"Do you pay import taxes on orders from the US to the UK? " Topic

I want to order some of the nice looking microworld 6mm fantasy line. I was just wondering if there was a limit to order Value before you pay tax on the import. Probably a silly qestion, I've never ordered from outside the UK before.

Thanks in advance

See link

Basically below £15.00 GBP value nothing.

Above that VAT at 20% plus an £8.00 GBP fee for collecting it to the postal service.

It used to be about 1 in 3 parcels that got stopped for the VAT. Now the US seems to be increasingly using barcodes on mail and the UK Customs has realised how much comes in from the US every parcel I've had over the last year or two has been done.

I now look for European alternatives unless it's something very cheap or very good.

Come on Ben

UK and EU tax us on everything else possible to spend on anything they can come up with that is wasteful what makes you think importing miniatures for war gaming from the US would escape them.

HaHa

It's a minefield. This link might be useful – link

You get caught by the Royal Mail, too, as they charge a "handling fee" on top of the customs charge.

I wouldn't say don't order from outside the EU, though, if there's something you can only get in the US – but make the order worth while, you'll be paying through the nose anyway so you might as well get as much as you can.

'You get caught by the Royal Mail, too, as they charge a "handling fee" on top of the customs charge.'

yup – any non EU place – got £25.00 GBP extra charge for customs and handling on a £40.00 GBP order. Be careful.

I often have packages sent to my workplace. That has a very obvious non-domestic address.

So far, not one has been zapped. It is a statistically significant number.

I suggest that you move to Australia, where you'll pay no import duties on goods of less than $1,000 USD value (countered to some extent by higher postage charges, though).

And that's Australian dollars, not US dollars.

A little over half of my orders come from overseas, so I imagine the customs charges hurt my business a fair bit. I always feel bad when my customers get hit with the charges, that's why I keep my international shipping pretty low.

I will say that I have a fair few customers that get their orders sent to their workplace.

I will stupidly ask how sending it to a business addy changes anything.

Hmm thanks guys, thought that was the case. Think it's worth a punt, but I'll get it dilivered to my wourk address.

microworld games, just wondering if there was a chance of you getting a UK/EU distributer in the near future?

There was a time when you could chance it and hope that postie would leave the package on the step without collecting the duty. Then they started holding the item at the sorting office and you'd have to collection (and pay the duty there). Now, it seems that there is a new process. Last week I got a letter saying that I had a parcel upon which a duty charge was required. I had to pay the duty online and this freed up the parcel to be delivered. Its more slick now… but its unlikely that you can slip through the net :-(

The cost is £8.00 GBP+ 20% > £15.00 GBP (based on declared value on the parcel)

"(based on declared value on the parcel)" plus the cost of the postage as well. :(

This makes my PaperTerrain products a good value. Since they ship flat, orders under 1 pound in weight don't need a customs form and usually escape the VAT.

What about gifts? US customs forms have room for description and stated value but also one can mark it as a gift. Is there a threshold for that?

Gifts have a slightly higher threshold.
However, if you have any indication on the box that it is sent by a company they could well suspect fraud.
"If no declaration is made, or the information is inaccurate, the package may be delayed whilst the UK Border Agency makes further enquiries, or in some cases the package and its contents may be seized and as the importer of the goods you will be liable for any charges."

When I order from the US, I either get very tiny orders under the threshold or make it larger enough that the Royal Mail charge isn't a big percentage. From some companies it has worked out no more expensive than buying something similar in the UK.

My last OG15s order – a couple of months ago – had to be collected from the sorting office due to the size of the box but didn't get hit by any VAT or other charges, so there is still some hit and miss in the system.

I don't know about having your toys sent to your work address helping very much. I ordered a few models from PT Dockyard and had them sent to my work address, and I still got hammered by the charges.

The customs charge wasn't too bad actually, but then the Royal Mail – bless them – had to get their pound of flesh, an additional £8.00 GBP as others here have pointed out.

Miniatures arrived, brilliant figures by the way, if you're looking for a 6mm fantasy range I recommend this one.

And i paid no import tax for some reason, i got the order sent to my work address, but I can't see this making much difference. I guess its just a bit random and a bit of luck if you get court out or not.

I have been lucky once or twice and unlucky on several occasions.

Things being more than just tight I confess that I simply can't afford £20.00 GBP+ surprises, so for this year I have simply not ordered anything from outside the EU.