UK Import tax question

Discussion in 'Market Place' started by Valxen, Mar 28, 2020.

  1. Valxen

    Valxen Regular Member

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    Hello,

    So I was wondering, has anyone from the UK bought from MBS before? and if so, what sort of tax should I expect?

    Im curious to buy an Astrox ZZ which works out at around £150-160 from MBS comapred to the £220 it costs to buy it locally,

    thanks
     
  2. Cheung

    Cheung Moderator

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    Have you asked MBS?
     
  3. p2user

    p2user Regular Member

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    Ive always wanted to try and order a racket from one of the HK badminton shops, but worried i will be paying import duty and tax. It be good to know if anyone has brought expensive rackets outside UK/EU and if you got taxed or not?

    Ive only brought wraps (120 ) from Eric last month and worried it get taxed. Luckily i didnt, so i assume i got lucky and Eric valued the package at $17. Think it be harder with a racket.

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  4. DuckFeet

    DuckFeet Regular Member

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    I usually only buy string and grommets. I ordered a racket once from RKEP, no import tax.

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  5. Valxen

    Valxen Regular Member

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    Yes and no reply hence asking here

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  6. Valxen

    Valxen Regular Member

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    I've ordered multiple shirts before from another seller abroad and they put a note saying they were birthday gifts and that managed to pass through. But a new racket at such a high market value i don't know if that would pass

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  7. Benwilluk

    Benwilluk Regular Member

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    Been chatting to Enrica from RaquetForce in HK - they have just negotiated a new deal with FedEx whereby they can now ship between 3 & 4 rackets (depending on brand) for 275 HKD (approx £28.50) so we’ll worth ordering a couple at least. Not sure what customs situ is.

    I’ve ordered about 4 rackets before and never been charged customs so have been lucky.
     
  8. TigerSmash

    TigerSmash Regular Member

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    You should use kksports in HK, communicate on fb, trust me haha. :)

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  9. s_mair

    s_mair Regular Member

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    Here are all the information you need regarding import tax and customs in the UK:
    https://www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad/tax-and-duty

    If you really get charged or not depends on two things basically:

    1) the value that is declared on the package
    Every package will be checked regarding what is written on the import/customs declaration. The if declared value is above the set limits, you will be charged.

    2) luck
    First option: You order 2 rackets for £300 total. The seller wants to be nice to you and declares the package to be a gift worth £30. If you're lucky, the package passes the income check and you get it delivered without any extra charges. However, there are many sellers that are not keen on doing so since they are afraid of landing on an import blacklist in case their "niceness" is noticed by the customs authorities.

    Second option: Since customs people are not completely daft, they know that you cannot always trust the declared values. Therefor, they will be checking a certain number of packages in detail and actually opening them. Normally, the bigger the package, the higher the chance of it getting checked. If it gets checked and they find two high-end badminton rackets in there, they will do an online check to see the actual value and also check, if they are counterfeits. In any way, you will be charged with duties in the end.

    So bottom line, there is no secret recipe how to get away without duties.


    *re-edited regarding shipping e78 shipping options... see following posts.
     
    #9 s_mair, Jul 14, 2020
    Last edited: Jul 15, 2020
  10. s_mair

    s_mair Regular Member

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    Can you share a link? I can't find it through FB search.
     
  11. thyrif

    thyrif Regular Member

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    Are you sure? I think those options are just fast because they use a fast shipping method. They do not mention customs in their guide. Also that price is a bit low for fast shipping AND duties. Someone I know had their most expensive shipping method and got checked by customs, had to provide an invoice because they didn't believe the listed prices.
     
  12. s_mair

    s_mair Regular Member

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    It's a standard service that the shipping companies take care of the customs clearance and handle the duty payements. They have their deals with the local autorities to make those express deliveries even possible. At least the two shipments I had using this service, the package completely skipped any customs clearance when it arrived in Europe and was at my door three days after ordering. Looking at the costs - the total shipping+tax costs mentioned are around 33 EUR. The racket in that example is at around 130 EUR, the import tax (currently at 17% in Germany) would be 22 EUR. So that leaves 11 EUR for actual shipping costs which is suprisingly cheap but still possible.

    I'm sure that there might still be some random checks on these pre-declared and payed imports. Else you would open up a huge door for importing counterfeits and other things that are prohibited from import.
     
  13. thyrif

    thyrif Regular Member

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    "Handle" does not necessarily mean pay for? I have had UPS at my door with a customs invoice that had to be payed after the fact.
     
  14. s_mair

    s_mair Regular Member

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    There are both options possible. I also had DHL pre-paying duties and then re-clamining them from me when they delivered the package (plus a rather optimistic service fee on top...). But again, there has been a payement done to the authorities by the carrier in advance to get the package into the country and out for delivery. There is no (legal) way that a package get delivered to your door without it being cleared by the authorities before in any way. Either by checking/clearing it themselves or by the carrier doing the clearance on their own.

    There is an exception for bigger companies who have a sort of licence that allows them to do their customs clearance on their own. So basically, they get all their shipments directly delivered without any incoming check and then take care of the correct customs/tax declaration and payements themselves. To get that sort of allowance from the authorities, you need to show that you have working processes in place and qualified personel to handle the topic correctly. Cause hands down, that is one hell of a difficult task.
     
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  15. s_mair

    s_mair Regular Member

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    Actually, I've been clicking my way through the Hongkongpost/Speedpost website trying to figure some details regarding the tax payements. And frankly, it does look a bit 'blurry'. They are offering the preCustoms service but don't mention how the actual payement is handled.

    So I've re-edited my earlier post and would advise to get in direct contact with the shops to figure out shipping and customs details.
     
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  16. TigerSmash

    TigerSmash Regular Member

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    https://www.facebook.com/KkSports
    Or 'kksportsonline.com'

    The owner communicates very well in english on fb chat. They use sfexpress delivery, and takes the same route as ems via london heathrow. In terms of customs 'luck', sometimes it is timing, parts of the work day the package won't get checked. I've never had much customs charge with e78 unless it's more than two rackets. Mbs, nearly always get a customs charge lol.

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  17. s_mair

    s_mair Regular Member

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    MBS is very correct in the way they do business and they always declare the real value on the packages. And if that's over the limit, it will be charged - lucky or not. e78 is a lot "more flexible" in that regard. And let's face it - if we are talking about a small package like strings or maybe even rackets that is declared with a value of let's say £30, the chances are very, very low that the package gets random checked. Looking strictly at the legal side of things, this is plain and simple (widely tolerated :rolleyes:) tax fraud which we are talking about here, let's be clear on this.
     

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