Tax on goods ?

[TonyR]

Hi .
I am based in Spain and when I buy from USA ,there is import duty on the goods.When I buy from China there is none ?
Is it the same in UK and if so does anyone know why ?

Tony

[andybig]

Take a look at the items from china.
The packages will be marked as a SAMPLE or GIFT on the shipping document. (Maybe... Commercial sample)
Thats how it happens, The chinese are full aware of this, where as many in the USA are not.

Be aware that anything labled as a Sample/Gift has no commercial value, So its not taxable.
BUT.... With no value there is NOTHING to insure if lost or damaged on the post.
Your still covered if you pay on a credit card or PayPal.

[TonyR]

Thanks for that but there must be millions of items coming from China they cant all be gifts ? There must be some assistance from Governments to let these through ?
Especially when you consider that a train has started running in the last few months directly from China to Madrid it takes 21 days and as far as I am aware is not detained anywhere by customs !
Regards
Tony

[phoenix]

There is so much stuff coming in from China that it's impossible for customs to check even a fraction of it.
They obviously concentrate on high value stuff and high duty rate stuff, so stuff marked as "samples" normally gets through without attracting much attention.

Cheers

Bruce

[Radagast]

Make the most of it while you can. Western nations are aware of the lost revenue, but they balance it against the cost of collection. Here in Australia The Federal govt. thinks its not worth the paperwork on anything under $1000. This will change due to businesses that donate to political parties complaining about paying the tax on bulk shipments while individual orders are exempt.
Big American players such as Ebay have agreements in place to collect taxes,or provide documentation so they can be collected locally, because they turn over so much and could be subject to sanctions or harassment.

[andybig]

Iv been getting items from around the globe for years and years.
The taxes are imposed once the items are sorted at the postal sorting station in your country.
It really is that simple.
The Chinese do get cheaper postal rates.
They can post items from china to the UK cheaper than i can send something in the post to the next town.
But if they dont mark the item as a sample/gift you will still get stung for import tax.

[hairyyoda]

Hello all
Our UK HMC&R guide lines basically states that
(a) any legitimate and legal item that has a value of less than £15.00 per item that are addressed to a individually named person are allowed to be imported and come into the UK and be delivered to that person free of any other duty (tax & vat)
(b) any single or multiple itemed gift/gifts with a value of less than a £36.00 combined/total value per individually named person are allowed to be imported and come into the UK and be delivered free of any other duty (tax & vat)
In order to have items imported from places like the US as economically as possible you have to think it through on how the sender describes and values the item/items or gift/gifts. etc. etc. "It's all in the small print"
Thank you all Phil

[TonyR]

Thanks for that Phil.
worth knowing.

regards
Tony

[hairyyoda]

Thanks Tony
Best to look for what items you want to buy within the member states of the E U as your first search etc. because within the EU private purchases are classed as "movement of goods" not as imports or exports as each member state presumes that VAT has been already paid in the originating member state. It is all on the web "Google is king", the Germans seem to be a lot keener to sell at a lower cost value etc. It's just like one big fishing trip and a bit like doing a crossword or jigsaw you just have to pull all the pieces together. Thank you Phil
(If I can help you with any O/K items from over here send a PM etc.)

[TonyR]

Phil.
Thanks will do.


Tony