Folks, As residents of the UK: Has anyone any experience of duties being levied on rackets mailed from abroad? Wondering how often it happens? Also how many rackets did you buy when it got through or got taxed. Any input welcome. Thanks
Never rackets, but have bought other things in what would be larger boxes than a shipper would use for a racket. All from the US and have never got stopped by customs or asked to pay any additional surcharges (tax or duty)
I think it makes a difference whether the sending country is in the EU or not. And it can depend on how the sender mails the item(s), such as when they specify the value of the goods being shipped. On TV recently I heard that items under 18 GBP are duty free. I think this is why many DVDs from www.play.com are priced at 17.99 GBP If when the item is shipped it is said to be a gift, the rues are different again, I believe. I have had to pay duty on high value goods in the past from USA and other non-EU places. My gf collects Steiff bears, and I got some from a place in the US, but they had a branch in Germany, so they did something internally so that they shipped them from US to Germany and then to me so that I didn't have to pay duty. I have had some work-related dealings with HM Customs & Excise, but I am by no means an expert.
As far as I know gifts are exempt from duty but I assume there will be a capped level otherwise you could in theory buy a car from a country and gift it to your wife and not pay duty.
I ship stuff to Canada and other areas a lot, and I usually write "gifts" on the custom forms and my shipments were never taxed. Also, you have to keep the amount on declarations as low as possible. If you mark something like $1000USD, you may be trapped by the duty fees.
Thanks for the answers so far, folks. For goods bought from EU countries no VAT or duty is payable. For goods bought from non-EU countries, I believe the following is true: a) Business goods above GBP18 will be subject to VAT and duty. b) For gifts, goods above approx GBP30 is subject to VAT and duty. Of course, most good rackets will be above those limits. And, of course, that is theory. What is of interest to me is real world experience of fellow BF members. I want to buy 3 or 4 Yonex rackets from Asia but am afraid of the tax implications. I heard friends it could be as much as 40% when all said and done!! If I ship one by one the shipping will get me. If I ship in one go I am afraid Her Majesty's finest will demand their share of my savings....
Maybe you could tell the supplier to send the rackets, and an invoice seperate. or tell them to declare the value at the minium they can. With regards to buying from overseas, I bought about three rackets and a few other items from SOTX and didnt get charged import duty (Value around 150GBP). However Now being an agent for them, I get charged VAT and duty of the value of the products + the shipping combined, which equals to about 20-21% of the total value. I believe I only get charged as they come in large boxes however. The first few things I bought were just in a small box.
