talkmagic.co.uk

im all confused im planning to order from ellusionist finally! but only maybe a brick of masters and/or Silver Dream because i havent done much coin magic and it looks awesome!

anyway im just wondering how is import tax charged, how much etc.

cheers

as far as i know it is charged on weight, i bought gut buster from e and along with the £66 for the item i was charged £23 for import tax. i reackon if you are buying books then you could expect to pay the same amount

Import tax is charged on the VATtable amount of the final order, and is charged in accordance to price.

Usually, an order under around £20 will get through with no tax. Always ask the dealer if they'll mind putting 'educational items' or lower the value of the enclosed invoice.

Thanks seige thats a good top tip.

I can tell you that in Israel Import and costumes tax have 3 factors:

1) the kind of item you are receiving (but I don't think there are regulations for books and cards, but again it's all about the amount).

2)the price you paid, which can easily be "cheated" (if I may call it that way) by declaring the package as a gift (so the price that have to be declared is just the shipping price, sometimes it's 10$+the shipping price, not sure).

3)weight, In Israel the max package weight without having to pay tax is 20 kilos.

So to avoid having to pay crazy taxes the next time, make sure to check what your country costume regulations are about weight, and then check what the weight of what you are ordering is. and also make sure to tell the seller to declare the package as a gift when he mails it, that way it may take 1-2 days extra for it get to you, but it will save you a lot of money.

Cheers mate.

ive heard the whole gift thing before but educational items sounds good because they are!

i think the main hurdle is convincing ellusionist to put tht on but i think on the check out if your shipping to a different address you can have a message to the recipient ill just have to pay it if not but thanks dudes as always!

Thought that some of you may be interested in an update before ordering from abroad....

I thought that I'd take advantage of the current exchange rate and I ordered a few items from the States. Having taken an age to arrive I found out yesterday that they have been stuck in customs for over a week and the post office tried to deliver two packages yesterday but Mrs dat didn't have the £36.10 in readies for the postman. They wouldn't take a cheque and can't take a debit card at the door (obviously). Postie left a card saying that insufficient postage had been paid by the sender (turned out not to be true).

Anyway, looking at HMRC's web I found out that you won't be charged duty on anything bought under £18 or £36 if it's a gift. Customs also use a different exchange rate to work out values and they fix the rate at the beginning of the month. When you are charged duty, this is calculated as a percentage of the cost of the items WITH the cost of the postage added on top.

Example: if the item is $70 and the postage is a further $20 then the duty is charged on $90.

For most items the duty is between 3% and 5% but after this percentage has been added, they then work out and add the 17.5% VAT.

So it's now $70 + $20, apply their exchange rate, add duty if applicable and then add 17.5% VAT.

You should note that if the sender wrongly describes and prices the goods sent then you are liable for their error and a fine may follow and the goods can be destroyed and you lose the shipment, particularly as they can open the box and check. These guys also have the internet to check prices if they open your box and they do it all the time so will know what is and isn'd dodgy. It's not really worth asking the sender to mark down the price for the sake of a few decks of cards if that's what you are ordering.

This process occurs whichever method of shipping you use. Sometimes you'll be lucky and have nothing added but other times you will. Swings and roundabouts.

The sting is in the handling charge made by Royal Mail which has now gone up to £8 per item from £4. This is where you need to be clever when ordering!

As an example, let's say that normal surface mail costs $19, is dog slow as it goes over land before ending up in the hands of the post office. When they add their £8, the total cost of the postage is $35 or there abouts. You can usually pay an extra $4 to upgrade postage to DHL air or priority for a little more with the benefit of it being trackable, much quicker and no additional cost from DHL for handling it. Work out your postage as this is where you can save a few pounds and it's probably cheaper to upgrade to DHL as spending £2 or £3 more at that end can save you a fiver or more at this side of the water.

Overall, it turned out that I only saved about £20 on a spend of £180 by the time I added all of the costs and it took three weeks longer than buying it in the UK. I could argue that it's better in my pocket but the convenience factor and the trip to the post office where you can never park plays a part.

Maybe there's not such a large advantage to the exchange rates when you take everything into consideration. It's only worth buying something abroad if you can't get it in the UK in my opinion(which was the case for one of the packages).

P.S. Why did it take THREE people at the collection office to sort a customs package when it took just one for normal parcels?

that probably explains why I got charged £32 import tax on a deluxe spider-man costume but only got charged £16 for a custom made freddy glove (which weighed more than the aforementioned item but it was more expensive) Both items were on ebay.com and I don't think I'll be ordering from the US anymore its probably cheaper to go over there and pick it up while on holiday

Forgot to mention that on the HMRC web site there is a guide that shows what the percentage of duty is for most items.

If you want to appeal against high levels of duty (probably little point) but it may be better to argue that magic accessories are toys as they attract little duty

It's a very false economy to think you are getting a better deal sometimes.

For all the reasons above, basically.

As ever, I back this up by example...

When the new iPod Classic and Nano were introduced recently, I treated Mrs Seige and myself to the lovely new metal-clad pleasures.

Upon arrival, we realised they were so lovely that we didn't want them scratched. A quick hunt of the internet was showing no 'non-tacky' cases or protection in the UK. With lead times of up to 3 weeks on the nicer cases/protectors, I decided to buy from the US, where prices were a lot more reasonable.

So, two iPod cases, leather, and a bonus of treating myself to some Senheiser inner-ear phones (to justify the cost of postage) came to just over $200. Carriage was $60 for 'expidited'.

Five days later, after the weekend had passed and given time for our bits to cross various modes of transport to arrive, a UPS delivery brought the goods in safe and sound. Along with a 'Cash on delivery' charge of £28, for taxes and 'brokerage'.

The grand total of the order ended up at costing £160. And took 5 days to arrive.

Now, just a month down the line, the same items are available here in the UK at Amazon.

Total cost would be £128, with free delivery.

So... by 'wanting it now', we have basically wasted £32.

Therefore, although the 'very tempting exchange rate' and availability are evidently a lot more enticing, it is completely crazy to assume that one is getting a better deal.

Oh, and re: bringing things back from holiday... keep any receipts etc. and don't buy for friends. I have heard a tale of a chap bringing back three ipods from the US with the intention of selling them on eBay, and getting absolutely whacked by customs. How true this is I cannot verify, but if you are purchasing abroad to bring to the UK, be mindful of what could be conisdered 'for your own use/gifts' and what blatantly looks like 'getting a stock in for yourself and friends'

steves magic emporium and hank lee mark the boxes "educational gifts"..

never been charged...

and quite a few single sellers do the same...ed fowler, john riggs..they use the $11-15 dollar flat rate envelopes usually...

a while back, i ordered the complete series of heroes, 9 disc set from amazon.com...$36! 18 quid..got whacked with a tenner from customs on top mind...

but it was still cheaper than over here! episodes 1-11 are £35-39 at the moment..

abraxus wrote:steves magic emporium and hank lee mark the boxes "educational gifts"..

This is great, so long as they aren't including an invoice inside.

I used to do the same when sending items abroad to non EU countries, but being honest, it would be me who got into trouble, so for the sake of being on the right side of the taxman, I'm now honest with the duty.

If you must buy from the US, the safest thing is books - the £18 limit doesn't apply - there's no duty because they are zero-rated for VAT.

Barry

That may indeed be true... but I've been charged for importing books before now as they have been marked up incorrectly on the declarations. And I always pay £11 brokerage no matter how big or small an order.

Always make sure the sender is aware that you'd like the customs form filler in person to have a bit of consideration!

Great, you're all filling me with dread at the thought of my Scorpion coming through from Outlaw...I hope that Roth marks it as a gift...