2005Off Topic forum
International shipping costs and import taxes when sending goods from the US to the UK
21 years old. Gear and prices may have changed since.
DisputedParticipants disagreed and reached no conclusion. Read the findings as positions, not as an answer.
What the thread found
- Import duty and VAT charges are assessed by the destination country, not by the shipping company, and can be substantial—potentially up to 100% of the declared value.
- Shipping companies typically apply VAT to all transactions assuming commercial sales, even for used personal sales between individuals.
- The recipient is usually responsible for paying import taxes upon delivery, though this should ideally be negotiated between buyer and seller beforehand.
- Declaring items as gifts on customs labels may reduce or eliminate tax liability, though there are value thresholds and insurance complications with this approach.
- VAT-registered buyers in the UK can potentially reclaim VAT charges if they possess the seller's registration number.
- Used personal sales between non-VAT-registered parties within Europe generally do not attract VAT, but using freight agents and declaring items as personal effects rather than commercial shipments may affect tax treatment.
- Using a standard freight agent to ship as personal effects may result in lower tax classification than using courier services like FedEx.
- Import duty rates and VAT percentages vary by country and product category, with duty potentially ranging from 2-45% depending on the item classification.
- Shipping companies often cannot provide advance estimates of what import taxes will be charged, making it difficult for shippers to evaluate total costs before committing to a shipment.
- Negotiating reduced tax charges with shipping companies is sometimes possible after a bill has been issued.
Depends on
- The discussion is from 2005 and tax rates and regulations may have changed significantly since then.
- Specific tariff numbers and duty rates mentioned are stated as approximate and from several years prior to 2005, making them potentially outdated.
- The claim about a specific tariff number for low-duty classification could not be verified and was not precisely remembered by the participant.
- Whether the buyer or seller bears tax responsibility depends on the sales agreement and local regulations, which were not clearly established in the original transaction.
- Different countries and regions have different duty rates and VAT percentages, so outcomes will vary by location.
- The extent to which shipping companies will negotiate reduced charges after billing is unclear.