Import /Custom Charges but Handling Fees. A nice little earner. (1 Viewer)

[Blackbob]

I am a UK resident. Earlier this month I ordered 3 castings from Valiant in the US. They were dispatched quickly and I am well satisfied with the figures, BUT- I knew there would be Value Added Tax to pay --£5.27 but what hacks me off is that the Post Office in Britain who collects this tax on behalf of the UK Border Force,(I did prefer the term H.M Customs & Excise). add on a "handling fee" of £8.00. The purchaser has got no option to pay or let the goods be returned, a monopoly and an easy earner for the P.O. One would think wit modern technology UK Border could raise an electronic notification of the impending charge.
Death, Taxes and Handling Fees.
My first grump of the day.
Blackbob

 

[Obee]

I am a UK resident. Earlier this month I ordered 3 castings from Valiant in the US. They were dispatched quickly and I am well satisfied with the figures, BUT- I knew there would be Value Added Tax to pay --£5.27 but what hacks me off is that the Post Office in Britain who collects this tax on behalf of the UK Border Force,(I did prefer the term H.M Customs & Excise). add on a "handling fee" of £8.00. The purchaser has got no option to pay or let the goods be returned, a monopoly and an easy earner for the P.O. One would think wit modern technology UK Border could raise an electronic notification of the impending charge.
Death, Taxes and Handling Fees.
My first grump of the day.
Blackbob

Just wait for Luiz (Artillery Crazy) to get on and tell you his 'tales of woe' about Brazilian Customs and now Australian Customs …… a real money earner for both countries !!!!

John

 

[rekp]

The Handling fee as you call it is also the interest etc on the money as Royal Mail have already paid the vat charges on your behalf to have the parcel released . All couriers who import will charge this though when the vat payments reac=h into 000's of pounds the surcharge does not change in my experience . Dependent upon who is handling the package there is an option to mark it to pay the hmrc charge directly on the package .

I am a UK resident. Earlier this month I ordered 3 castings from Valiant in the US. They were dispatched quickly and I am well satisfied with the figures, BUT- I knew there would be Value Added Tax to pay --£5.27 but what hacks me off is that the Post Office in Britain who collects this tax on behalf of the UK Border Force,(I did prefer the term H.M Customs & Excise). add on a "handling fee" of £8.00. The purchaser has got no option to pay or let the goods be returned, a monopoly and an easy earner for the P.O. One would think wit modern technology UK Border could raise an electronic notification of the impending charge.
Death, Taxes and Handling Fees.
My first grump of the day.
Blackbob

 

[johnnybach]

The Handling fee as you call it is also the interest etc on the money as Royal Mail have already paid the vat charges on your behalf to have the parcel released . All couriers who import will charge this though when the vat payments reac=h into 000's of pounds the surcharge does not change in my experience . Dependent upon who is handling the package there is an option to mark it to pay the hmrc charge directly on the package .

I too have been bashing on about this practice for years. The Post Office people come to your house - and post a note through the door - to come and fetch it - and pay up - or you don't get it! What's more - the last time I trotted up to the GPO Office ( watch out for opening/closing times), they wouldn't accept a cheque or Card as payment. Nope! cash only was the demand from a grumpy employee! A BIG sign also warns you NOT to be impolite to the staff (Obviously, someone has got in before me) - or you don't get your stuff - and they could call the Police if you get really stroppy. And don't forget I paid for the thing to be delivered already - up front! No wonder they have a bullet proof screen between them and you!!

It has come to the point that not wanting to get ripped off any more - I just don't buy from the USA any more.

Shame that - as some good stuff used to come up on e-bay.

Maybe after BREXIT - things might change - as we will need to trade with somebody! - but I seriously doubt it. Easy money for nothing is difficult to give up - and I guess because of serious Government underfunding of their Pension Fund, when they owned it - means that they have to build up the fund again from somewhere. Just NOT from me anymore. Thankfully - we have a lot of castings available from UK small businesses, these days.

Thanks - I feel much better now I've got that off my chest - once again. jb

 

[theBaron]

You should watch Terry Gilliam's "Brazil" for a look into your future.

Prost!
Brad

 

[DMNamiot]

Johnny hit on a point I am stuck with too. The shipping and handling from places like the UK and Australia are so high now that I really think twice and probably 90%of the time I let the item slide into someone else’s collection. Pity because most of the books or soldiers I’m after are pretty old and don’t pop up all that often.

Oh well I guess the government will always take a slice no matter how much we dislike it

Dave

 

[jazzeum]

I too have been bashing on about this practice for years. The Post Office people come to your house - and post a note through the door - to come and fetch it - and pay up - or you don't get it! What's more - the last time I trotted up to the GPO Office ( watch out for opening/closing times), they wouldn't accept a cheque or Card as payment. Nope! cash only was the demand from a grumpy employee! A BIG sign also warns you NOT to be impolite to the staff (Obviously, someone has got in before me) - or you don't get your stuff - and they could call the Police if you get really stroppy. And don't forget I paid for the thing to be delivered already - up front! No wonder they have a bullet proof screen between them and you!!

It has come to the point that not wanting to get ripped off any more - I just don't buy from the USA any more.

Shame that - as some good stuff used to come up on e-bay.

Maybe after BREXIT - things might change - as we will need to trade with somebody! - but I seriously doubt it. Easy money for nothing is difficult to give up - and I guess because of serious Government underfunding of their Pension Fund, when they owned it - means that they have to build up the fund again from somewhere. Just NOT from me anymore. Thankfully - we have a lot of castings available from UK small businesses, these days.

Thanks - I feel much better now I've got that off my chest - once again. jb

These people make the US Post Office employees sound very good. The ones I deal with couldn't be nicer.

 

[Jedburgh]

With the £ taking another hammering - buying from the US is getting out of the question. The handling fee/custom charges seem only to apply to the English speaking world - I have ordered from Russia/China and never paid a penny.

 

[johnnybach]

With the £ taking another hammering - buying from the US is getting out of the question. The handling fee/custom charges seem only to apply to the English speaking world - I have ordered from Russia/China and never paid a penny.

That's true - I ordered a new Ukulele - direct from China - and never paid anything as customs duty!

Why is that?? I've always got stung when I have previously bought from the USA? And I mean ALWAYS. jb

 

[Horus]

Also in another six months I imagine we'll be having to pay the charge when we buy from EU countries too !

Steve

 

[Charlie Brown]

I am a UK resident. Earlier this month I ordered 3 castings from Valiant in the US. They were dispatched quickly and I am well satisfied with the figures, BUT- I knew there would be Value Added Tax to pay --£5.27 but what hacks me off is that the Post Office in Britain who collects this tax on behalf of the UK Border Force,(I did prefer the term H.M Customs & Excise). add on a "handling fee" of £8.00. The purchaser has got no option to pay or let the goods be returned, a monopoly and an easy earner for the P.O. One would think wit modern technology UK Border could raise an electronic notification of the impending charge.
Death, Taxes and Handling Fees.
My first grump of the day.
Blackbob

Sounds like you've never imported before. Costs the PO money to operate the collection service. The hub in Coventry is a big operation. Governments outsource tax collection for good reason.

 

[Blackbob]

Imported great deal just never made comment about the charges levied by P.O. I accept reluctantly the VAT charge but not the fee raised by the P.O.

As is oft said in military circles -- "an assumption is the mother of a **** up."

Roll on free trade. No wait a minute that is not happening anytime soon.

Blackbob

 

[Peiper007]

Sounds like you've never imported before. Costs the PO money to operate the collection service. The hub in Coventry is a big operation. Governments outsource tax collection for good reason.

I agree with Charlie Brown, have just paid £33 for import duty etc, but someone has to control what comes in the country, they do have a big operation to run and it is the law that you pay import duty on stuff you buy, I am always happy when one gets through and there is no duty, I see it as a bonus. On a wider issue I do not see it as tax, I see as paying for the things we need people to do their jobs and for a civilised society, Doctors, nurses, teachers, sailor, soldiers, airmen [wo], police, the NHS, roads, the list goes on and on. On a more direct link that money is used to run a service that stops illegal things such as drugs and guns getting in the country then I am happy to pay.

On the fee of £8 that may seem excessive, but the box and item manifest has to be checked by an actual person and the paperwork inputted into the system and the people that do it are not volunteers, they have to be paid. Many companies will take the VAT etc when you buy and those that do not do this sometimes work it that way to make their goods seem cheaper. In future I suggest you ask them if they can take the VAT etc at source and complete the appropriate forms highlighting it has been paid [this will save you having to pay the £8] or like many of us you take the risk. this year on around 20 parcels I have paid on 4 so dividing by them all I am 'winning'.

 

[johnnybach]

Sounds like you've never imported before. Costs the PO money to operate the collection service. The hub in Coventry is a big operation. Governments outsource tax collection for good reason.

On my last "import" from the USA - the sum raised for the Government was around £6. Incidentally, the Government ADD the postage cost to the cost of the item - and THEN calculate the import taxes due. So, you're effectively paying import tax on the postage you paid too.

To add insult to injury - the items were old second-hand Britains Toy Soldiers - MADE IN BRITAIN! back pre-1950's.

The sum raised by the Post Office was £8.

Don't forget, I had already paid the postage for the item to be DELIVERED to my address.

It's a rip-off - whichever way you try and dress it up.

So...............I don't do that anymore. GPO can look to fill their pension deficit some other way. jb

 

[uksubs]

I find it better importing stuff from USA using eBay global shipping where you pay the import tax up front which means you don’t wait weeks for your parcel to clear custom

 

[thebritfarmer]

Same here in Canada ours charges about the same. Although duty/taxes is hit and miss seems to occur more around the holidays.