Border Force

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novioman

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BF seem to be taking ages to clear even small parcels, at one time small packages would clear customs in a few minutes. Don’t know if they are short staffed or have changed the way they work.
 
In the latest Labour budget, they announced they were removing the tax free threshold for individuals. Which means in the near future, border force and customs will be inspecting every parcel.

I imagine they’ve already started the process of ramping up the inspections to get them up to speed before day 1.

I order 1-2 parcels a month from HK and since February, every parcel, no matter how small, or how it’s been declared, has been inspected. So I suspect they have quite a backlog.
 
Cannonfodder said:
Brexit probably has had an effect too as parcels from the EU would've sailed through but have to be inspected now
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I’ve been seriously considering buying parts and accessories from HK but have always been concerned about the customs process and have yet to do so but hearing this doesn’t help is it just time that’s now started to increase or do we have to now be aware of custom charging VAT upon receipt ?
 
As I understand it anything sent to the UK over £135 (or £39 if it's a gift) is subject to VAT. This is why some shops have a minimum spend of £135 if it's sent to the UK
www.gov.uk

Tax and customs for goods sent from abroad

VAT, duty and customs declarations for goods received by post or courier - paying, collecting your goods, getting a refund and documents.
www.gov.uk www.gov.uk
 
Cannonfodder is correct, if the package is valued over £135 (Including shipping) you will be subject to an import fee that is, at minimum, 20% of the total cost. ParcelForce/Royal Mail also occasionally slap on a £12 or £18 fee for them doing their job. People have been charged import fees for packages under the £135 threshold but it seems somewhat rare.

Also, if you're buying overseas don't use UPS or their branches - They're a right pain in the arse for paper work and WILL charge you out of the arse for their service too. EMS is, from my experience, the best option.
 
Cannonfodder said:
As I understand it anything sent to the UK over £135 (or £39 if it's a gift) is subject to VAT. This is why some shops have a minimum spend of £135 if it's sent to the UK
www.gov.uk

Tax and customs for goods sent from abroad

VAT, duty and customs declarations for goods received by post or courier - paying, collecting your goods, getting a refund and documents.
www.gov.uk www.gov.uk
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You’re slightly incorrect on this.
at present: <£39 = no VAT or duty
£39 to £135 = VAT
£135+ = VAT + the appropriate duty rate (typically 2-3%).
Labour are removing that lower tax fee threshold, so at some point soon, everything will be subject to VAT, no matter how it’s declared. It means customs will have to inspect and tax every single item that enters the country.

As we’re private individuals doing this, we get a “tax free” threshold of £39. If the seller is a registered business, then they can push this up to £135 by properly declaring the goods. However very few of the HK retailers are registered businesses or recognised by U.K. govt.

I think you’re getting confused with this pararaph:

IMG_5869.webp
The paragraph above only applies if the importing business has pre paid the VAT (which would require them to be VAT registered). The HK companies don’t charge you U.K. VAT, so this paragraph doesn’t apply and we have to pay the VAT ourselves.

If it’s not declared as a gift, it counts as excise and potentially you’ll get taxed on everything. The government sees it as a business transaction so you may not get the tax free threshold.

Between two individuals (a gift), Between £39 and £135, we have to pay VAT at a rate of 20%. Unless the seller is a registered business. Over £135, everyone has to pay VAT and duty, it comes to about 23% for Airsoft stuff from HK. It will differ by country and product type.

The reason they’re changing it is because big companies are complaining they’re losing business to individuals who don’t have to pay VAT or duty on small value orders. So the governments solution is to make it expensive for everyone.
 
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Shep120181 said:
I’ve been seriously considering buying parts and accessories from HK but have always been concerned about the customs process and have yet to do so but hearing this doesn’t help is it just time that’s now started to increase or do we have to now be aware of custom charging VAT upon receipt ?
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You’ll have to pay your VAT and duty before receiving your item.
 
Austeyr said:
Cannonfodder is correct, if the package is valued over £135 (Including shipping) you will be subject to an import fee that is, at minimum, 20% of the total cost. ParcelForce/Royal Mail also occasionally slap on a £12 or £18 fee for them doing their job. People have been charged import fees for packages under the £135 threshold but it seems somewhat rare.

Also, if you're buying overseas don't use UPS or their branches - They're a right pain in the arse for paper work and WILL charge you out of the arse for their service too. EMS is, from my experience, the best option.
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This isn’t really correct either.

There’s 3 different fees/taxes you can pay.

VAT - which isn’t an import fee. That’s a tax we’re supposed to pay on every item we buy.

Duty - that’s a tax paid at specific rates, based on country of origin and product type.

Handling fees - what the courier charge you for the pleasure.

VAT isn’t an import fee.

Duty and handling fees are specifically associated to importing goods into this country. You don’t pay duty or import fees if the product is domestically produced… but you’d still pay VAT.

Also, lots of the big couriers such as DHL, UPS ect use “pre clearing”, so they declare the goods via paperwork to customs in advanced and it generally means less time in customs because they’re doing part of border force’s job. But as a result, you’ll almost always pay tax on it… that way they can justify their cut.

EMS doesn’t pre clear, they just use national carriers. Higher volume means more chance it will slip through inspections.
 
Austeyr said:
Cannonfodder is correct, if the package is valued over £135 (Including shipping) you will be subject to an import fee that is, at minimum, 20% of the total cost. ParcelForce/Royal Mail also occasionally slap on a £12 or £18 fee for them doing their job. People have been charged import fees for packages under the £135 threshold but it seems somewhat rare.

Also, if you're buying overseas don't use UPS or their branches - They're a right pain in the arse for paper work and WILL charge you out of the arse for their service too. EMS is, from my experience, the best option.
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Same bad experience with UPS. I ordered my NE Famas from an HK shop I ordinarily order and had no idea they were switching fully to UPS. I was expecting somewhere around £110 as import fee if it was PF, but turned out it was over £150. Turned out they were adding in the postage fee as taxable and they were also playing around with the "real time exchange rate", shady and nasty
 
Shep120181 said:
I’ve been seriously considering buying parts and accessories from HK but have always been concerned about the customs process and have yet to do so but hearing this doesn’t help is it just time that’s now started to increase or do we have to now be aware of custom charging VAT upon receipt ?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Never had an issue as long as you keep the value relatively low - none of my orders have exceeded £100 (inc postage) and i've never been hit by any tax/import etc. My latest parcel has taken 4/5 days to clear customs so only time will tell if I get dinged on this one.
 
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