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Getting stung on Tax/Duty on HK imports
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I’m on the verge of ordering a Canon 40D with 17-85 IS from HK. At 800stg, including P&P, I think it’s a gr8 deal. I know they say it’s “friendly” packaged but does anyone ever get stung with Import Duty and VAT?
If you import new goods into the UK there is a threshold of ?18 above which the customs and excise take an interest in and will charge you the vat on the goods and more importantly the post office will charge a mad fee for collecting.
If you dont pay it you dont get the item simple as that, now i got stung importing dvd’s when dvd’s where new (i feel old)
now what i found was it was a bit potluck sometimes you got screwed sometimes you didnt it almost seemded to depend on which parcels got thier labels looked at.
The last time i got caught out it the post office charge was higher than the VAT and the post office will delay your item horribly in the process. Now that said i have bought a few things from HK that flew through customs such as memory (when it was pricey here) and a lens none of which got stopped.
Your camera however (oohhh 40D yummy must stop that!) might get noticed but if the item is used or is a gift there is no VAT to pay
hope thats of some use
Mark
It’s absolutley essential that you:
1) Have your supplier ship the item using something like EMS so that you have a shipment tracking number
2) Pay with Paypal and make sure that your Seller has adequate Paypal coverage (you’ll see this detail beneath Meet the Seller on the auction listing)I got my 40D from this guy in the UK (http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQfgtpZ1QQfrppZ25QQsassZeQ5frakuten) at a great price. I think he imports them from Japan and then ships from the UK so no hassle whatsoever with tax & duty. He doesn’t have any listed at the moment but if you e-mail him he may have some in stock which he can list for you.
These guys, based in HK, are also excellent suppliers and should be able to hook you up
Remember too that camera bodies are exempt from excise duty, though VAT is still applicable.
Shop around, and don’t forget to check prices in the US; with the Dollar so weak at the moment
you could still make significant savings even if you do have to pay VAT…Rob.
nfl-fan wrote:
It’s absolutley essential that you:
1) Get your supplier to mark the package as a… cough, cough
Just remember that if you declare something as being something else you are breaking the law and it can be serious….particularly if the Taxman is involved. It can come back to bite later on. Its just that most items are now passing through a powerful scanning device which sees right through as if the items inside were on full display on the table.
VAT & Tax Evasion are not too popular anymore and the last thing you want is a full revenue audit which is no longer confined to self employed and business people. I now see employees being audited also.Just something to keep in mind………….and you’d be amazed at who’s reading and posting on this site !
GCP wrote:
nfl-fan wrote:
It’s absolutley essential that you:
1) Get your supplier to mark the package as a… cough, cough
Just remember that if you declare something as being something else you are breaking the law and it can be serious….particularly if the Taxman is involved. It can come back to bite later on. Its just that most items are now passing through a powerful scanning device which sees right through as if the items inside were on full display on the table.
VAT & Tax Evasion are not too popular anymore and the last thing you want is a full revenue audit which is no longer confined to self employed and business people. I now see employees being audited also.Just something to keep in mind………….and you’d be amazed at who’s reading and posting on this site !
True,lol.
Rumour has it that Charlie Haughey was found to have a large collection of Canon L lenses that he was given as a ‘present’ from a property developer.
Given that Bertie Ahern has been dodging the taxman since his days as Minister for Finance and Fianna Fail were recently re-elected there’s a lot to be said for trying to skimp on the taxman.
The Revenue have bigger fish to fry… doctors, lawyers, poloticians, property developers etc, etc… who owe the taxman millions… get investigated… the taxman figures that they owe them ?10m, now this is only the ?10m they un-cover, the true figure could be ?20m… they settle for ?3m… so the rich man has managed to save himself ?17m and the taxman is happy… not a bad deal… I wish I could recoup ?17 out of every ?20 tax I pay.
So I’m sure that you’re not going to get sentanced to prison for ?50-?100.
PS. It also seems to be against the law to get a bargain in this country… e.g. everyone else in EU can shop around within the EU for a new car… but if you live in Ireland you are forced to pay crazy VRT costs which totally negates the savings you could have made if you bought your car in Holland for example.
Then the government are happy to sit there and let all the Irish car dealers run cozy cartels… no competition whatsoever.
In the UK competition is so much that you can go in and haggle and get your car equiped with alloy wheels, mud-flaps, a full tank of petrol, a CD Player etc, etc on the free… in Ireland you drive your car off the forecourt and you have to stop 5 mins down the road because the petrol light has come on.
I know the Car Trade has nothing to do with Cameras… but I’m just trying to illustrate how crappy the Irish market is. Given the cost of stuff in this country you could nearly get a cheap flight to New York, buy your lens while you’re there and fly home the same day and it would cost you less than heading downtown in Dublin!!!
You got that right….. when I moved home from the UK a few years back they tried to hit me with VRT on a car and m/bike, I had to prove I was living/working over there and owned them for more than 6 mnths. I’m sure there’s punters who’d just have said “Oh Ok” and written a cheque.
Now… do Ryanair fly to NewYork??
I may not be importing now, I’ve scourced a Siggy 70-200 f2.8, in the UK. Wahoo, which means I get to keep me Alpha and shake-reduction.
What did they do… spend ?10m on a tribunal in order to figure out that the car and m/bike were in your posession for 6 months?
Ah.. tribunals… now I realize why it’s so important that we all pay our taxes in an honest and timely fashion… :D If p*ssing money down the drain was an Olympic Sport the Irish Govnt would be a cert for the Gold medal every 4 years!!!
GCP wrote:
…you’d be amazed at who’s reading and posting on this site !
I agree Gerry – that’s a thought that has often crossed my mind. A loose tongue can cause more hassle than it’s worth and could see a tightening of controls in the long run, which will inevitably also affect those people importing legitimately and paying their duties and taxes. And let’s not forget the fact that there may be repercussions for the site and it’s owner if it’s seen to be propagating information likely to lead to illegal activity (such as tax evasion).
That being said, it is still possible to import goods completely legally, paying your duties and taxes and still end up with a bargain, such is the cost of equipment over here (along with favourable exchange rates). Even buying within the EU can save you money over buying here and there are no additional duty or VAT charges (the Canon EOS 5D can be had for ?800.00 cheaper than it is here, incl. taxes, but excl. shipping).
But sure what sort of example does it set when the people who govern the state are implicated in all sorts of tax evasion and fraud on a scale that is far higher than anything related to the purchased of a camera or a lens or when multi-millionaire tax evaders who do get caught only end up having to pay a tiny fraction of their tax bill.. where’s the fairness in that? The fact that for years many multi-millionaires in this country never had to pay a penny tax is a slap in the face for the average joe…
But sure what sort of example does it set when the people who govern the state are implicated in all sorts of tax evasion and fraud on a scale that is far higher than anything related to the purchased of a camera or a lens or when multi-millionaire tax evaders who do get caught only end up having to pay a tiny fraction of their tax bill.. where’s the fairness in that? The fact that for years many multi-millionaires in this country never had to pay a penny tax is a slap in the face for the average joe…
…said the defendant who attempted to defraud the state out of ?150 VAT. The Judge dismissed the defendants comments as hearsay and handed down a fine.
As much as I’d like to run with this one it is still up to the individual to fulfil their own legal requirements of the state irrespective of their “Leaders” or peers. The legal responsibility lies with you.
And for the record I had an individual deliver an item from an un-named source who told the wife, the recipient, to “…tell them to f*** off” if anyone came to collect the VAT…your Honour…
Alan.
I spotted a member of the Gardai park on double yellow lines yesterday as he nipped into Dunne Stores to buy a sandwich, no BS… I really wanted to make a citizen’s arrest for the craic!!!
I agree with GCP also on this. And as Thorsten says you can legally import goods and pay the relevant taxes.
You should also check the local stores to be honest. When I was purchasing my last camera I actually got it the
same price here in Cork as I could have in the UK. It turned out to have been a good decision as when I needed to
get a serious enough fix done to it a few weeks after purchasing, I simply brought it into them. They managed
the packaging and free postage of the item to the service centre. So short of it is that good deals can be got here in Ireland
and should you need the customer service afterwards you’ll find it easier.Hi Brian
I have bought camera gear several times from http://www.bhphotovideo.com/ in New York which has been delivered within a couple of days.
I have found FedEx to be much better than UPS (well worth the few extra dollars) as they will invoice any VAT and duty which you can pay by credit card upon reciept of bill in post. UPS insist on payment at the door before handing over the goods and tried to double charge me.
On the issue of price the $ is weak at the moment and when I purcased I made considerable savings over Dublin prices, and all legal.
I have also bought some lens filters from HK through Ebay with no tax issues.
The choice is entirely up to that which you are most comfortable with but as previous posts have pointed out the Revenue are getting much tighter on postal deliveries.
Damian
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