IMPORT DUTY ​?

A lot of the hiking and camping gear I have comes from the United States, one of the most common questions I am asked is about Import Duty?

Although Duty and VAT charges for imported goods are well documented, it’s quite a confusing subject.

Any parcel assessed as being liable for Customs charges will also incur a Royal Mail handling fee of £8.
Any goods imported into the UK over the value of £15 are liable for import VAT. In the event of a No Deal Brexit, the government has committed to reducing this VAT threshold to £0 (zero) and VAT will be due on all qualifying imports from both the EU and non-EU countries and an £8 handling fee applied.

Royal Mail

That quote from the Royal Mail is easy to understand but in practice sometimes a charge is applied, others its not..

Link to Royal Mail ‘Fee to Pay’

Many people are often shocked about the amount of duty applied to a purchase and some are quite vocal about it, pleading ignorance or simply shocked at the amount.

The easiest way in my opinion, to avoid a shock when that dreaded grey card comes through the door is to work out how much duty will be applied and factor that in to the purchase.

The most accurate tool I have found is SimplyDuty, the online calculator seems to be kept up to date and is 9 times out of 10, give or take a few pounds spot on.