import tax

[Daniel-K]

do you have to pay an import tax and is it a % of what you have bought? im looking at buying from OPT

thanks

Dan

[Kai]

From outside the EU you will be liable for import duty and VAT , I used to add 30% into my budget to cover it

[jeremy1]

I belive there is a certain figure that they don't bother chasing for import tax as it costs too much to process it all and collect it. The figure from the top of my head is less than £50 as I've had stuff from overseas and some gets no tax and some attract import tax.

[Photosbykev]

From outside the EU you will be liable for import duty and VAT , I used to add 30% into my budget to cover it

I've just ordered a camera from the states for £800 and I'm expecting to pay in total somewhere around £1000

[Daniel-K]

when do you have to pay it?

[Photosbykev]

when do you have to pay it?

Normally the courier will send you an invoice covering the tax and their handling fee through the post and it needs to be paid before delivery or collection

[Scosmico]

http://www.dutycalculator.com/

I use this one.

[Daniel-K]

thanks Scosmico going off that i would save £200 including the import tax

[Photosbykev]

http://www.dutycalculator.com/

I use this one.

I just checked my purchase and guessimate on total cost, I was about £50 pessimistic, close enough

[Andrew*]

Importing without paying import tax is illegal. I looked into this a couple of weeks ago, and the costs are thus:

- Import duty at 6.7% for (most?) astro items, charged on the total declared, including cost of postage and insurance. Duty is waived if it comes to under £9.

- VAT at 20% applied on top of the duty. You're taxed on your tax..... Waived if total value is under £15.

- Usually the package will be handled by Parcelforce, who charge a handling fee of £8, or £13.50 if sent by an express service. Additionally, if you do not pay and collect your parcel within 10 days, they will charge an extra £5.50, and after 20 days, £1.35/day.

Basically, if the total you pay before customs is under £135, add 20% plus the handling fee.

If the total is over £135, add 28.04%, plus the handling fee.

Andrew

[Psychobilly]

Some couriers like UPS will do a COD and will take payment by Cash, Cheque or Card... at least they do it with deliveries to buisness addresses...

Peter...

[DaveS]

When I ordered a laser pointer from the states I had to pay VAT but no import duty.

The postman wanted the money, in cash, there and then before he would release it. fortunately I'd just been to the hole in the wall.

[Daniel-K]

thanks for that Andrew its still a good saving on what some of the retailers are charging here,

[endure]

It depends to some extent how it's shipped. If it comes through the international postal system it arrives in the UK untracked and it's possible it will just arrive at your door without being noticed. If it's sent by courier or a tracked service it's much more likely to have duty and VAT on it.

[swag72]

Things can look attractive from the US, even when you factor in import duties. But, for me, the clincher was the price I'd have to pay if there was a fault / problem and things needed to be sent back to the US. For me, the ease of being able to post within the UK, often courier arranged by the retailer, makes buying in the UK a no brainer.

[GlassWalker]

I used to import a lot but much less recently. Stuff delivered by Royal Mail and Parcel Force are kinda pot luck if they tax you or not. I've had items barely over the limit taxed, which combined with air mail postage, was less than their mis-handling fee! Other times I've bought large orders for hundreds that went through uncharged. Generally they wont attempt delivery until you've paid up. In the old days they tried to collect payment on delivery but I haven't seen any sign of that for many years.

[Codmate]

I got my 41mm Pano on the bay and had to pay import duty from the states.

Still saved £100 on it though

[JB80]

I would be happy to import and pay the taxes if the Belgian customs could be trusted use the actual invoice as opposed to just making their own value up. But it's also totally random, you could send two exactly the same 20Euro packages and one will arrive untouched and without paying anything and the other will arrive torn to shreds with a 50Euro invoice.

The solution to that is to not import anything and therefor not be able to afford anything on the continent. It's a great system.

[Oily]

There's a thread on here that tells you how not to pay ParcelFarce 'handling' charges,I'll see if I can find it

Edit,found it

http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/181183-importing-the-parcelfarce-handling-charge-and-how-to-avoid/

[JB80]

True, but I'm talking of things sent from outside of the EU.

I just put a euro value on it as an example.

[Bukko]

Hi, just picked up on this thread, I have been involved with importers recetly as part of my work and have the link to the UK government trade tariff site.

https://www.gov.uk/trade-tariff

I have looked for scopes and the like, Section 18 or Section XV111 as they name it, then Section 90 for optical.

Then sub-section 5 for scopes and accessories

Then either 80 or 90 depending on what you are looking for...

Section 80 gives the commodity code for importing is 9005800000.

Section 90 for mounts and other accessories gives the commodity code for importing is 9005900000.

Both of these sections carries an import duty of only 4.2%

I think all we need is ask the seller to quote one of these numbers on the customs declaration and that is all we should pay (Plus VAT and plus courier charges for acting as the importer)

I noticed a link to a third party website that charges for this info, we should not have to pay to find out tax rates.

HTH.

Gordon.

[Andrew*]

Both of these sections carries an import duty of only 4.2%

Hi Gordon,

Thanks for contributing this information. It's strange, because I looked up the commodity codes for astro-items just a few weeks ago and I'm sure it was 6.7%. Do you think it's gone down in the new financial year?

Cheers

Andrew

[James]

It's been 4.2% for us as long as I remember

James

[Bukko]

Andrew,

I was not aware of any recent rate changes and as James from FLO says, we have been at this rate for a long time. I do wonder if others contributing here have been stuck with an incorrect rate, possibly because the importer makes a guess at the commodity codes, or something?

I did spend a little time going through the sections, just to make sure our stuff is not listed somewhere else, but there are catch-all duties for items not properly identified. Maybe this is where things have been allocated.

And to other SGL members from other countries, this is only the UK rate.. and I would not take any bets it is Europe-wide...

Gordon.