Page 1 of Buying in USA and bringing into UK

Can anyone work out how much duty/tax you`d have to pay to bring an item purchased in US for personal use in UK? Or have a number to contact. I know your duty allowance is £145

I`ve tried looking at various sites but still can`t work it out!

Cheers
Niteowl

if you are bringing it back yourself, customs at uk airports aren`t usually too bothered... so long as you can prove its for your own use! I recently came back from the states... between us we had several thousand pounds worth of items where we had made savings purchasing over there... the customs werent interested at all at heathrow!



`i am going to live forever or die trying`

yup.. you needn`t worry.. came back from Florida through Manchester Airport with 2 extra suitcases.. there wasn`t even anyone there to check!

We arrived back yesterday early morning - there were a few customs officials checking bags. As it happened, we collected one of our suitcases, the other didn`t arrive until a few flights later. Yep that was the one with the DVD`s and other duty items I`d purchased in US. It was finally delivered to us late evening.

Whilst I appreciate what you`re saying, it`s still a risk I don`t want to take, especially since I want to get a $1,500 camera (more if I get extra lens) and am likely to take it with me on other holiday trips, so don`t want to be worrying about it everytime I go through customs from USA. The camera incidentally only has US warranty and US serial no, we checked while out there.

I was hoping if the duty was reasonable, I could get a friend to get it for me next time they go to US or even I could on my next trip and declare it for peace of mind.

Cheers Niteowl

This item was edited on Saturday, 28th October 2006, 13:24

I can understand your concern, but i think you would be a mug to pay the tax when nobody else does :/ You are just as likely to be stopped having paid the duty, and there is no way that anybody would bother with questioning a camera let alone searching into it to discover it was a US serial number! I bought a £1500 leather coat when in Vegas this month, and just wore it home! :D



The Bigman Cometh

Click the Common Internet Goods Pdf link to see some customs duty/VAT rates.

http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageTravel_ShowContent&id=HMCE_PROD_009989&propertyType=document

If still unclear, e-mail Customs.
(They might also want to know one of their law enforcement equivalents doesn`t declare his purchases at the red point.... tut tut ms999... :o )

Quote:
They might also want to know one of their law enforcement equivalents doesn`t declare his purchases at the red point.... tut tut ms999... i just said they weren`t interested!!! ;)



`i am going to live forever or die trying`

Ive been to the states so many times and brought tons of stuff back without been questioned once. If anyone asks you could always say you bought it before you went. They arent going to look that hard at your stuff

"It`s not a schooner, it`s a sailboat"...

This item was edited on Saturday, 28th October 2006, 19:29

Just take the tags off, throw the box and manuals away, and pretend you didn`t buy it in America. Chances of being stopped and searched through customs are low. Or you could post it to yourself. Unless it`s really big.

My goodness, a copper breaking the law, who`d have thought :-)