International shipping

[RDH79]

OKk what did I do wrong?
I shipped a pen to the UK and paid the shipping of $23.95.
I get a email from the reciepiant that to pick up the package he must pay 44 pounds. 66 US dollars.
I called the postal service and was told it was a customs tax charge.
Did I mess up when I put a value of $200 on the package?
Thanks
Rich H.

 

[skiprat]

Putting a high price value does mean the recipient will get hit with taxes in the UK
It's a double edged sword though. We really should pay our due taxes, but we don't want our customers to get a surprise sting when they receive it.
My local post office allows me to insure for around £100 value but lets me declare a value that wont attract the tax man on the other side of the pond.
However, I always take out insurance for my protection.

I've been stung twice where Pith partners have been 'optomistic' with their valuation instead of marking it as a gift.:frown:

If you can, then never value the item at more than £38 ( UK limit before tax )

 

[Smitty37]

OKk what did I do wrong?
I shipped a pen to the UK and paid the shipping of $23.95.
I get a email from the reciepiant that to pick up the package he must pay 44 pounds. 66 US dollars.
I called the postal service and was told it was a customs tax charge.
Did I mess up when I put a value of $200 on the package?
Thanks
Rich H.

His beef is with the politicians not with you. It is unlawful in both UK and the United States to put an incorrect value on a shipment so the recipient can avoid paying tax. It is not your concern that UK has a high VAT and a low exemption for imported merchandise.

 

[its_virgil]

I ship to the UK regularly. I mark all pkgs as gifts and a value of $25. Oh, I use first class when possible for about half the price of priority and the shipping time has proved to be close to the same for both.
Do a good turn daily!
Don

 

[skiprat]

So what was the actual value of the item before you marked it as $200 ?
How much did he pay you?

If I buy something of a bargain from someone overseas at a cost of say $50, what do they say when the post office askes them for a value? You should say $50 even if the item is worth more. If you marked it $200 value and it was only worth $50, then you owe him.

 

[Smitty37]

I ship to the UK regularly. I mark all pkgs as gifts and a value of $25. Oh, I use first class when possible for about half the price of priority and the shipping time has proved to be close to the same for both.
Do a good turn daily!
Don

If it is merchandise and worth more than $25.00 you break both US and UK laws when you do that. If you get caught the penalties can be enough that it really isn't worth it. Your customers pay no more in tax than than they'd pay if they bought the item locally.

 

[skiprat]

Your customers pay no more in tax than than they'd pay if they bought the item locally.

Not true Smitty.
If I buy something from you off your site then your price includes your USA sales tax ( GST or VAT )
So now I buy it at that price and you ship it to me.
You charge me say $30 for shipping including insurance

When it lands here, I now pay a variable Customs Duty and 20 %VAT on the entire amount, including shipping and insurance. If it is subject to any fees then it also gets a handling ( clearing ) charge. Around £8 the last time I got stung

If I could buy it locally then I wouldn't have paid the USA sales tax, or the UK customs duty. Or the Vat on the entire total.

Everyone on the planet takes advantage of Duty Free allowances when they travel, so why can't we just buy stuff under a specific value.

Please note that before people are accused of dodging taxes that the OP still hasn't stated what the actual value was. :wink:
It may have only been worth $10 but he thought he may be doing the recipient a favour by marking it £200 for insurance purposes. :biggrin:

 

[ed4copies]

Currently, no internet transactions are subject to the SALES tax in the USA, unless the internet transaction takes place between two members of the same state. ALL international sales are sales tax exempt.

 

[MesquiteMan]

As Ed said, there is no VAT in the US and as such, there is nothing added to the sales price in taxes unless shipping to a person in the same state. Then, state sales and use tax laws apply and may or may not be collectable, depending on the state laws so Smitty is correct.

 

[MesquiteMan]

It may have only been worth $10 but he thought he may be doing the recipient a favour by marking it £200 for insurance purposes. :biggrin:

Which in an of itself is a waste. When you go to collect on a shipping insurance claim, you have to provide documentation showing that value of the item shipped. They will only pay the value regardless of what you had it insured for unless it was insured for less than the value. In that case, they will only pay how much it was insured for. This, of course, assumes you can even get them to pay the insurance claim! I have had ZERO luck getting the USPS to pay an international insurance claim so I no longer waste the customer's money charging for it. I just self insure and take my chances.

 

[Smitty37]

Your customers pay no more in tax than than they'd pay if they bought the item locally.

Not true Smitty.
If I buy something from you off your site then your price includes your USA sales tax ( GST or VAT )
So now I buy it at that price and you ship it to me.
You charge me say $30 for shipping including insurance

When it lands here, I now pay a variable Customs Duty and 20 %VAT on the entire amount, including shipping and insurance. If it is subject to any fees then it also gets a handling ( clearing ) charge. Around £8 the last time I got stung

If I could buy it locally then I wouldn't have paid the USA sales tax, or the UK customs duty. Or the Vat on the entire total.

Everyone on the planet takes advantage of Duty Free allowances when they travel, so why can't we just buy stuff under a specific value.

Please note that before people are accused of dodging taxes that the OP still hasn't stated what the actual value was. :wink:
It may have only been worth $10 but he thought he may be doing the recipient a favour by marking it £200 for insurance purposes. :biggrin:

Yoy are wrong about that. No one should be collecting sales tax from you if the item is shipped to UK. Internet sellers do not have to collect sales tax on items shipped out of state or international be it to UK or elsewhere unless the seller has a physical place of business in the buyer's state. There is debate going on now about imposing a requirement on internet business to collect sales tax for the buyer's state but at present that does not apply. Amazon and some Large sellers will collect sales tax from a number of states due to having some physical presence in that state.

I did not accuse anyone --- I told them that what they described as doing violates both UK and USA law, if for no other reason than identifying merchandise sold as a gift....whatever the price. I have people ask me to do that also. I won't.

 

[Smitty37]

Your customers pay no more in tax than than they'd pay if they bought the item locally.

Not true Smitty.
If I buy something from you off your site then your price includes your USA sales tax ( GST or VAT )
So now I buy it at that price and you ship it to me.
You charge me say $30 for shipping including insurance

When it lands here, I now pay a variable Customs Duty and 20 %VAT on the entire amount, including shipping and insurance. If it is subject to any fees then it also gets a handling ( clearing ) charge. Around £8 the last time I got stung

If I could buy it locally then I wouldn't have paid the USA sales tax, or the UK customs duty. Or the Vat on the entire total.

Everyone on the planet takes advantage of Duty Free allowances when they travel, so why can't we just buy stuff under a specific value.

Please note that before people are accused of dodging taxes that the OP still hasn't stated what the actual value was. :wink:
It may have only been worth $10 but he thought he may be doing the recipient a favour by marking it £200 for insurance purposes. :biggrin:

If it's imported - somebody paid that duty and they have to pas it on to you. They also paid shipping which would have been subject to the duty as well (if your's is) When I assign the value to an international package which is the amount you should pay VAT and Duty on I exclude shipping. I also exclude shipping from insurance (because the insurance company won't pay it).

 

[skiprat]

Well, I don't mind been corrected about the USA sales tax, but we still have to pay customs duty AND vat.

How does USA collect taxes from stuff sold? With mail order growing massively it must be having a devastating effect on the state.

And someone locally to you pays more than someone in a different country!!!
Amazing!!!

 

[Smitty37]

Well, I don't mind been corrected about the USA sales tax, but we still have to pay customs duty AND vat.

How does USA collect taxes from stuff sold? With mail order growing massively it must be having a devastating effect on the state.

And someone locally to you pays more than someone in a different country!!!
Amazing!!!

We are all a bunch of criminals --- except me (Delaware does not have a sales tax). Virtually every state includes in their law that if you buy something in another state that you do not pay sales tax on in the state where you buy it, you are required to pay a "use" tax that is equal to what the sales tax would have been if you bought it in state. The basic problem with that is it is unenforceable except for things like cars where you pay the tax when you register the car. When I send something to a buyer in another state - the buyer is usually responsible to pay the 'use' tax - I seriously doubt you could find a dozen buyers in the whole country (including our lawmakers) who actually do that. Delaware gets a lot of visitors from surrounding states because we don't have that tax - great for our businesses.

 

[ed4copies]

Well, I don't mind been corrected about the USA sales tax, but we still have to pay customs duty AND vat.

How does USA collect taxes from stuff sold? With mail order growing massively it must be having a devastating effect on the state.

And someone locally to you pays more than someone in a different country!!!
Amazing!!!

I buy several products that come through Britain. I pay no VAT, so yes, when I purchase from your country, I pay less than you would.

AMAZING????
Same shoe, different foot.
Seems they believe foreign customers should not pay for their socialized medicine and other "tax benefits".

 

[Smitty37]

We lived for over 30 years on the border between NY and PA and frequently bought things (particularily furniture/appliances, etc in PA and had them delivered to NY. PA did not collect the PA sales tax and we acted the part of scoff laws and didn't fill out the paperwork and pay NY either. Our attitude was that NY was getting their pound of flesh in a multitude of other ways. So many people bought clothing in PA (where clothing was exempt from sales tax) to avoid NY tax that NY declared a sales tax on clothing holiday every year, right around the time folks were buying 'back to school' clothing to keep people buying in state. It didn't work very well.