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Brexit the gift that keeps on giving.
I left my laptop in a case and a couple of waterproofs in France. I got a French friend to post the items to me, but he's not very tech savvy so he put a value of €1,100, while the laptop orininally cosy £514. I am now being asked to pay £221.11 in duty etc.
I can pay the duty and reclaim it, not 100% sure of the chances of success for this, or wait and they'll send it back to him and I can get him to send it again woith a value of €100, which should avoid the duty. I'm slightly relictant to do this as while he's a friend he can be a bit tricky sometimes.
Anyone on here successfully claimed back duty in a similar situation?
Just pay it, once we have transitioned to a high wage economy £220 will be ‘penny sweets’ money.
Feel for you.😤
Either pay and reclaim, simple form from HMRC, or contact the courier and explain, ask the to cancel the charges, they may ask to see purchase invoice but how they check that god knows. DPD and UPS are OK, DHL are a PITA. We get the same issue with returns all the time, it's no different to how every other country was pre-brexit.
Why is there duty? It's not a purchase, your mate is returning your stuff.
Why is there duty? It’s not a purchase, your mate is returning your stuff.
There shouldn't be, you're right, but if I've read the OP correctly his mate didn't write this on the package so its being charged as if it were new.
But even then it should be declared as 's/h no commercial value' or whatever the correct wordage is for you getting your old stuff back. I've posted my own kit back from overseas a couple of times using this and not paid duty (correctly).
Why is there duty? It’s not a purchase, your mate is returning your stuff.
Because the guy filing out the form declared a value for the contents as if it was an import
I once co-curated an International short films project - people all around the world were invited to submit VHS viewing copies (this was the late 90s) for selection and later send masters or screening copies if selected. A surprising number of people declared the full production budget of the film as the value of the shipment on the customs declaration for a £1.99 video cassette that should just even then have been declared as a sample.
I was tempted to tape Titantic on their cassettes and mail them back with $200million on the label 🙂
It can be a pain sending the other way. My nephew sent his mother a photo book of his wedding from Bristol to Bari in southern Italy, carefully filling out ( he thought) the customs declaration, making it clear it was a gift of low value. That was in the last week in August. It has been sitting in Milan awaiting clearance and when my sister finally got through to the right office they told her that ‘will just take as long as necessary’ to get through the system. Before Brexit you could rely on parcels arriving in 5 working days.
Before Brexit you could rely on parcels arriving in 5 working days
Aye but look on the plus side, we've control over our sovereignty, work force and economy now. Shirley a little extra time in the post is a price worth paying... 🙄
[edit] Oh, and fishies... 🙃
Aye but look on the plus side, we’ve control over our sovereignty, work force and economy now. Shirley a little extra time in the post is a price worth paying… 🙄
Oh, don’t worry, we are all well aware of how lucky we are/who to blame (delete as appropriate). Luckily both her sons have dual nationality and whilst both have chosen to live and work in the UK they at least have the option of free movement…
Because the guy filing out the form declared a value for the contents as if it was an import
Unless you have provided him with proof that the item was bought in the UK, what choice did they have? He’d just be in the same position that you are now if seeking to reclaim the charges, trying to prove that the goods weren’t bought abroad and what their true value is.
If you could just send a laptop declared as of zero value, don’t you think that would quickly be a back door way of avoiding the tax and duty? Some books left behind and forwarded on is one thing, but a £500 laptop or, for example, a mountain bike, will need proper paperwork now.