Importing second hand items - duties?

I thought lenses were vat free but bodies weren't. Or have I got that the wrong way round?:thinking:
 
I believe that importing anything into the UK, it will incur VAT and Duty too.

If the item is a gift and marked as such on the info sticker, then it will be VAT & duty exempt, but whether customs will believe a lens is a gift, I wouldn't know - maybe speak to the seller to wrap it in gift wrap, and enclose a birthday card too?

Edited to say my husband shipped a fancy keyboard thing back to the UK from his parents house abroad, we had to send copies of the reciepts to prove it had been bought in the UK about 6 years previously. Pretty glad he kept them as the VAT alone was about £260 on it!!
 
Messiah Khan said:
If I import a second hand lens from Canada, is it liable for import duties and VAT? Is there a way around it?
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yes you will be charge VAT and duties charges.
There are ways around it, but normally its a bit hit and miss if you get charged etc.
 
gembobs said:
If the item is a gift and marked as such on the info sticker, then it will be VAT & duty exempt, but whether customs will believe a lens is a gift, I wouldn't know - maybe speak to the seller to wrap it in gift wrap, and enclose a birthday card too?
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That is untrue

Anything over i think £18 is liable to VAT + TAX if applicable,
If its marked GIFT the limit is raised to £36 any thing over that is again VAT & TAX liable.
 
The gift rule no longer applies, so potentially you will get charged VAT and Excise duty on the goods at whatever level for the category they fall in once the value is deemed to be over the threshold. You will *also* have to pay VAT on the postage costs too. A wau round it is to go get it yourself or declare a lower value. first is pricey, second is not a good idea on a several levels, eg. no insurance, C+E might not believe it, etc.

Of course, this VAT/excise duty only applies to goods bought *outside* the EU.

Arthur
 
Ambermile said:
A wau round it is to go get it yourself or declare a lower value. first is pricey, second is not a good idea on a several levels, eg. no insurance, C+E might not believe it, etc.
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It should be noted that it is the responsibility of the importer to ensure that the value is correctly declared so HMRC can go after you if they think the item is under-declared.

Don't mess with the excise :nono:
 
True, very true... and remember, the C+E are allowed to pretty much do whatever they want to get to what they think is theirs. You really don't wanna mess with them - it's so much easier to just pay the duty and relax - budget to add about 20% total to the costs.

Arthur
 
So, there you go, see previous comments! I do have to say though that sometimes I have had goods in over £70 and not paid, yet other times I have paid at £40. It's a bit of a lottery and you have to take the rough with the smooth. However, once over a certain level (certainly £80) you *will* get caught for the duty.

Arthur
 
Yes. At least you do if you live in this house and buy as much kit from abroad as I have done - which is about as much as I can say on the subject.

Arthur
 
i've brought paintball equipment retailing in the thousands of pounds, and it's random whether or not they charge you, normally though any items from companies will get charges more then stuff off say ebay etc.
 
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