Buying things from the US online: VAT/fees?

Hi everyone. Here's my non-urgent situation. I'm an action figure collector. I'm trying to track down some discontinued Harry Potter figures from NECA online, and as I've looked around online, it's looking like more people are selling them online in America rather than in the UK.

I am concerned, however, about the whole VAT/customs fees/etc. that I would have to pay to get receive these figures/packages. I need someone to explain to me like I'm a five year old exactly what fees get charged to international packages, what the percentages are and such. I've heard that VAT is 20%. I've also heard not all packages get charged this or any other fees, and it's just luck of the draw.

I have also heard that there is a certain value amount, where if the package is worth less than this certain amount, no fees will be applied. I just can't find any information as to what this value amount is, or if it even exists.

Can somebody please explain all this stuff to me? I would absolutely hate to make an international purchase, then be asked by customs/Royal Mail/whoever to fork out "x" amount of pounds to get what I bought.

From http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/customs/post/buying.htm :

If you order or send purchased goods other than alcohol, tobacco, perfume and toilet water from a country outside the EU then you:
don't have to pay Excise Duty
may have to pay Customs Duty on goods with a value that exceeds £135
will have to pay import VAT on goods with a value that exceeds £15
Note that on all goods from outside the EU, Customs Duty is waived if the amount of duty calculated is £9 or under.

I'm still confused though, because my husband bought me something online from America a few months ago. It cost about 20 pounds. My math sucks, but isn't 20 percent of 20...4?

It's under 135 pounds, so no customs duty.

It's over 15, so he would have to pay VAT. But again, wouldn't that just be four pounds? He ended up having to pay 12 quid extra. Not a lot, but that's over half the value of the item he bought.

Right now, financially, I can handle paying 15 pounds for the item I'm after. I can't justify having to end up paying almost 30, though, and I'm afraid something like that will happen since my husband got slapped with some random charge, it seems.

Hi,

In the link given above, do call the HMRC so you can speak to someone and understand a little more. The reason I say it is so that the person there can look up which catagory action figures are in and if by any chance they have any exemptions etc.

On the whole, if it turns out that the figures are applicable to the usual duties etc then think of the following scenario;

Action figure - Worth $40 or around £25.
Insured postage from the USA to UK - $20 or around £12.50
Total from the US = $40 + $20 = $60 USD
Arrival in the UK - Value is $60 USD converted to GBP = £37.50.
VAT = 20% so puts on 20% of £37.50 = £45
Import duty = £varies - but lets take 10% (which is what I mentally always incorporate into values when I import) 10% of £25 = £2.50
Customs Clearance/admin charges £varies - lets call it £8

So your total landed cost would be £45+2.50+£8 = £55.50

Pretty much all the products I import will follow the above structure. Do remember, that deliberately writing lower value amounts so that less duty/tax is applied is illegal  , and if anything was to go missing during transit, you'd only be able to claim for the amount that was falsely written up.

If the item does have exemptions, or is applicable to lower rates etc, then of course your final landed cost price figure will be lower.

Hope this helps

Cheers, DtM! West London & Slough UK!

He ended up having to pay 12 quid extra. Not a lot, but that's over half the value of the item he bought.

The problem is that the company supplying your delivery can (and will) charge you extra for handling the customs clearance and for holding the item while they contact you to get you to pay them. I think in the past this charge has been somewhere around £8 for me.