Hi all,
Please forgive me posting this here. I have a short term memory issue and get easily confused. I'll give a little background. I like imported CD albums, I just purchased my first two from different countries to import myself not buy locally. One is coming from Japan and I paid £14 for it from eBay with free "economy international shipping" postage. The status just changed to "Departure from inward office of exchange" in the UK a few hours ago.
I think from reading the government sites that customs charges and the royal mail £8 fee occur when an item is over £15 value. Now here's the bit that confuses me about this. I read the £15 includes shipping fees, packaging etc. If I paid zero for delivery but the shipper from japan paid for the delivery to the UK as economy shipping does that count as over £15 and I have to pay a customs fee for the grand total of my item and their shipping?
Again sorry for asking. This is likely something blindingly obvious but no matter how many times I read it I'm not sure if I am going to be charged tax due to free delivery.
Thanks everyone.
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Confused over import tax (£14 item+free delivery)
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snoopyseafiant
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Snaggletooth
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Confused over import tax (£14 item+free delivery)
The tax should be on the value of the contents. The cost of the postage is not included in the calculation.
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snoopyseafiant
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Confused over import tax (£14 item+free delivery)
Thanks for replying. That's great to have the added reassurance.Snaggletooth wrote:The tax should be on the value of the contents. The cost of the postage is not included in the calculation.
My other item was just over the border of the £15 but only anywhere near it due to the postage fee. It's actually £4.51 item + paid postage this time = £17.50 total. So fingers crossed there won't be an import tax on that one too then a £4.51 item value. I haven't got a tracking number on that one from the shipper yet.
[Update] My £14 item just arrived unexpectedly a few moments ago and thankfully no fee card. I only ordered it from Japan first thing Monday morning so Monday-Saturday economy delivery is remarkable. Certainly will do so again.