This happened to me today. Sort of. Mono is due Monday and DHL asking me for £130 ish import duty. Damn.
Import duty or VAT?
because £130 seems a bit steep for import duties.
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“Import Duty/Tax Payment required” it says here. I mean, that’s a bit vague isn’t?
Like, “You, er, owe us some money for er, something or other.”
Yeah, that’s import duty and VAT then.
Most of that (pretty much all of it) will be VAT.
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You should be able to see how the fee structure is broken down on the receipt somewhere before making payment (for some annoying reason, the emailed payment receipt doesn’t break it down though).
Usually their processing fee is around 2.5% of the actual taxation if that helps
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Is this actually a thing then? Ive ordered direct from Elektron thinking I got a good deal, but UPS are stating there’s an extra £130 to be paid for import fees. Now the price is more than if I had just bought in the UK.
Elektron support aren’t even replying to me (though it’s only been 2 days) and I’m left with the feeling of being scammed somehow. I’m already paranoid of suspicious emails and it’s actually UPS asking for money, not customs. Maybe this is usual, but with no previous experience of this, I have no way of knowing if these are legit fees or not. £130 is pretty steep, that’s almost 25% of the cost.
If anyone could clarify this, it would be appreciated!
If you haven’t already paid VAT on it, then it should be somewhere between 20 and 25%, as it will be VAT plus customs duty plus carriage.
Also, totally normal for UPS to ask for the money. My advice would be to ring their customer services and pay it over the phone.
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25% sounds like VAT(20%) + courier handling fees/admin charge. Contact UPS directly to confirm.
Still a lot extra £ though…
@Fin25 beat me to it
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There you go. Thats Brexit for you. A few months ago it was no tax.
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If you’re buying from the EU, you need to make sure you’re not paying VAT on it (unless it’s below £135).
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It’s never been no tax. The difference is where you pay the tax. At point of sale or on import.
The thing that is categorically worse than an intra-EU purchase is the addition of import tariffs (where applicable, and usually 0%-2%) and whatever the carrier will charge you for the import/export admin on their part, and the potential lack of EU consumer protection. Now it’s more or less the same as ordering from the USA or whatever.
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Im talking import tax. I paid none a few months ago.
You mean Customs Duty (if you’re in the UK and buying from abroad). That’s what I mean by import tarriffs, it only applies over £135 and the rate varies according to the type of goods.
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Thats what UPS are asking for.
Which would be about £10 on a Digitakt, for example.
Yeah, often their handling/admin charges add up to more. 
I paid Zero £££ on a £1400 OT AE.
Pre-brexit though?
I just mean, in the context of @djenzyme paying £130 on their purchase, the vast majority of that is VAT that would have been paid anyway, it’s not a new import tax.
Yes thats my point.
Thanks guys, I’ll contact UPS this afternoon. Seems like this information should be made more clear though I guess in a way its my own fault, I hate politics and instantly filter out anything to do with Brexit. Looks like I’m learning the hard way! 