New Import Duty/VAT Thread. Read Post #1 for Rules

RUDOLF289

offalygirl08 wrote: »

Hi,

I bought items from an American website which were delivered to me without any issue. 2/3 weeks later I received an invoice from FedEx with no cover letter, a Bank Giro at the bottom and another sheet badly printed with some calculations on it and a flyer relating to UK Customs / Duty. I called the number which diverted me to FedEx IN UK. Woman explained that I needed to pay the duty on the goods. I explained that I was living in Ireland and when I receive information relating to Ireland not the UK and an explanation as to what I am paying I will pay then.

I have received another short letter again no explanation, just pay up or it will be taken further.

My question is
1. Why should I pay FedEx surely I should pay the Irish Government not a company in the UK

2. Should I just pay without a full explanation?

3. They appear to have done their calculations based n shipping charge also, from what I work out - as there was no cover letter or explanation. Surely, if I was to pay anything it would be on the cost of the goods!

4. Should I just hold out and see what happens? The amount is around €20

Offallygirl08,

please note ;


1) FEDEX has cleared the shipment (as they are obliged to do - see the the start of this thread) and paid the Irish Government Duty (possibly) and VAT. Therefore, you owe FEDEX this money
2) If you're not happy then yes you can query it.
3) Duty is charged over the cost of the goods plus the freight and insurance cost. VAT is charged over the foregoing plus the duty
4) Yeah, you can take a chance. However, if you ever get a shipment in through FEDEX again, you probably wont get the shipment delivered untill all charges are paid.

Without knowing the full facts it is difficult to give you any further advice.

Cheers,
Rudolf289

freeze4real

I recently purchased something for 315e and it seems it was sent to customs.

The possibility of getting tax on it is high in fact 100 - 0

what happens if i dont pay ?

jor el

It gets sent back.

freeze4real

jor el wrote: »

It gets sent back.

how many months will it take before it get sents back.

BArra

it wont take months to go back, it will be sent back sharpish if the duty is refused to be paid

was it through a courier or an post?

jor el

That's anyone's guess.

freeze4real

its was sent by usps.

I checked the tracking and it says sent to customs through anpost.

allthedoyles

Its a regular occurence for items to be sent to Customs .

First of all it will be examined and Customs need to form an opinion as to whether the contents are genuine or replica of a genuine brand .

It will be then decided whether duty can be paid or whether item should be destroyed .

If the item is genuine and you are not willing to pay it will of course be sent back .

freeze4real

allthedoyles wrote: »

Its a regular occurence for items to be sent to Customs .

First of all it will be examined and Customs need to form an opinion as to whether the contents are genuine or replica of a genuine brand .

It will be then decided whether duty can be paid or whether item should be destroyed .

If the item is genuine and you are not willing to pay it will of course be sent back .

ITS GENUINE.

fingers crossed that they dont add tax but its of no use.

First time this has happened me.

If the item is genuine the only reason to have is is TAX.

jor el

freeze4real wrote: »

fingers crossed that they dont add tax but its of no use.

At €315 you can guarantee that VAT and duty will be charged. The only time it won't is if it's value is below €22. Once it's with customs, there's no way it'll come out without that.

Drumpot

Ordered DVD from play.com and for first time ever I got charged some customs fee. Wtf?! I received a DVD from them last week with no prob! What's going on? Does cost of goods matter?

Is it same for amazon.co.uk? Is it based on companies registered address?

BUSHtheBOLLOX

guys i have a question hope someone can answer.

i bought a laptop from an American seller on ebay it cost me 860euro including shipping,the duty calculator linked on the first page says my customs charge will be 1'000+ handling fee.

my question is do i have to pay the full amount on the spot or can i pay half when it arrives and the rest when i have it?

i was shocked that the charge is more than i payed i was expecting 20%-50% at most

Gamesnash.ie: Pat

BUSHtheBOLLOX wrote: »

guys i have a question hope someone can answer.

i bought a laptop from an American seller on ebay it cost me 860euro including shipping,the duty calculator linked on the first page says my customs charge will be 1'000+ handling fee.

my question is do i have to pay the full amount on the spot or can i pay half when it arrives and the rest when i have it?

i was shocked that the charge is more than i payed i was expecting 20%-50% at most

Are you sure you have not confused the toal amount paid with the duty due. The last figure will be a total of what you paid the seller plus the duty etc.

jor el

Drumpot wrote: »

Ordered DVD from play.com and for first time ever I got charged some customs fee. Wtf?! I received a DVD from them last week with no prob! What's going on? Does cost of goods matter?

Is it same for amazon.co.uk? Is it based on companies registered address?

Read the 1st post, all your questions are answered there.

BUSHtheBOLLOX

Gamesnash.ie: Pat wrote: »

Are you sure you have not confused the toal amount paid with the duty due. The last figure will be a total of what you paid the seller plus the duty etc.

oh so i got it wrong the total of everything will be 1,000 plus the handling.
cheers man thats just what i wanted to hear

settings

rubadub wrote: »

You should ring them and tell them this, you should not have to pay. The sender should have market them properly

http://www.revenue.ie/en/customs/leaflets/pn1438.html

Thanks, I spent hours that day on the phone getting transferred to another department each time and eventually told that I should of notified the courier before I applied for a replacement (even under guarantee) and inform them it was outward duty/payment (or something) I resigned to having to pay it and then try to get a refund using the receipt.
When it was delivered I asked how much, "theres no charge on this" :eek: after all that ha.

nlgbbbblth

Have a package from US being delivered by DHL over next few days.

Import duty very likely.

Will they accept cheques or does it have to be cash?

freeze4real

guys i just checked the tracking info and it says released from customs what does this mean ?

jor el

It'll be delivered to you soon, possibly tomorrow. The charges will be payable on receipt. If you refuse, then it'll be returned to sender.

@nlgbbbblth, not sure if they'll accept a cheque. It's possible they'll not collect on delivery but bill you later. Many couriers operate this way.

freeze4real

I definitely will refuse, I thought they will ask me to send my paypal receipt to verify how much its really worth.

How can they expect one to have money for them immediately.

If they send it back will they stick some form of tracking ID and will they give me a form to proof that they sent it back.

Will refusing to pay mean that most of packages sent in my name will be under the spotlight ?

thanks

DYLF

nlgbbbblth wrote: »

Have a package from US being delivered by DHL over next few days.

Import duty very likely.

Will they accept cheques or does it have to be cash?

it can be paid cash (if under €200) cheque or credid card

5500

freeze4real wrote: »

I definitely will refuse, I thought they will ask me to send my paypal receipt to verify how much its really worth.

How can they expect one to have money for them immediately.

If they send it back will they stick some form of tracking ID and will they give me a form to proof that they sent it back.

Will refusing to pay mean that most of packages sent in my name will be under the spotlight ?

thanks

It wont be immediatly sent back, its sent to your local depot and held for a few days there first. Theres a chance you've gotten lucky and wont incur charges. Its happened me a couple of times before where high value items have been sent to customs but then been released, I have no idea why but I sure as hell didnt question it either!

freeze4real

5500 wrote: »

It wont be immediatly sent back, its sent to your local depot and held for a few days there first. Theres a chance you've gotten lucky and wont incur charges. Its happened me a couple of times before where high value items have been sent to customs but then been released, I have no idea why but I sure as hell didnt question it either!

i got charged 66.70. so pissed off

TomCo

Hey, I want to order a box of 25 cigars online.
Package is shipped from Switzerland and total value is €51.

I've taken a look at revenue's site and found the following:

Goods Rate of Duty €
Cigars 261.066 per kilogram

Each cigar is approx 7.5g so that works out as €48.94 (which seems a bit high!).

Am I forgetting any other charges?
Is vat liable on packages from Switzerland?

jor el

Duty on tobacco is high, and yes VAT will be applied on top.

jor el

This thread has become a precession of "how much is this going to cost me" posts, which is not what it's for. The thread title says Read Post #1 for the rules. So, the next person that ignores this and asks how much Duty/VAT is to be applied on their purchase will be banned. The two most recent posts have been removed.

Questions not answered in post #1 only to be placed on this thread from now on.

phant0m

Hey guys - I'm looking to order a pair of trainers from Foot Locker in the US that currently has 20% off them. When calculating the import duty & VAT should I be using the original product value ($99.99) or the sale value ($79.99)?

jor el

The price you pay, or what will be on the invoice, is what you use.

cormie

Hi,
quick question and one I believe I've heard the answer to before, but just need to clarify again for my own head

I'm looking to buy 2 tool sets from Germany. I'm VAT registered here and believe that if I give my VAT number, they can sell to me EX VAT (otherwise I'd have to claim it back via Germany which is a lot more complicated and probably not worth the time unless I bought loads of items from Germany for example).

However, if I do this, get the item shipped to me not having paid VAT of Germany's 17.5% rate, will I then be liable to pay 21% VAT on importing to Ireland if stopped by customs, or will it go through ok as it's an EU purchase?

It would be cheaper to pay 17.5% rate rather than 21%, but I believe I could claim the 21% back if charged, whereas I'd most likely never claim the 17.5% back?

If somebody could please clarify that would be great as I'm not sure to buy EX VAT or just with the lower VAT price.

jor el

Once shipped from within the EU, nothing is assessed for VAT, as it will either already be applied, or be exempt if it's a valid business transaction.