Goods bought from abroad

[silversurfer1947]

I came across this https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... nt-of-sale
So far as I can see it is a genuine site. Quite how it will affect things or even how it can be enforced remains to be seen.

[Son of a gun-ner]

From what I can deduce, it appears they are going after those Online Market Place sellers like they have on eBay and Amazon, "British stock" where most of the bad feedback complains are about the extra long shipping times, almost as if their items were coming from China. . . .
Quite a few of them have warehouses in Britain, and state they have items in stock, even when they have stock elsewhere in the world.
Anyway, a lot of them are going under the radar. They are basically importers that sell online, to catch British customers that don't want to purchase from abroad, and that they would otherwise miss selling to.
The bulk of the profits are going overseas and our tax office/customs and excise, are missing out on revenue.

[ronnie42]

If bricks and mortar retail takes a pounding ,who do you think is going to pay for the shortfall. Its time tax was paid in the country the goods are delivered to not in some tax haven.

[Rattlesnake road]

Seems they may be aiming to catch up with a lot of people, I bought some stuff from the USA and got hit with tax, on both the items and on postage. The postage surprised me so I contacted the local customs house only to be told that it was correct.
Now I get my brother in law to buy for me and either post or bring it home when he visits his mum.

[Son of a gun-ner]

Seems they may be aiming to catch up with a lot of people, I bought some stuff from the USA and got hit with tax, on both the items and on postage. The postage surprised me so I contacted the local customs house only to be told that it was correct.
Now I get my brother in law to buy for me and either post or bring it home when he visits his mum.

Yes, I've been hit like that many times, it's not just tax on the goods, it is goods and services, and sadly, shipping comes under services. It is all laid out on their website.
Unfortunately for me, I'm usually hit when shipping is mostly over 60 bucks

[AlwynTurner]

Just got caught by this when buying a light on Amazon for my daughters birthday. I mistakenly assumed it was stocked in the UK. Only when I got the order confirmation did I discover that the item would take 3 weeks to be delivered, got an e-mail that it had been dispatched (a lie) and then two weeks later got the tracking data from DHL showing the item on it's way from DELHI! Obviously the item wasn't in stock anywhere and was produced to order. To say I was unamused was an understatement. As it happened the item arrived only the day after my daughters birthday, but the quality was poor and it was missing a part which fortunately I was able to design and print on my 3d printer.

I have yet to do a review of the item but it will be pretty scathing when I do calm down enough to write it.

Alwyn

[General Jumbo01]

If you are buying from abroad it appears that you will need to get the seller to send you your goods in separate £135 parcels!

The US is very hot on declaring of goods value on the packaging. China often just send the goods unpackaged! Some courier companies are worse than others, applying horrendous admin costs for the recovery of the import tax. If a UPS van stops outside, grab your wallet

[Harry Serpent]

As we are leaving the EU in January, we will just have to get use to pay a tad more for our
Items from Europe.
As for paying duty I don’t mind but hate the £12 admin fees.
I think it’s better to buy as many things as you can in one order,
That way you save on multiple £12 fees.
One thing for sure we will all end up paying more for items in 2021

[silversurfer1947]

In theory, the actual prices should not be that different as the goods would be exported net of the home VAT. For example Germany has 19% VAT. Deduct that then add 20%UK Vat and that's the result. As you say, it is the handling charge which sucks. I think Royal Mail is £8, DHL etc are a lot more.

[Afrikakorps]

Thats what it is like here in Australia, 10% GST ( what you know as VAT) added to everything from abroad.Plus an astronomical cost to post to Australia and not to mention the low value of the AU dollar.
As far as the rc tank hobby is concerned, you "Brits" have it good !
Cheers
AK