Duty Tax

I am hoping someone out there knows the answer to this.  I purchased something and had it shipped here to the UK.  The Declared value was $ 190 USD.  I am being charged £ 50.79 in duty.  This is close to the actual declared value.  Where is this amount coming from.  I tried the UK Government web site to see the rates but I cannot find anything.  Even if I do VAT at 17.5% it does not come even close to £ 50.79.  Any advice would be very helpful. 

I never figured out how the calculate it, but it is high.  I had a package shipped and it's declared value was $120 and I had to pay 35 GBP.  Some of it was "fees" and some was the VAT. 

Take away the VAT and the remainder will be the fees from the handlers, Parcel Farce etc.

Call the company and ask for a breakdown of fees. 

There is some sort of ridiculous fee for them picking it up from the depot on top of everything else.  It's just a bunch of nonsense. 

I once ordered $40 worth of t-shirts from my favorite American t-shirt website and was charged £12. I thought it was slightly ridiculous, but you don't really have much choice.

Thanks everyone,

I have asked FedEX to break down the charges.  Still waiting for a response.  I am not paying till I know what I am being charged because it is crazy what I am being charged.  Even if I am paying VAT and I rounded the VAT bill up it would only come to £ 20.00 not over £ 50.   

If you are shopping from overseas you owe:

Customs Duty
Shipping Costs
Admin fees for FedEx etc

Plus VAT on all 3 of the above and the goods.  The tax position is explained here:
http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageTravel_ShowContent&id=HMCE_CL_001454&propertyType=document

This is quite similar to buying out of state goods in the US and declaring these for Sales & Use Tax.  Many States such as New York are requiring declarations of out of state purchases under penalty of perjury on their annual income tax returns.  Be grateful that the UK has not gone that far yet!

thanks for that link.