"Import duty and handling charges? How are they calculated" Topic

Hi I'm not entirely sure where to post this but was hoping that possibly some TMP members with more knowledge or experience could shed some light on the " dark art" of calculating import duty and handling charges. I'm interested in buying a largish bundle of mdf lasercut terrain from fantasy arc. Postage will be $80 USD, not too bad when this large parcel has to come to the UK, and the GPO bless em won't get out of bed for less than £3.40 GBP these days. What's going to sting is the handling bill, any ideas how they calculate. I'm guessing a percentage rate of the overall value?

Cheers as ever guys, much appreciated, just need to work out wether it's one or two kidneys on ebay to cover the cost ;-)

If £15.00 GBP or under, there's no charge. Above that, which I'm guessing you've comfortably exceeded:

20% VAT, applies to both the value of the goods, *and* any shipping charges.

If the total value now (ie. goods plus shipping plus VAT) is more than £135.00 GBP, it *may* be subject to import duty too. Duty rates are pretty variable, and depend on exactly what the contents are. I would strongly recommend you ask the seller to complete the customs sticker with the description:

"Scale Model Assembly Kits"
"Commodity Code 9503003000"

That specific description is legitimate for the goods, and the precise category is 0% duty. (Toys are generally 0% or 4.7% depending on the specific category, so making the customs form absolutely clear is handy – if it just says "models" without being sufficiently accurate, it can be pot luck what it gets classified as….)

Similarly ask them to be clear on the form what the declared value covers (ie. put "$xxx plus shipping", or "$xxx including shipping", not just "$xxx"….) Inspectors tend to assume the declared value is *just* the cost of the goods, and add the shipping on to it, so it's important to be clear, or you can end up being charged double VAT on the shipping costs.

Finally there'll be a handling charge to the shippers for the privilege of relieving you of your VAT. Royal Mail that's £8.00 GBP, Parcelforce depends what service it arrives by, but usually also £8.00 GBP, sometimes £13.50 GBP iirc.

Dom.

Many thanks Dom, precise and thorough, just the info I needed, many thanks

Ps yes it's going to hurt, the Fantasy Arc corridor terrain is superb, just wish they had a UK distributer :-)

No worries.

To be honest on big orders a European distributor makes little difference – they have to put the VAT on there too, or if they're a small operation at least pass on the import VAT. Distributors can save you a fair bit on small to middling orders, but if it's a great big pile of stuff, there's often not much difference. (What tends to hurt when buying direct is that £8.00 GBP handling charge, but it matters a lot less on a £200.00 GBP parcel than a £20.00 GBP one….)