Digital BW, The Print

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y..., "Bob Frost" <bobfrost@b...> 
wrote:
>A £40 set of cartridges seems to escape duty, but
> if you purchase several hundred pounds worth of stuff from the 
States, UPS
> or Fedex will later send you a bill for about 25% of the cost (as 
I've just
> found out!).

Sorry about this delayed reply.  I'm in the throws of moving flats 
and am still flitting between rooms in 2 other properties owned by 
family.  So I am catching up on the digest version as and when I get 
the chance.

I wanted to share my recent experiences with duties for goods coming 
into the UK.  What I have to say is OT but probably of use to some 
list members.  Apologies in advance.

I recently had Colorvision send me a replacement for a spyder that I 
bought from the US.  It was sent by UPS with a declared value of $50 -
 approx GBP35.  When the UPS guy asked for GBP20.50 in duties and 
handling fees, I hit the roof.  I refused initially to pay and 
contacted Customs & Excise.  I was told that duty is payable for any 
postal import over GBP18.  What a ridiculously low value.  UK based 
list members will know that you are given an allowance of GBP135 for 
goods you carry into the country in person.

Anyway, the C&E officer explained that duty is charged on the FULL 
declared value if over GBP18 (ie GBP18 allowance is not deducted) 
PLUS shipping costs AND THEN VAT is added to the total of that.  That 
came to GBP10.50 in my case.  The sting in the tail was the UPS 
handling charge of GBP10.

I was told that duty rates can vary from 3% to 100% depending on the 
individual product (even within the range of a given product type) 
but my experience is that duties are roughly 20%.

Since this is OT enough, I won't start to guess what US duty rates 
are. :)

K2