ordering from abroad to get cheaper

[RabbieBurns]

BBC NEWS | Business | Internet shoppers get duty break

Just in time for xmas

[plexer]

silver or gold jewellery (2.5%), or imitation silver and gold jewellery (4%).

Great lets all buy real silver and gold then.

Ben

[FN-GM]

In Australia the iPod touch was £110, thats considerably cheaper than here.

[tom_newton]

Unfortunately as the pound is currently worth about 3 milk bottle tops, you won't actually be able to buy anything! Still, it is not all bad news - SmoothWall does a huge chunk of its business overseas, but mostly we buy in britain... the low pound really is a(nother) decent reason to "buy british" wherever possible!

[DMcCoy]

Once you add VAT and postage it's often not all that different anyway especially as the £ has dropped by 25% against the $

[contink]

Once you add VAT and postage it's often not all that different anyway especially as the £ has dropped by 25% against the $

Not forgetting the charge levied for collecting the VAT in the first place... Oh and if anyone thought that VAT was levied at a standard 17.5% across the board... Think again.. It is never that simple.

I usually factor in around 25% extra cost now for any purchases from abroad.

[JohnMason]

Wait, so we still pay VAT on duty free goods we have brought in?

I thought all we'd be paying is delivery, and that VAT and duty were interchangeable?

[contink]

Wait, so we still pay VAT on duty free goods we have brought in?

I thought all we'd be paying is delivery, and that VAT and duty were interchangeable?

Erm... no... Duty free goods are just that.. "duty free".

We're talking about ordering and getting stuff delivered from abroad, specifically from anywhere outside of the EU.

[DMcCoy]

Wait, so we still pay VAT on duty free goods we have brought in?

I thought all we'd be paying is delivery, and that VAT and duty were interchangeable?

It depends if you are buying abroad and bringing it back or just ordering it online. If you are ordering items online then you may still be liable for VAT depending where you buy it.

HM Revenue & Customs

[Andrew_C]

I don't mind paying VAT on stuff ordered abroad providing I don't get hit for "sales tax" of whatever variety in the source country.

What I do find objectionable is the thieving Post Office charging me £8.50 to collect £1.70 of duty on ONE T shirt! [/rant]

[CHR1S]

I was once charged a £30 opening and inspection fee on a Zen I ordered from the states.

[dtakias]

May I add a few points.

Sending things as gifts doesn't work anymore as the law says that everything should go through charges if over the amount they specify.

What you can do is tell the seller to declare it as a used item and mark the value for something like $10. Also not to include any invoice inside or outside of the parcel. Then Customs will not put any charge on your order. If the order has been insured there will be a charge based on the insured value. I have imported laptops from abroad by using this procedure without having to pay any extra money

[Andrew_C]

I suspect that C&E would regard this as "evading duty", and you'd get a good legal kicking if you get found out!

[dtakias]

Well it's only second hand equipment I am talking about and I believe people shouldn't have to pay VAT when comes to getting used items from abroad.

We pay new staff too expensive already over here. It's that $1:£1 ratio that makes a 300$ laptop to cost £300 over here