customs charges

[schitzo]

I once heard a tale about a guy in the UK who upon buying a jacket from the US instructed the seller to mark it as a gift with a value of less than $40. This dastardly act of deceit enabled him to screw the good people of HM Revenue & Customs out of their duty. Which I have to tell you chaps, I found utterly appalling as nobody admires that organisation and the stellar work it does more than I do.

In fact, off the top of my head the only body I can think of that I might possibly hold in equally high esteem would be the US equivalent. I hear those guys and gals are doing some awesome work too, and long may it continue. Say, on this topic I wonder if any of you have ever heard of a scoundrel who successfully screwed them out of their duty? And if so, how did the fiend do it?

I am just curious, for educational purposes, and because like other humans I enjoy reading about the misfortune of others.

Thanks
Schitz

 

[majormajor]

I get lots of stuff from the US. Some of it is marked with lower values, and as you say, it will avoid customs. I never request this. Some senders just do it.

It really depends on how much you want the thing in the parcel, and how much it is worth to you. Because if it gets lost in the mail, and it was marked as low value, you can forget about claiming any higher value on insurance. So then it is you who is screwed, rather than the good folks at H.M.R.C:eeek:

 

[schitzo]

MM we know how the good folks at HMRC sometimes lose out.

The question is, how does the same thing go down on the other side of the pond?

I'm thinking about one day applying for a job there and so a knowledge of this type of thing will surely better equip me for the interview process - should I make it that far

 

[majormajor]

MM we know how the good folks at HMRC sometimes lose out.

The question is, how does the same thing go down on the other side of the pond?

I'm thinking about one day applying for a job there and so a knowledge of this type of thing will surely better equip me for the interview process - should I make it that far

Works the same in both directions.

It is the responsibility of the sender to fill in the Customs Declaration correctly. The authorities on both sides have the authority to open parcels to check them - and sometimes they do. And if you need to make any claim for a lost or damaged parcel, the first thing you need is that original Declaration, either from USPS, or from Royal Mail/Parcelforce.

Personally, I would say that anyone who is prepared to risk losing a high value item, in order to save a few quid, is a fool (IMHO).

PS. Hey Schitz - what sort of a job requires knowledge of cheating the Customs??

 

[schitzo]

Yes MM, a fool, a fiend and a morally reprehensible scoundrel!! We know this

I just wonder how such bastards operate

 

[schitzo]

PS. Hey Schitz - what sort of a job requires knowledge of cheating the Customs??

a job working for Customs

 

[majormajor]

Yes MM, a fool, a fiend and a morally reprehensible scoundrel!! We know this

I just wonder how such bastards operate

Schitz, I guess I'm missing the drift of this. You've said you know how it works. You understate the value on the CN23. What else is there to know?

And I was not being ironic when I used the word fool (I sense sarcasm in your "fiend" & "scoundrel"). I genuinely think it is a stupid thing to do.

 

[majormajor]

a job working for Customs

I think they do job training, mate.

I think prior working knowledge of cheating would be a good reason not to employ you.

 

[Plumbline]

The fiends ....

Schitzo .. I have some insight in this area having been the recipient of such deciept on a number of occasions ... which I duly brought to the attention of the appropriate authorities and complained re. their lack of attention on such matters !

To use two examples ...

1st a Squier Classic Vibe Telecaster which retails for around £300 but which can be purchased in the USA for around £160 ... with postage ( international signed for and tracked at £62 ) this represents a considerable saving over the UK price. Now a friend of mine ... the scoundrel .... purchased this on behalf of a friend of mine in the good town of Houston, Texas and posted it to him. However, unbeknowns to him, he marked this as a birthday gift of value $50. Imagine his surprise when it arrived 8 days later and there were NO CHARGES TO PAY. Well I can tell you he was dumbfounded and phoned the HMRC IMMEDIATELY to complain at their lack of attention with an offer of immediate recompense ... needless to say they informed him that they trust the sender to declare the value and intent of the purchase and takr this at face value. He chastised them of course but to no avail

2nd a leather jacket - Lost Worlds B-3 - which a close aquaintance of mine sent to a member on another forum *cough, cough .. VLJ ... cough, cough. I have it on good authority that the bounder not only declared this as a "gift" value $40 ... but that he had actually taken payment of $600 through Paypal for said item .... I tell you I was AGAST ! Needless to say when it arrived ( postage was apparently £82 tracked and signed for through Royal Mail Parcelforce) there were again NO CHARGES TO PAY ... let me tell you I wrote a strongly worded letter to both my MP and also Barack Obamah in complaint at the clear breach of trust which I had witnessed !!!!! To my dismay, NO ACTION WAS TAKEN !!!!!!

For the record I neither condone nor encourage the deceptive behaviour demonstrated here and would actively discourage it ... but I have experience of this activity and it shocks me to the core. The good people of HMRC and USC provide a useful service and need every penny they can get ( I especially like both organisations technique of applying the full customs charges to the COST OF SHIPPING ALSO )

One word of caution ... if you want to be guaranteed of having ALL APPLICABLE CUSTOMS CHARGES APPLIED .... use FEDEX who will refuse to deliver an item until a reasonable value has been declared based on the contents ..... they are a perfect example of an fine and upstanding shipping company and a beacon in this arena IMHO. UPS are variable in this regard.

The shameful participants are Royal Mail and USPS who could learn a thing or two from the above .... HTH

 

[majormajor]

1st a Squier Classic Vibe Telecaster which retails for around £300 but which can be purchased in the USA for around £160 ... with postage ( international signed for and tracked at £62 ) this represents a considerable saving over the UK price. Now a friend of mine ... the scoundrel .... purchased this on my behalf in the good town of Houston, Texas and posted it to me. However, unbeknowns to me, he marked this as a birthday gift of value $50. Imagine my surprise when it arrived 8 days later and there were NO CHARGES TO PAY.

And if the guitar had been damaged in transit (and they often are) YOU would have been stuffed.

2nd a leather jacket - Lost Worlds B-3 - which a close aquaintance of mine sent to a member on another forum *cough, cough .. VLJ ... cough, cough. I have it on good authority that the bounder not only declared this as a "gift" value $40 ... but that he had actually taken payment of $600 through Paypal for said item

And if lost in the post - no jacket, and you can claim all of $40.

Well done Mr VLJ:eusa_clap:eusa_clap:eusa_clap

 

[Plumbline]

I would have done no such thing Major ... these things happened to aquaintances of mine.

I should say, I was reliably informed that, the guitar arrived in perfect condition and has been ... after some minor modification with the addition of a Wilkinson Compensated bridge, more robust jack socket and strap locks..... the "spare" gigging tool for the last year or so to said gentleman.

I am told the jacket also arrived in perfect condition.

You pays yer money and takes your choice / risk ....... as detailed I could not possibly condone or encourage such reprehensible behaviour.

 

[schitzo]

lol PL, I would expect nothing less than such forthright indignation from you.

But I absolutely get how it works for stuff coming this way (gift & $40) - what I'm not yet crystal clear on is how it works the other way.

Specifically, does the same $40 threshold apply? And also, what do such unscrupulous characters write on the description of item section i.e. is there another (perhaps more effective) option besides simply declaring it a gift - like, could it be marked as a 'return' for instance?

If it helps for some of you, let us suppose a pal came to visit me in the UK and then went back to the States forgetting to take with him his aero jacket? In such an instance, how would I, the good samaritan, go about returning it to him in the most cost effective manner?

 

[majormajor]

I would have done no such thing Major ... these things happened to aquaintances of mine.

I should say, I was reliably informed that, the guitar arrived in perfect condition and has been ... after some minor modification with the addition of a Wilkinson Compensated bridge, more robust jack socket and strap locks..... the "spare" gigging tool for the last year or so to said gentleman.

I am told the jacket also arrived in perfect condition.

You pays yer money and takes your choice / risk ....... as detailed I could not possibly condone or encourage such reprehensible behaviour.

As I said earlier PL - something cheap like a Squier guitar - maybe worth the risk.

Risking losing $560 on a jacket - just foolish

 

[majormajor]

lol PL, I would expect nothing less than such forthright indignation from you.

But I absolutely get how it works for stuff coming this way (gift & $40) - what I'm not yet crystal clear on is how it works the other way.

Specifically, does the same $40 threshold apply? And also, what do such unscrupulous characters write on the description of item section i.e. is there another (perhaps more effective) option besides simply declaring it a gift - like, could it be marked as a 'return' for instance?

If it helps for some of you, let us suppose a pal came to visit me in the UK and then went back to the States forgetting to take with him his aero jacket? In such an instance, how would I, the good samaritan, go about returning it to him in the most cost effective manner?

So I guess you've sold the Ebay jacket to someone in the US, Schitz??????

 

[schitzo]

And if the guitar had been damaged in transit (and they often are) YOU would have been stuffed.


And if lost in the post - no jacket, and you can claim all of $40.

Well done Mr VLJ:eusa_clap:eusa_clap:eusa_clap

And if my auntie had bo**ocks she'd be my uncle..

 

[schitzo]

So I guess you've sold the Ebay jacket to someone in the US, Schitz??????

What!!!!! How dare you!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!?! lol

 

[Plumbline]

If it helps for some of you, let us suppose a pal came to visit me in the UK and then went back to the States forgetting to take with him his aero jacket? In such an instance, how would I, the good samaritan, go about returning it to him in the most cost effective manner?

for gifts coming into the UK the value is £36 for VAT, TAX and import charge exception

For gifts going to the USA I have always believed that the same limit applies.

An item can also be marked as a commercial sample or a repaired item and be except from taxation.


HTH

 

[Plumbline]

As I said earlier PL - something cheap like a Squier guitar - maybe worth the risk.

Risking losing $560 on a jacket - just foolish

True but my friend did say it was at the recipients request ... after all my friend wouldn't be paying the customs duties on that one the recipient would be and on a £600 jacket these weren't insignificant

 

[majormajor]

True but my friend did say it was at the recipients request ... after all my friend wouldn't be paying the customs duties on that one the recipient would be and on a £600 jacket these weren't insignificant

Fair enough. But the recipient was a fool in my book. There's one born every minute, apparently.

The customs duty, as you say is not insignificant. But it is less significant than sending a $600 jacket across the pond with no insurance cover (for that is what understating the value achieves....).

 

[Boyo]

I Have no personal experience in these types of transactions, but I do recall one FL member who received an A-2 with a broken snap that allegedly occurred during a customs inspection. Point is damage and loss is a risk, is the roll of the dice worth it?