UK taxes on imported cosmetics

[Cerydwen]

Hi,

Do any of you lovely ladies who buy cosmetics on the Internet from abroad know if there's a way to pay the import duty/customs charges in advance, to avoid having to pay the fine to the Post Office before they will deliver items? My daughters and I buy quite a lot of cosmetic products from the US (particularly from Morgana Cryptoria - her products are amazing!), and I'm a little tired of having to either restrict my purchases to under £18, which doesn't pay for a lot, or face being fined by the post office for not paying the duty in advance. The Post Office charges seem quite extrotionate in relation to the cost of purchases and I'd far rather spend this extra money on more cosmetics, than put it into the Post Office's pocket!

I've looked on the HM Revenue & Customs website (see extract below), but couldn't find anything useful there - they seem to be in cahoots with the PO:

[h=3]'Customs Duty[/h] [h=3]If you're ordering goods from outside the EU, any Customs Duty must be paid by recipient once the goods have arrived in the UK but before the goods are delivered.[/h] [h=3]Import VAT[/h] [h=3]If you're ordering goods from outside the EU, any Import VAT must be paid by the recipient once the goods have arrived in the UK but before the goods are delivered.[/h] [h=3]In addition, there may also be a handling fee to pay to the carrier. Follow the link below to find out more.'[/h]
If anyone knows a way round this problem, I'd be very grateful to hear about it.

Thanks! xxx

 

[rockin]

No idea, sorry, but those Post Office 'handling charges' are extortionate, and often way above the amount of the actual Customs Duty and Import VAT. It seems they have us over a barrel

 

[anita22]

Hi Cerydwen

It's mainly the VAT you need to worry about as this applies if the value exceeds 18 pounds. The customs charges may only apply if the value exceeds 135 pounds.

Unfortunately it does not seem to like there is a straightforward way around the problem. As far as I am aware, the "prepayment" of VAT can only be done under very particular circumstances. See below:

[h=2]3.4 Prepayment of import VAT on goods purchased over the internet[/h] UK Customs has special arrangements that allow some overseas traders to charge, collect and pay over to us the import VAT for goods purchased on the internet that would normally be chargeable at the time the goods are imported. These arrangements operate under Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) signed with certain overseas customs and postal authorities. The countries that have an MoU with HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) are: Channel Islands, Hong Kong, Singapore and New Zealand. Overseas traders wanting to use this procedure must be authorised to do so by their authorities.
Once authorised, foreign businesses are issued with a unique authorisation number, which they must show on the customs declaration or packaging. Also they will include the statement 'Import VAT Prepaid'.
Where these arrangements are used you will not be charged a Royal Mail handling fee when you receive your package.
If you are a VAT registered business and purchase goods for use in your business you should keep the outer wrapper and invoice from the supplier to support your claim to input tax.

Link: http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageLibrary_PublicNoticesAndInfoSheets&propertyType=document&columns=1&id=HMCE_CL_000014#P139_13047

The only example I can think of for a company who does this is StrawberryNet. They are a cosmetics retailer based in Hong Kong, and all their items come with the VAT prepaid. However, often the prices are higher than what we would pay here in the UK anyway :-(

Sorry if this doesn't really offer a solution to your problem, however I hope it helps shed some light at least!

 

[Cerydwen]

Thanks for your very detailed and helpful response Anita! At least now I know I'm not overlooking anything. I guess I'll just have to exercise some self-control and keep my orders to £18 or under

xxx