Lude Generation

who here has imported new bought stuff from the US, not 2nd hand (as they can be claimed as a "gift" and so not charged), what kind of customs processing and additional charges have you had? the item in mind is around the £300 mark and the size of a small box.

if they are quite a considerable charge, im thinking of getting it sent to my US relatives who can then "gift" it over to me instead, just not sure if its worth the fuss!

cheers

I bought some new stuff from the US and had to pay VAT (it was less than the value at which customs duty is charged).

It was really painless - Royal Mail dropped a thing through the door saying I had to pay tax on something that was being delivered to me, I went online and typed in the parcel number, paid via my debit card and it turned up through the post after that.

Info on rates here:
http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPort ... P141_10557

Import is 20% + vat so £300 will be £72. IIRC

dont forget to add the cost of the shipping into the price of the item before working out the cost of duty and vat

nice one cheers people, very useful to know

looks like if i get them to send it to the relatives who then send it on as a gift, it should save me around £66