separately there is paperwork that now has to be processed by both sides irrespective of whether duties are levied..

So whereas inter country within the EU there is frictionless trade now between UK and Europe everything has to be recorded, decide if duty is to be levied, then on the cost of transportation plus any duties and the paperwork costs VAT needs to be added..

So now it’s the same logical effort buying something from the USA as the EU countries..

 

[Anonymous]

Ok, so does that mean i was lucky with the last order and in future when the systems are finally in place, im likely to incur duties on any other orders?

 

[Crazy Harry]

Ok, so does that mean i was lucky with the last order and in future when the systems are finally in place, im likely to incur duties on any other orders?

That,s not the way I read it with items from the EU (unless its cigs; booze or a few other things that attract duty) as long as you're below £390 the new trade agreement does not impose any duty. Order from the US and nothing changes you pay +20% (happens to be the same as VAT) on anything over £18

You were only lucky that the total value of your order (includes P+P as well as goods I think) was below the £390

 

[Chippie]

I’ve just had a response from HMRC regarding a parcel that had import tax applied (value of items £92)
Here’s an extract from the guidance

2.3 Limits for Customs Duty and Import VAT
The limits for Customs Duty and Import VAT are:

commercial consignments (goods you’ve purchased) of £135 or less are free from Customs Duty and not subject to Import VAT - this does not include alcohol, tobacco products, perfume or toilet waters as these items are excluded from the relief of Customs Duty and VAT at import is payable
commercial consignments sent to the UK from the Channel Islands do not benefit from any relief of Import VAT
if you’re sent a gift with a value of £39 or less, which complies with the rules shown in section 2.4, it will be free from Customs Duty and Import VAT (gifts of alcohol and tobacco are subject to the limits shown in section 2.5 and gifts of perfumes and toilet waters are subject to the limits in section 2.6)
Customs Duty becomes payable if the value of the goods is over £135
In summary:

Goods value Customs charges applicable
£0.01 to £135 No Customs Duty
No Import VAT
£135.01 and greater Customs Duty due,
Import VAT due


The full guidance can be found here

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/notice-143-a-guide-for-international-post-users/notice-143-a-guide-for-international-post-users

 

[Anonymous]

I’ve just had a response from HMRC regarding a parcel that had import tax applied (value of items £92)

Cheers, ill look at the link but why were you charged import tax on something less than £135?

 

[Chippie]

I’ve just had a response from HMRC regarding a parcel that had import tax applied (value of items £92)

Cheers, ill look at the link but why were you charged import tax on something less than £135?

Exactly
This was December 30th when I got the card through the letter box from Royal Mail, I presume with it getting close to a no deal scenario they just slapped an import tax on in, I was more annoyed with the £8 handling fee Royal Mail charged.
I spent about an hour on the phone with HMRC and Royal Mail getting no where, emailed HMRC and finally got a reply basically saying it’s nothing to do with them and to appeal if I thought it was unfair.
Royal Mail said they would hold onto the parcel for 21 days, a week later I got an email from AUTODOC saying they had received the returned parcel and would give me a refund.
Luckily I wasn’t in need of the parts, but it really made my pi$$ boil at the time

 

[M340]

So according to the BBC, from now on.....

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55734277

Anything over £39 from EU likely to be charged 20% import VAT
Anything over £135 likely to be charged customs duty

I have been waiting a month for brake discs from Autodoc and no idea where they are. Expecting a bill when they do.

 

[pvr]

What about cars?

 

[Ed.Straker]

So according to the BBC, from now on.....

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55734277

Anything over £39 from EU likely to be charged 20% import VAT
Anything over £135 likely to be charged customs duty

I have been waiting a month for brake discs from Autodoc and no idea where they are. Expecting a bill when they do.

The pictorial depiction of the various structural entities is a useful way to comprehend matters..very sad the little UK blob sat on its own...reminds me of that saying "Europe cut of from England by fog"

 

[Anonymous]

This is getting confusing!

I have another B4 shock on its way (£97) as a replacement for a wrong item. Ive just sent the wrong one back and the customs form wasnt the easiest to fill in and im pretty sure ive not got it absolutely right.

Tbh, i dont know whether to cancel the replacement and ask for credit instead but considering the above, i suspect its anybody's guess as to what will happen.

 

[Anonymous]

...very sad the little UK blob sat on its own..

I wonder if that was deliberate. The depiction would be more comfortable if the uk blob was bigger than the others!
And yes, i know im opening myself for attack.

 

[M340]

What about cars?

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/industry/confirmed-10-import-tax-new-cars-european-union

"Cars imported into the UK from European Union (EU) countries will be subject to a 10% import tariff from the start of next year, the UK government has confirmed. "

Hope all those that voted for it are happy with themselves.

OOPS: That was May 2020 so assumes WTO. Might be better than this but cannot find an answer.

 

[pvr]

We just received a returned item from Europe and the courier wanted to charge import duty on our own product. Paper nightmare ...

 

[Anonymous]

And as if by magic..

Front page of The Times today.