Beware! HMRC are getting more greedy.

[Charliefox]

This is actually a tale of a missing xmas parcel from relatives in Switzerland. It never arrived here in the UK.Separately we got a card from Royal Mail saying £20 odd was due on a parcel. After a call to said relatives
we realised it was their parcel. We picked it up today. The customs sticker said value was 80 Swiss francs aka £56. So we got charged VAT of £12 and £8 for Royal Mail collection charge.Imported gifts over £39 between private individuals are charged VAT. I thought Switzerland was in the EU for VAT purposes!The Royal Mail man was most upset and said the Customs boys are now checking a lot more stuff and wacking on higher prices. (to pay for new Brexit custom posts?) The point of all this? Buying Ebike stuff from China could cost more than in the past as HMRC start disregarding 'optimistic' Chinese billing.

 

[oyster]

HMRC's pages about the values, countries, etc. are here:

https://www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad

For various reasons, many people I am in regular contact with receive goods from abroad. One product could be genuinely from about £2 to £40 from abroad. But, for complex reasons, about £250 in the UK. I sincerely hope they do not get stung for "What it would cost in the UK."

Several have also received considerably higher charges from carriers other than Royal Mail - sometimes receiving the goods and only being contacted afterwards with a demand seemingly out of the blue. Not a pleasant surprise.

 

[Nealh]

HMRC aren't getting greedy as this is std procedure, RM are quite hot on it any way and the other major couriers it is hit or miss if you get charged or not.
A lot of goods from China or far East often slip thru as vendors under value items, though it doesn't always work.

My Arduino lipo spot welder from Korea was $85 however I asked the vendor to mark it as $30 and received no charge nor do my Aliexpress orders which range from £5 - £80.
Also some far East vendors now have EU warehouses so items are custom free.

In Charlie fox's case his relatives should have marked down the actual value but they may have paid for insurance so the true value would have been on the shipping details.

 

[daffy99]

I thought Switzerland was in the EU for VAT purposes!

Nope. There is a very well-enforced customs border between Switzerland and the rest of the world.