UK Import Duty for E-Liquid explained

[SteveMc]

I've seen a few questions regarding this that seems to put people off from buying juice from outside the UK, it really isn't that expensive nor complicated.

The UK charges Import Duty of 12.8% of the total value of good including shipping and insurance [if any]. Basically it will be 12.8% of your total payment.

It is exempt from VAT.

To calculate in advance this site is handy - Import duty & taxes made easy | DutyCalculator

e-liquid comes under Food & Drinks > Drinks Non-alcoholic Beverages > Health Drinks in Powder and the HS commodity code is 2106.90.9260 Info on this code and what it covers can be found here - TARIC Measure Information

A handling fee may also be added by the company used for shipping so that would be worth checking. Info on that here - Will there be any extra charges from the shipping provider? - DutyCalculator Help Center

It might be too much hassle for some people but for others that really want products from abroad I don't think it's much of a mission.

Hope this is of some use to a few of you.

~Steve

 

[Manicmama]

I'm enjoying trying different UK made juice at moment but this is handy to know should I stumble across some juice that sounds to yummy to resist only available overseas - thanks.


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[chansen]

Interesting. I don't think many people are aware of this.
I would assume the £135 threshold still applies on import duty. When it comes to E-Liquid, £135 will buy you a lot of juice.

 

[SteveMc]

Interesting. I don't think many people are aware of this.
I would assume the £135 threshold still applies on import duty. When it comes to E-Liquid, £135 will buy you a lot of juice.

Knowing this I stuck a couple of examples in yesterday, one below the threshold and one above to just to see if there was a charge before and after the threshold and what it was, here are the results:



As you can see, there should be no charges under £135 apart from a possible handling fee.

 

[chansen]

well done... this is really cool

 

[Beckyjc]

FYI it's quite likely small packages will slip through unnoticed. Especially if it's low value. a lot of companies will mark the items as a gift too making them exempt from vat and import duty.

 

[baly]

I just got lumbered with a £13.99 handling fee. But the juice is so good it wont put me off.

 

[chansen]

The point I'm trying to make is that if what SteveMc says holds up in practice (and I have no doubt it would), combined with the £135 threshold on import duty, then there would in most cases be no need for sneaking packages of juice through customs as 'gifts' at all. Most people I sell liquids to order on average less than £100 worth of juice pr. order. Thus also keeping within the weight/volume constraints of a padded envelope and free shipping.

A lot of suppliers (chinese in particular) mark shipments as gifts pr. default, some even declare lower value than the goods are worth. In this case it wouldn't be necessary, and maybe... just maybe... it could help avoid some of the huge backlog through customs if every package wasn't declared as gift.

 

[SteveMc]

I just got lumbered with a £13.99 handling fee. But the juice is so good it wont put me off.

That sucks, it would be worth enquiring what carrier will be used and then ask what the handling fee is in advance of ordering/shipping as the fee can vary greatly it seems.

The point I'm trying to make is that if what SteveMc says holds up in practice (and I have no doubt it would), combined with the £135 threshold on import duty, then there would in most cases be no need for sneaking packages of juice through customs as 'gifts' at all. Most people I sell liquids to order on average less than £100 worth of juice pr. order. Thus also keeping within the weight/volume constraints of a padded envelope and free shipping.

A lot of suppliers (chinese in particular) mark shipments as gifts pr. default, some even declare lower value than the goods are worth. In this case it wouldn't be necessary, and maybe... just maybe... it could help avoid some of the huge backlog through customs if every package wasn't declared as gift.

Indeed, thought this might help a few people and at least you could quote the law if they demanded duty when not due as I'm sure must be the case for many.
The shipper also needs to ensure the correct commodity code is used for this to work, again this is something people could add to 'notes' when placing an order.

 

[ian-field]

I've seen a few questions regarding this that seems to put people off from buying juice from outside the UK, it really isn't that expensive nor complicated.

The UK charges Import Duty of 12.8% of the total value of good including shipping and insurance [if any]. Basically it will be 12.8% of your total payment.

It is exempt from VAT.

To calculate in advance this site is handy - Import duty & taxes made easy | DutyCalculator

E-Liquid comes under Food & Drinks > Drinks Non-alcoholic Beverages > Health Drinks in Powder and the HS commodity code is 2106.90.9260 Info on this code and what it covers can be found here - TARIC Measure Information

A handling fee may also be added by the company used for shipping so that would be worth checking. Info on that here - Will there be any extra charges from the shipping provider? - DutyCalculator Help Center

It might be too much hassle for some people but for others that really want products from abroad I don't think it's much of a mission.

Hope this is of some use to a few of you.

~Steve

A few years back I bought an electronic gadget in kit form from Jaycar in Australia, it was delivered by Royal Mail - I thought their handling charge was sheer racketeering till I heard what some other carriers charge!

You should have made your post a "sticky" one - I'll probably need to refer to it again.

 

[ian-field]

I'm enjoying trying different UK made juice at moment but this is handy to know should I stumble across some juice that sounds to yummy to resist only available overseas - thanks.


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Having been badly burned by Royal Mail handling charges (a *LOT* more than the actual duty collected!!!!!) -I'm not very keen to try ordering from overseas again anytime soon.

Please could you give me some indication of what is available in the UK, and some idea of what sort of shops to look for fluids in?

Thanks.

 

[chainmaker]

i think another issue is what HS code is the sender using..

on the duty calculator site linked in the OP a search for e-liquid comes up as:

Health & Beauty → Health Care → Electronic Cigarette E-Liquid with an HS code 2403.99.9000 = 16.6% duty + 20% sales tax

there is also potentially 3303.00.1000 but that is more applicable to nic base

 

[SteveMc]

Still a lot of confusion out there, I looked more into it but some places say one thing and another says the opposite.
I've now sent an email to Customs, I'll post their response if and when I get one.

 

[ian-field]

Still a lot of confusion out there, I looked more into it but some places say one thing and another says the opposite.
I've now sent an email to Customs, I'll post their response if and when I get one.

In the UK, its not customs you have to worry about - last time I ordered overseas, Royal Mail collected the duty and charged a racketeering 'handling fee' for doing so!

Aparently some other carriers are even worse!!!

 

[SteveMc]

You can check handling fees with carriers prior to ordering.

 

[ian-field]

You can check handling fees with carriers prior to ordering.

We have dozens of carriers - not all suppliers can guarantee which one does the last leg of the journey. And some are even worse than RM!!!

Life would be so much easier if online retailers sorted the duty by electronic money transfer and stuck a "UK duty paid" sticker on the package.

But then that would be too easy!

 

[Thebaitrunner]

I have just checked and if its under £15 no charge
Import duty & taxes calculation result

 

[nottmbantam]

I ordered two boxes of kit from China, one was a box full of ego Starterkits and spares and the other was a boxful of ( Hangsen) eliquids. I collected from my local ParcelForce depot. Bothe boxes had a ParcelForce handling fee of 13.99(GBP) and the duty fees were around 14 and 16 respectively.

 

[SteveMc]

OK I've finally received and email back from them and they've put me on to tariff.classification@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk so I've now sent the same enquiry to them.
I'll post the reply when I receive one, hopefully it doesn't take as long as the last department, that took over a month.
~Steve