TAX

[stanwax]

VAT & import duty paid to customs and excise.

As I said the money will be vat and duty.

who's pocket am I lining.

Nobody is getting their pocket 'lined'

If I go into a club I expect to pay a door charge, if I go on holiday I expect to pay for the flight, if I send something throught the post I expect to pay for shipping

and if you import goods you expect to pay import duty - its no big secret!

but what is this bloody tax for, tax for what? Who does it end up going to? The shipping compnay, govenment.

The tax is VAT and Duty that the customs and excise collect for the government.

I admint I don't really knwo what I'm talking about

No Shit

Do you kick up this much fuss when you buy anything that has VAT added - and I assure you if its come from abroad you will be paying the duty too.

Rob

PS anyone got a wall I can bang my head on?

[laserLips]

[greenalien]

In the UK, Customs & Excise and the Inland Revenue are now the same outfit, responsible for all tax collection. Almost everything you buy has VAT on it, it's effectively a sales tax. The only way to avoid paying VAT is not to spend any money! However, if you are a VAT registered business, you can claim back any VAT you've laid out, but you have to charge VAT for your sales and services, and account for it on a regular basis, so you effectively work as an unpaid tax collector for the government. There's no minimum turnover required to register a business for VAT; probably not worth doing for a 'hobby' but a good idea for any business venture, provided your customers are also VAT registered, as you can also get the VAT back on some vehicles (vans but not cars) and anything else you buy for the business. You have to charge your customers VAT but they can then claim it back. The reason for import duty, of course, is to pay the unemployment benefit for people who've lost their jobs due to cheap imports!!

[soforene]

... The reason for import duty is to pay the unemployment benefit for people who've lost their jobs due to cheap imports!!

Not to mention the millions of migrants flooding into this country and straight away sticking their hand "in the pot".
The same pot that I pay into to pay for my pension and my NHS bills in case I need 'em !!

Don't even go there, Gurlfriend !!

[The_Doctor]

I feel sorry for you guys. We don't have those crazy taxes over here. If I were you I'd throw all of your tea into the bay.

Funny. That was my first history lesson at primary school. First one I remember, anyway.

I got bitten by tax on some nice rotary switches from the US recently. VAT was ok, just 7 quid, but they wanted another 8 for 'handling'. Obvious bullshit. Not going to do anything about it though, it obviously won't succeed, for the simple reason that the trouble it puts them through will be deemed worth more than the £8. They won't tell me that, of course, they'll just quote bell, book and candle at me, but that's the raw of it.

Going to be walloped again, no doubt, four bluetooth serial adapters from the US. I can almost hear those dry grey little tax-man hands a-rubbing over their mean little candle in the night. Easy to see why Dickens and Shakespeare and damned near anyone with a literary streak has fun at their expense. I put it down to therapy, of a sort.

[norty303]

Actually, bare circuit boards shouldn't attract any import duty currently, one of the other benefits of buying the FB3 OEM 'kit', it's not a finished product and could be viewed as parts.

I've asked Pangolin to mark my package with the correct TARIC code, and hopefully that'll ensure it only attracts the VAT man, and not C&E.

TARIC lookup is linked below

http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/dds/tarhome_en.htm

[PNjunction]

LOL!

I can almost hear those dry grey little tax-man hands a-rubbing over their mean little candle in the night.

And all this time I thought it was locust making that sound! Perhaps they, and the tax-men are somehow related?

Stan, I'm with Sir Lips on this. I'm also not willing to accept certain things on the level of simply "it's the law", or that's just the way it is. Granted, your responses may not represent your full view on the matter, but then, the cry for any justification (or lack thereof) for import taxes and duties, didn't appear to resonate with you.

Perhaps I'm wrong.

[noiseboy]

The question to ask, is how much did you pay duty, and how much handling fees of the courier, normally the courier adds an a lot onto the duty. I seem to remember, c&E can invoice you for the duty, but the courier has no right in holding the parcel up till its payed (they arent allowed to delay delivery) I also seem to remember you can contest the couriers charges as you never contracted them to be your clearing agent! (I`ll root around and see if I can find the information for you, its on a forum somewhere)