Be warned UK import duty/vat.. TNT

[trog100]

e pipes from china..

value of order including shipping.. $381 US dollars or roughly £195 UK pounds..

out of the blue demand from TNT for duty already paid by them for £96.87 UK pounds..

excuse my language but f-cking rip off b-st-rds.. jeesh..

trog

 

[Mr.Darcy]

oh man,what a kick in the nuts

 

[trog100]

one hell of kick in the nuts.. 50% tax even for the UK is pushing it.. i have yet to find out why its so high.. the letter isnt overly explanatory..

trog

 

[iSTRONG]

hmmm.... maybe i should be more careful when ordering stuff from e-cig.com

I've had 2 orders so far that went without a hitch! maybe I've just been lucky.

 

[leaford]

What was the duty based on? Tobbacco products? Might be able to challange that, if so.

 

[trog100]

first i think its about size and the value of the imported article.. and pot luck.. but the bigger and more noticable it is the more likely u are to get zapped.. i say this having had a dozen smaller packages arrive with no problem..

the answer seems to be split your order into smaller less value packages.. the down side is greater shipping costs.. more minimum express charges.. one has to be weighed against the other..

officially its anything over £18 UK pounds including shipping.. the reality is smaller packages seem to sneak thru even if the value is over £18 pounds.. most of mine have been..

i think (hope) the charge i am being levied is wrong.. they are checking.. it takes a while.. i had quite a chat with a nice TNT lady..

£21.17 duty..
£61.01 vat..
£12.50 the TNT handling chage..
£94.68 total

total billed £96.87 which i assume includes vat on their handling charge.. he he

basically the system seems punitive.. old fashioned and designed to stop those nasty foreigners losing the crown valuable tax money.. the shipping companies act as customs agents do the work and bill the customer after delivery of the item.. "sometimes"..

the lady ask me what it was.. errrr what is it... he he.. i said its an inhaler.. she said "health product" i said errr not really.. she said "smoking product".. i said errr not really..

what the hell are these things.. drug delivery systems dont sound good..

a none tobacco smoking placebo device.. kinda safe.. or perhaps we should simple call them an "electronic product".. technically they are and its a safe option..

smoking is a nasty word in the UK.. i think the word pipe in the description has them thinking tobbaco product and hitting me hard.. but i await their future comments..

trog

ps.. in the past custom used to exercise their power by grabbing the goods.. even if wrongly grabbed they are nigh impossible to get back.. the fact i have the goods and they await my payment makes my hand a little stronger.. they wont get it too easy.. he he

 

[TropicalBob]

I feel for you, man. I really do. And the last part of your post sounds so familiar. You certainly remember my hang-up with U.S. Customs. An "express" delivery -- minus 50ml of E-Liquid that was never packed by E-Cig -- was detained a month because "pipe" was on the invoice as the package's contents. We went back and forth over what it actually was -- I told 'em to OPEN it and look. They found five packs of e-cigar cartridges. Hmmmm. I told them this was an alternative to cigarette smoking. Not good enough. I wrote a full page of explanation on how we use batteries and atomizers and cartridges .... When my package was finally delivered, the new U.S. Customs invoice said it for "smoking cessation." That was a constant refrain with them and it's what they wanted me to say. I never did. Good luck with getting those outrageous charges reduced.

 

[trog100]

thanks for the feelings bob.. the other thing i discussed with the "informal" TNT lady was ebay buying.. basically anybody now selling (cheap) on UK ebay is gonna hit the same import problems only more so..

I would say TNT are bad news.. avoid if possible.. most of my parcels have arrived first by EMS and then by royal mail parcel force.. this is all unknown territory for now i would say keep the orders cheap and small..

i will keep the thing updated..

trog

 

[Smokester!]

You could point out (if it's not too late) that the pipe is a smoking cessation device(I realise we don't like to push that point but needs must and all!) which should attract a reduced rate VAT of 5% as opposed to 17.5%. If you do a search on BN77 on the HMRC website that'll bring up the legislation that it relates to.

Also, depending on how the package was marked you shouldn't need to pay any import duty either. If you know the comodity code they used you can look it up on the business link website, then call HMRC and ask if the comodity code is liable to import duty.

I've had the same sort of issues with UPS recently on a larger import.

Hope this info is of some use .

 

[TheEmperorOfIceCream]

Sorry to say it ain't just TNT, Trog. I have an NJOY order inbound from the US, value $167.80 (excluding shipping and 2 bucks which I assume was for the guy on the door). Washed up at Coventry Parcelforce on Friday 6th June (via USPS). I sent Parcelforce a chase mail today and they tell me HMRC would like £28.22 before they'll release the parcel. Don't know that I believe 'em.

I have no details of the charges as yet but let's, for the sake of argument, postulate that some faceless git at PF or the Revenue has slapped 17.5% on my .... Magic number, because we UK mugs will cough up seventeen and a half without even thinking about it.

Doing my sums: 167.80 x 17.5% = 29.36 - close enough for government work.

I might whistle and chalk this one up to experience except the nimrods are using a 1 to 1 dollar-sterling conversion. Funny that - if a buck got you two quid I'm sure the Revenue would be perfectly happy for me to pay half what's due, right?

I'm also a bit suspicious of these PF buggers - this is from their mail:

When a parcel enters the UK it may be subject, as in this case to duty charges from HM Revenue and Customs. It is normal practice that recipients are sent a letter to advise of these charges and how the charges can be paid. This letter provides the recipient with a unique 17-digit reference number that must be quoted to allow us to take payment for the charges and release the parcel for delivery.

Hmm. The 17-digit number allows them to accept payment, does it? I wonder who generates that number, HMRC or Parcelforce? If it turns out to be Parcelforce I'd be further interested in how much of my nearly thirty quid HMRC get their stickies on.

Can't wait to see this flipping letter, because I fancy going to war on it. If this was my first e-cig I'd be spitting nails right now.

Anyway, further bulletins as events warrant

Emp

 

[trog100]

the TNT lady.. told me the shipping company do it then send the bill.. this differs from what u are getting thye are holding until u pay which is how i guessed thing would happen..

my bill makes no senses.. 61 % vat plus 21 quid duty on a less than a 200 quid package.. overall it works out at around 50% on top of the package value..

trog