Annoyed at Customs and Fed Ex

Jumpstart

Jumpstart

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Can someone help me with an issue I have here with UK Customs and Fed Ex delivery service.

I bought something from America for $40, around about £26. When it came into the UK, UK customs valued the parcel at £100, meaning I had to pay a levy on that £100, plus £12 adminstration fee from Fed Ex. A total of £31.

That's £31 charges on an item worth £26. That can't be right. So far I have refused to pay. And I'm expecting another parcel next week, and I expect the same overcharging.

I have complained to Customs and Fed Ex but they say there is nothing that can be done. 'O'-red
 
Valuations are normally made using the price of the same or similar goods available in the UK. How much is it in the UK?
 
Around about £80. But surely that's not the point. Why should I pay tax on an item that only cost £26? I am happy to pay tax on the £26, no problem.

Maybe I should be lucky they didn't value it at £200. :mad:

And anyway, why the heck should Fed Ex change me £12 for telling me I owe tax? They've already been paid when I had the item shipped over. The greedy bunch! :mad:

Thanks for your reply, anyway. :)
 
That just proves the old saying that no news from Customs and Excise is good news. :(
 
Read of a very similar situation on the ex-pat forum I belong to here. Someone had ordered a transaxle from the USA and then were shocked by the amount of TVA and import duty they had to fork out (shipping costs were in excess of $300 BTW)

From the replies the concensus seemed to be that the shipment should have been marked free sample to get round the duties. Quite how you would send a free sample transaxle is another matter. Jumpstart, is it too late to ask your shipper to mark your parcel in that way?
 
I too have had similar troubles, the first time i had no choice but pay the tax on the goods-i contacted my supplier and as sonnetpete says above, my supplier told me he would mark any future goods as "Gift/Present", I ve had 3 more parcels since and none were taxed. I do believe there is a limit on goods value that can be labelled as a Gift/Present.
 
i had similare troubles I live in canada and I order from patriotic lnbs one expensive lnb for my c band system cust $280usa and fedex in canda charge $190 canadian from that time I tell my supplier to send uspost and no charges just the taxes
 
kenny1234 said:
I do believe there is a limit on goods value that can be labelled as a Gift/Present.
Click to expand...

Yes, I think in the case I quoted, labelling a car transaxle as a gift/present might be pushing things a tad!!
 
What was the value declared by the seller? You should have been charged based on the value on the declaration form not what C&E think it's worth in the UK. Did the sender declare the value wrong? eg include shipping & handling instead of just the contents value? It's even possible the value was misread, or contents mis-coded and the wrong exchange rate or duty rate applied. If that has happened you can contest it and if HMC&E agree it was a mistake get a refund on the over-charge.

It happens with items coming from Jersey (ie play, tesco) sometimes whoever is reading the paperwork in the UK thinks it should be New Jersey, not Jersey and people get charged. Inconvenient but contact HMC&E and you get the refund.

Unless the sender pre-paid import duties and charges when sending, Fed EX UK have been paid nothing with resect to import. The sender fees don't include customs charges usually. Unfortunately Fed EX act as a collection agent when it comes into the UK and store it until you pay them, at which point they pay HMC&E and that is what they're charging an admin fee for.

As for £12 charges that sounds about right. All shipping companies will charge an admin charge >£10 if you get billed for import duties.

Biggest problem marking things as gift ( < £18 I think) and sending them to the uk, is the sender needs to declare the value below the gift limit and that is then the maximum the parcel is insured for. Not a problem if it's only worth a few quid, but if a $300 item goes missing then the courier will only refund the declared value as that is all the package was insured for.

We have similar issues with my wife's family sending presents from the US and Russia. Sometimes they get checked and we have to pay duty, other times we don't. Who the end courier is in the UK makes no difference on the charges roulette, sometimes they charge us, sometimes they don't.
 
Having suffered the wrath of Customs myself, they're supposed to take the value declared on the Customs label/documentation included with the package, if they open it up and say it's another value, totally ignoring what has been declared, then you can refuse to pay it as they have ignored the declaration (assuming the seller filled in the declaration form correctly).... :mad:

As for the tax free amounts, it's £18 or less for Goods and £36 or less for Gifts...
 
Yeah, that's what the documentation is there for. Mine clearly states $40. So I should pay the levy on 26 British Pounds.

UK Customs have no right making their own figures up. Anyway, I'll tell you what the product is. It's a ladies wig bought for my mum on my credit card. Who in UK customs has the right to say that wig is worth more?

It's nothing but greed or bad judgement. Or nosiness!! Or all three. Thanks for the tips and the replies. I think I will ask them to say it's a gift in future! :)
 
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