Page 1 of I think Customs have overcharged? Do I dispute? Am I right?

General Forum

I think Customs have overcharged? Do I dispute? Am I right?

1mills (Elite) posted this on Wednesday, 18th April 2007, 22:25

Right I`ve bought The Shield Season 5 from Amazon.com and it cost £24.63 (that`s what they charged me, just checked online banking).

Basically it has got stopped by Customs and they have sent me a note saying I owe £11.57!

Now VAT is 17.5% so that tax payable is £4.31, I thought those were very excessive admin charges but reading the small print on the note is says I have been charged £1 for handling so basically they are saying that £10.57 is tax, which means that I have paid 47% import duty.

Do I go in tomorrow morning and tell them to shove it up their arse, because it says I have only been charged £1 handling on the card so I don`t see how they can argue it`s other admin charges.

Edit- Forgot about duty but below is from the Revenue website, so still overcharging in my opinions the twats.

Quote:
Where the value of gifts is below £290 per consignment a flat rate of duty of 3.5% will be applied, but only if it is to your advantage.




My DVD collection

This item was edited on Wednesday, 18th April 2007, 23:39

RE: I think Customs have overcharged? Do I dispute? Am I right?

mattwhite1 (Elite) posted this on Wednesday, 18th April 2007, 22:45

You will actually discover mate that RM now charge £8 just for the handling fee alone. I started a thread about this around 4 weeks ago - went up on 1st April.

Basically makes it impossible to import a boxset cheaply. Just goes to show as well how much we missed the likes of DVD Import before they turned to the Dark Side of DVD Soon.



RE: I think Customs have overcharged? Do I dispute? Am I right?

1mills (Elite) posted this on Wednesday, 18th April 2007, 22:49

Quote:
You will actually discover mate that RM now charge £8 just for the handling fee alone. I started a thread about this around 4 weeks ago - went up on 1st April.


I had a feeling this might be the case, I`m still going to dispute as they have delivered with a form saying I have been charged a £1 handling fee so I don`t see how they can charge more?



My DVD collection

This item was edited on Wednesday, 18th April 2007, 23:50

RE: I think Customs have overcharged? Do I dispute? Am I right?

mattwhite1 (Elite) posted this on Wednesday, 18th April 2007, 23:02

Let me know how you get along mate - thieving barstewards >:(



RE: I think Customs have overcharged? Do I dispute? Am I right?

1mills (Elite) posted this on Thursday, 19th April 2007, 06:53

No joy, £3.57 import tax plus £8 international handling fee like you said.

Proper makes it a pain in the arse now for Region 1, especially if you are only just over the £18 mark.




My DVD collection

RE: I think Customs have overcharged? Do I dispute? Am I right?

bowfer (Elite) posted this on Thursday, 19th April 2007, 08:15

The rate of duty on DVDs is 3.5%
That is calculated on the value + shipping costs
VAT is then calculated on value + shipping costs + duty
I do this day in,day out.
So even a rough calculation means £24.63 x 3.5% = £ 0.86 duty
VAT = £ 24.63 + £ 0.86 x 17.5% = £ 4.46 VAT.
So I make your bill (excluding handling fees) £ 5.32
If customs have charged you less,you may have scored from a better customs rates of exchange than you were levied by your credit card.
The current customs rate for April USD rate is 1.9596.

Changed days though.
Time was duty rates were a LOT higher.
Most are free now,which is indicative of the fact we don`t manufacture much of f*** all these days,so there`s little industry to protect ! :/

This item was edited on Thursday, 19th April 2007, 09:24

RE: I think Customs have overcharged? Do I dispute? Am I right?

mattwhite1 (Elite) posted this on Thursday, 19th April 2007, 13:39

Quote:
No joy, £3.57 import tax plus £8 international handling fee like you said.

Proper makes it a pain in the arse now for Region 1, especially if you are only just over the £18 mark.


It so does make it a pain in the arris. Basically if you want a boxset thats over £18, you have to go to one of the more expensive places like Movietyme, CD Wow or DVDWorldUSA - who are now not far off UK High Street prices.

Is a really bummer to be honest. Like I say, makes you miss the likes of DVD Import, who albeit slow, were not notch on customs declarations before they turned to the dark side.



RE: I think Customs have overcharged? Do I dispute? Am I right?

SteveBanana (Elite) posted this on Thursday, 19th April 2007, 17:56

Bowfer
What about the waiver on the customs duty element if it`s less than £7?
So would just be VAT on the total of the cost plus shipping.

RE: I think Customs have overcharged? Do I dispute? Am I right?

bowfer (Elite) posted this on Friday, 20th April 2007, 08:43

Quote:
What about the waiver on the customs duty element if it`s less than £7?


Cancellation of the duty itself if it`s less than £7,or cancellation of the duty involved if the value of the goods is less than £7 ?
Can`t see the former being the case,coz that would lose them loads per annum.
Could be the latter,given that an average duty rate (3%) would only nett them £0.21 duty.
Never heard of anything like this though.
Might be something peculiar to personal / postage imports,but I don`t deal with either (thankfully).
There`s certainly no cancellation of duty for commercial imports,they take the lot.

This item was edited on Friday, 20th April 2007, 09:45

Go back to General Forum threads, or All Forum threads