How to ship without getting charged VAT?

I'm starting to box and ship some of my things over to my new home in England. I read in another thread about people getting charged VAT for boxes marked as "gifts" on the customs form.

With my items, which are addressed from me, to my wife, should I mark them as "gifts", too? Or "other"? How about value? Do I put actual cost to replace, or some magical, right-under-the-rate number?

You write "used household items" on every box.   I shipped 24 boxes from SF to Bristol on a barge and thats what I wrote on my packing list.   

You can fill out Customs Form C3 - search the HMRC website to find a copy.  Then you can move pretty much as much pre-owned household stuff as you want without paying duty or tax.  I filled it out and shipped with UPS (although the US-end people know nothing about the form).

Yeah, the C 3 Form fairly well lays out what would be taxed.  If this is a move of household, due to a marriage or a CP then it is all free.  A normal move of household only really concerns recently purchased electronics.

It is a note of caution, these days you do run the risk of having your boxes opened.  Because of the heightened security, they may very well pop your boxes to see what is inside if it is rather vague description.

I've been searching the HMRC site for a while, and I can't seem to find the C3 form....any links you can pass along?

Edit: Found it! http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageImport_Forms&propertyType=document&id=HMCE_CL_000308

So, do I just attach these to the outside of the boxes I'm sending over? Like put inside a zip-bag and taped to the sides?

I just sent you an email with the form, but you were faster!

Good luck!

So where do I put this form? In the box? On the box?

So where do I put this form? In the box? On the box?

I dont know, sorry!  I used a shipping company for all my boxes.

I shipped UPS and forced  them to include it in the plastic UPS documents envelop that they glue to the side of the box.  For books shipped USPS I taped an envelope to the side of one of the boxes (it was never opened). 

Word of warning, the C-3 and packing list on my UPS shipment was "lost" before my packages reached the UK.  The UPS lady had forced me to fill out one of their commerical customs forms (we didn't get along very well).  I wrote in big letters on that form that the shipment was duty free and a C-3 had been attached.  Because of this, the UK UPS people were able to contact me and I had to fax them a copy of the C-3 and packing list.  As far as I can tell, someone in the US decided that those documents weren't necessary for the shipment and they were thrown away.  The UK people did a fantastic job of moving my shipment through customs after they got the fax and things were still delivered on their estimated date.  And the US UPS even reimbursed me $50 for the faxes.  So in the end it all worked out, but make sure you have contact details somewhere on the boxes.

I'm thinking I'll attach them myself to the side, using a zip bag. I'm sending them USPS....

Oh....should one go on/in my M-Bag? I'm shipping 45lbs of books.

I put one on my M-Bag shipment (about 400lbs of books) and on my stuff shipment.  I figured that they weren't that hard to fill out, and in the worst case I lose 10 minutes of my life.  In the best case, my packages get pulled for customs inspection and I save myself a big duty bill.  I think I'm the only person I've seen on the board who's used the C-3 on my M-bag shipment.