how the bloody hell do you work out import duty just had a look at hm website and it seems damn complicated is there a easy way to work it out ie i pay $1000 for items which works out to £490 do i just pay a percentage of the 490?

budget for around 20%-25% on top. Vat being 17.5% the rest being made up from Import duty.

 

Unless you can get away with the seller claiming the item is worth much less on the import documents.

okies thanks again legrath

Its a Leg Lifter put it that way!

It depends on what the actual goods being imported are. Different goods have different tariffs and different % of duty. Then VAT on the duty. Then VAT on the cost of the goods AND the shipping costs.

It depends on what the actual goods being imported are. Different goods have different tariffs and different % of duty. Then VAT on the duty. Then VAT on the cost of the goods AND the shipping costs.

 

Correct - there are litterally hundreds of different categories and bands so it is nearly impossible to predict what the final bill is going to be.

 

I import a lot from the US and budget around 24% on average for import duty and the usual 17.5% for VAT. Remember its the total cost of the good and shipping (as stated above).

 

Be careful when asking to have the consignment devalued for import duty/tax purposes. If something goes wrong with the shipment you can only claim upto the declared value of the consignment. I've had a bad experience with this some years ago when a seller devalued a $1800 consignment to $300. Consignment was heavily damaged in transit and parts were lost. I was only able to recoup $300 of my hard-earned pennies :( So keep it realistic - also HMC isn't stupid - they know what most items cost ...