Vat / import on goods ?

[Bodyboarder]

Hi all …. Wondering if anyone can shed some light on this situation?….

Bought water pump / thermostat from eBay .. came from Europe.

About 3 weeks later get an invoice from FedEx for £69.40 …along with some paperwork from the company I bought the goods from . Was very hard to understand to be honest . One bit of paper work said .. ‘ do not pay , already paid ‘ on it . Thought ok I’ll won’t pay FedEx until I get another letter .

Never got another from fedex … but now 4 weeks later get a Control account debt recovery letter say I owe the £69.40 plus a £3.75 late payment fee .

Then my wife gets a call from the above company ( used my wife’s eBay account) saying if the debt is paid today they can reduce the amount to £36.36 in total ??

This some sort of scam ? Or legit way of them handling this ? Seems very odd to be able to settle at half the amount !!

 

[coldel]

Maybe ring FedEx up directly so at least you know you are speaking to a legitimate company, and talk through whats happening?

 

[B21]

Normally if you buy from EU then no vat is charged by the seller but then on arrival in UK VAT, duty and the courier processing fee is added..

The courier normally gives a detailed breakdown as it’s required by HMRC

Exceptions are European companies that have a UK point of presence eg Autodoc..

Debt recovery companies are often happy to get 50% of the debt ..they are pragmatists..

 

[Mike6]

Think it will be a scam particularly if they are reducing amount asked. I would just ignore

 

[Ole gits rule]

Every time I have had this, I normally have to pay before they deliver not after.

 

[enuff_zed]

This is genuine. I bought exactly the same pump and thermostat and recdeived an invoice from Fedex.
It was a tad confusing and I ended up emailing them to ask for clarification on how to pay it.

 

[pvr]

Yep, getting a lot of items from Europe and get the invoices later. But I have a FedEx account so I just see them appear in there.

Haven’t quite got the bootlegging sorted yet :lol:

 

[Bodyboarder]

Ok so looks genuine …. So I’ll pay the reduced amount and be happy to have got it half price :lol:

 

[Unitedleeds1919]

Is it also something to do with where the items were manufactured? I recently spoke to my freight agent about an electric motorcycle a customer asked me to quote on for collection in Germany and bringing back to the UK, on discovery the bike was manufactured in Italy my agent stated no import vat or duty ( I forget which) as it was manufactured in Europe but if manufactured outside the EU 6% import duty or vat

 

[markmorales]

Yeah., my suggestion is that seems a little strange... But if you do not pay the customs duty, FedEx can send it to a debt collection business. The lesser offer is probably just their way of getting something instead of nothing. It is best to call FedEx and make sure it is real before you pay.......

 

[deltasierra]

It’s the same from the US if you need to order parts, although I’m pretty sure the last time US Mail added the tax and customs duty to the invoice before shipping which made a $80 part cost $200.

 

[RMB]

Is this the same for used parts? I was looking to buy some used but very clean suspension components on eBay from Germany.
I tried to research the vat and import duty rates, but I found it impossible to find the rate for the import duty. I went round and round in circles on the gov website. Decided not to bother.

 

[True-Blue]

Is this the same for used parts? I was looking to buy some used but very clean suspension components on eBay from Germany.
I tried to research the vat and import duty rates, but I found it impossible to find the rate for the import duty. I went round and round in circles on the gov website. Decided not to bother.

I think it can apply to used parts. I sold a steering wheel to a chap on the continent and he ended up paying import taxes and got a bit funny about it. I had made it very clear that it was his risk and I had no idea either way before he chose to go ahead, but he still got arsey.

 

[RMB]

That is my concern, getting an unknown big bill for my not cheap suspension parts. I wish it was more transparent.