Import Duty etc On Goods From UK After 1 January 2021

[ntpntpntp]

..have never once ordered [from Amazon] anything railway related, just not a site I ever think to use.

Two of the best bargain Arnold locos I've had were from Amazon.  First one bought on eBay and turned out to be one of those resellers who trawl hundreds of Amazon listings to create eBay listings, then use Prime and the Gift option to fulfill, but still a great price (about £35 for a brand new £80+ loco).  Once I new the source I bought another one directly from Amazon and even cheaper without the eBay seller's markup

[guest311]

purely as a heads up,
with all the uncertainty on this subject, I banged off an order to the far east for some BTR-80s and some M-35s, apologies but 1:76th scale for wargames.
apparently RM now have them so waiting to see if they are delivered, or the dreaded RM admin charge and customs.

will advise.

parcel arrived this morning by roayal mail...

total order value £26.24 with free postage, which from tracking must have come by air freight.

value on the customs declaration was £7.78 gbp 

so not sure if there is still a below £15 INTO uk without VAT / customs / RB admin charge or not.

[ntpntpntp]

I've still not had anything from UPS demanding VAT and handling on over £460 of drum kit from a German shop that arrived over 3 weeks ago. This was free of German VAT so I fully expect there should be something to pay.

Ah well, the bill arrived today from UPS for the VAT and handling.  Three weeks after delivery.  Fair enough I'm not complaining as it is for the amount I expected.  So I didn't "get away with it!" after all.

[njee20]

And if you don't pay...!?

[Doddy]

My thoughts exactly. It seems very strange as in my experience the couriers/customs want the cash before they release the goods. It seems suspicious that they make their demand a couple of days after your 'mea culpa' to this forum.

[guest311]

now you've got me waiting for the knock on the door  :'(

[Jim Easterbrook]

Perhaps their distribution centres are overloaded with parcels waiting for people to pay, so they've started delivering before payment.

As for what happens if you don't pay - they know where you live.

[ntpntpntp]

It seems very strange as in my experience the couriers/customs want the cash before they release the goods. It seems suspicious that they make their demand a couple of days after your 'mea culpa' to this forum.

Not strange at all. If they're going to demand payment before handing over then at the very least they need to inform you beforehand of the amount owed. I received nothing at all, and never saw anything on the tracking page.
I think UPS have been so busy over lockdown they've had to change the delivery and payment model otherwise there would be so many re-deliveries due to people not being able to pay at the time that it wouldn't be economical.   
If you play with UPS' web site it's all geared around commercial businesses shipping stuff and paying their bills at a later date.  Useless for private individuals (I tried setting up an account but got nowhere). 

I'd been expecting to pay the money. The invoice didn't offer methods of payment other than sending a cheque with the remittance slip, but I phoned the "queries" number given and they have an option to pay by card over the phone.  You could also tell from the delays at the other end that they're still not really geared up for it: lots of "bear with me while I start up the system to take a payment" type of thing.

[njee20]

I found the same with UPS, I recall tracking a package (something trivial like some 3D printer resin), and it required I set up an account, upon which they sent me a letter welcoming me to UPS and all sorts, definitely an organisation focused on B2B shipping.

[ntpntpntp]

I found the same with UPS, I recall tracking a package (something trivial like some 3D printer resin), and it required I set up an account, upon which they sent me a letter welcoming me to UPS and all sorts, definitely an organisation focused on B2B shipping.

Yeah. I created an account and twice I tried to set up tracking of packages linked to delivery address in the hope a "Pay Now" button would appear (that's what their robot help system says should be available). Twice they sent me by post an authentication code to enter, both times the code wasn't recognised when I entered it.  I gave up at that point.

[dannyboy]

I have just received an email from AddressPal, part of the Irish postal system, regarding VAT from 1st July -

"VAT and customs charges already apply to AddressPal purchases from Great Britain and USA with a value greater than €22. From July 1st the VAT exemption of €22 will be removed. VAT and customs charges will now apply to all applicable items."

I have not found out yet whether this applies to goods bought before 1st July, that are posted 1st July onwards, or not.

[loco4401]

Here in australia we got the same issue and doesnt matter if its 5 dollars or 500 dollars.
I bought a railway book from a uk company it was 2nd hand on ebay but because they do a lot of trade to australian people ebay collects the 10% gst or vat ontop of the item charge after the gov here got wise on all the money they are missing out on.
So if i go shopping at hattons or rails were pretty much paying the same as the uk price once they add on the gst

[Zippinda]

In the uk anything under £130 you dont pay duty on if its classed as toys and Games, I buy from the continent and Japan and havent paid any duty yet

[njee20]

Welcome to the forum.

That's not quite true. The £135 threshold (not £130) is significant for the collection of VAT (below and the retailer collects it, above and HMRC do on import) as well as being the threshold for duty on non-excise goods (is everything other than alocohol and tobacco products!).

Model railways are 0% rated for duty, so the value is irrelevant, over £135 you just pay VAT on import, there is still no duty due.

so under £135 - nothing to pay on import, over £135 - VAT payable plus fees on import.

[woodbury22uk]

There is a contingent issue when it comes to import duty. You may be buying something to use on a model railway but it could well be classed as something dutiable. The continental 3D printing houses won't classify what you see as a loco body as a toy. It will be a piece of plastic which may be subject to duty. A toy/game needs to comply with certain safety and labelling standards, and the 3D printed loco body or box of electronic components will not have been certified in that way.

https://support.shapeways.com/hc/en-us/articles/360061541594-Brexit-FAQ

The solution is to keep order sizes including shipping below GBP135. For export from the UK, the customs authorities at destination may have higher/lower import thresholds for charging duty, as mentioned above for Australian sales tax.