Urgent help needed - UK imports

EMA747

EMA747

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Andy
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Hi all I need some urgent advice on what the lowdown is with importing a camera from Denmark to the UK. I am on holiday over in Denmark until tomorrow evening (Saturday). I was walking around Copenhagen and one of the photography shops has a Canon 1Dx body for sale and having been after either that or a D4 (which they also have) I tried both at length with the very helpful staff and think the Canon is the way to go. They are asking £5125ish but say that they can do the tax back if I get a form stamped in the airport either in the UK or Denmark when I leave, the guy wasn't 100% sure which end of the journey the stamp had to be from, then the form gets posted back to them and they refund the tax to me. That sounded to good to be true but does anyone know what the issues are with legally importin a camera from one EU country to another?

If I could get the tax back that would be amazing but even at the regular price I'm still very very tempted to bag it given the looooong waiting times in the UK and the fact that I might have an NGO trip in the winter.
The BIG issue is that I leave Denmark tomorrow evening so I would have to get it tomorrow afternoon or I would have to come back to Denmark in a few weeks.

PS - The 1Dx was simply stunning as a piece of engineering and in IQ terms. :thumbs:
 
VAT will have to be paid in 1 country or the other - of course if you are a VAT registered business then you can reclaim it anyway.
I believe that the current VAT rate in Denmark is 25% against the UK's 20%.

The going rate in the UK from a quick Google looks to be ~£5300 so if it's £5125 incl. 25% VAT & you can save by paying UK VAT @20% I reckon that's about £4900.
I imagine that it's an European warranty if you need support & Canon UK should be OK with that?
 
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Yep full UK warranty. It's not a dodgy little shop it's a Canon and Nikon pro dealers.
 
Andy,

My understanding is that you have to pay the Danish Moms (VAT) and then reclaim it on your UK VAT return....you have to be a VAT registered business/individual for this to apply. There are no channels for non-VAT registered individuals to reclaim VAT paid in another EU country.

Bob
 
As Stated above 100% you will not be able to use the VAT reclaim scheme, it is for NON EU Residents only,

You have to present the VAT reclaim form on leaving Denmark or any other EU country, and once they see an EU passport and EU Desination it will be denied processing

Sorry to say you cannot even claim the difference between UK & DEK VAT

On the positive side the warranty will be valid in the UK of course..

(If you are VAT registered in the UK you can claim the VAT deduction as normal through your returns)
 
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After much research on the net last night that's the same conclusion I came to. A pity they make it so hard to find these things out when HMRC are so quick to take your money!

After having slept on it I still don't know if I should just go ahead and buy one or not. If I don't it's probably going to be maybe September at the earliest to get one in the UK. At £5125 it's still right at the very top of my budget given that I have to get some lenses too but it's the sort of "do all I want it to" camera I have been looking for for a long time. SO hard to decide......
 
My policy has always been if you have to think about it, then its your head telling you to walk away.

The 5DIII is already tumbling in Price, and camerapricebuster shows Martins as having the 1Dx on a PreOrder price of £4999, personally I think early buyers on the 1Dx are going to take a £1k hit in the first 6 months,

But like anything its up to you.. Only you can make the move on it.
 
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That's good advice Richard. The only thing on my mind is that I might be going out to India or Malaysia for an NGO organisation at the back end of the year but I can't even discuss it with them unless I have some gear and I get the impression that a 1Dx ordered in the UK could take longer to be delivered that I have got. There is something at the back of my head saying I have been waiting for the 1Dx or Nikon D4 for ages and this is an opportunity to own one right now (could be partly camera lust as well).
 
EMA747 said:
That's good advice Richard. The only thing on my mind is that I might be going out to India or Malaysia for an NGO organisation at the back end of the year but I can't even discuss it with them unless I have some gear and I get the impression that a 1Dx ordered in the UK could take longer to be delivered that I have got. There is something at the back of my head saying I have been waiting for the 1Dx or Nikon D4 for ages and this is an opportunity to own one right now (could be partly camera lust as well).
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But there is lots of suitable stuff out there why the 1Dx, I had one on loan for a week and TBH for what I do I found my MKIV just as good (so much so I picked up a couple of spare 1D4s second hand while they are available cheap), as I can see them getting even scarcer than they are now.

On the other hand if you were considering the 5DIII over the II then I could understand the difference in performance (AF etc)

Personally for a trip like you have described I would be looking more into a cheaper yet just as rugged body, 1DIIn or 1DsII or any of the others in this ilk.. Cheap as chips if anything happens but good enough for about everything you are likely to meet (Unless you need video of course), but I have never been a lover of Video on a DSLR, Bit to old for that I am!!!

Main thing is dont let it ruin your current holiday to Denmark thinking about cameras, I did it on a short trip to Hong Kong once, spent so much time in and out of the camera shops I forgot to enjoy the trip!!
 
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501cards said:
....and camerapricebuster shows Martins as having the 1Dx on a PreOrder price of £4999, personally I think early buyers on the 1Dx are going to take a £1k hit in the first 6 months,
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It's the same here in France. Pre-orders with priority are Eur 6300 (£5000) and non-priority are Eur 5999 (£4761)

Bob
 
501cards said:
Main thing is dont let it ruin your current holiday to Denmark thinking about cameras, I did it on a short trip to Hong Kong once, spent so much time in and out of the camera shops I forgot to enjoy the trip!!
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In the end the sensible side of me won. I decided to enjoy my last day in Denmark and have a think about it this week as I can always go over again.

I now need to think if I should buy a 1Dx or not. Ideally I would like to sort something out before my trip to Norway in August. :)
 
If you stop in Denmark on your way to Norway then you will be able to claim the Moms back as you leave Denmark.

Bob
 
Canon Bob said:
If you stop in Denmark on your way to Norway then you will be able to claim the Moms back as you leave Denmark.

Bob
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Will that still work if travelling on an EU Passport with an EU home address, if it will then its a very interesting loophole :D
 
Canon Bob said:
If you stop in Denmark on your way to Norway then you will be able to claim the Moms back as you leave Denmark.

Bob
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However if you do, you are then obliged to pay VAT on entry to the UK!
 
DemiLion said:
However if you do, you are then obliged to pay VAT on entry to the UK!
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Of course, but UK VAT is 5% less than Danish MOMS.....5% on a £5k item is worth a little delay at immigration/customs.

Bob
 
if he's claiming the VAT back though it's irrelevant as he'll end up at the same base figure.
 
heidfirst said:
if he's claiming the VAT back though it's irrelevant as he'll end up at the same base figure.
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I'm not VAT registered and by what a lot of things recommend I think it wouldn't be worth me being. It's a shame though because the £1000+ VAT that will go straight to Mr Camerons pockets seems like a big kick in the teeth when struggling to fund setting up a business!
 
Be careful about the VAT, although it's not a problem in your case.

It seems that you can only claim the VAT back if the VAT was levied in the country that you are VAT registered. VAT paid in another country can't be claimed for here in the UK
 
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