gwls
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Attention UK members - Ever wondered how to work out potential customs & vat exposure
Guide to Customs and Vat to estimated charges on NP purchases
Ok guys
As many of you already know I am a MASSIVE NutraPlanet supporter, and will continue to be one for the foreseeable future....
I know that many of you will be put off by the possible Customs and Vat charges that you will pay on top of your order, so through my own experience and after speaking to some nice people at Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, I thought would share with you how you can estimate the “hidden costs”
PLEASE NOTE, THIS POST IS FOR GUIDANCE ESTIMATION PURPOSES ONLY, YOU SHOULD PHONE YOUR LOCAL HMRC OFFICE FOR SPECIFICS - THIS POST IS AIMED AS GUIDELINE ONLY AND IS BASED SOLELY ON MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE
1. Firstly NP uses FedEx, who will charge you a fee of £10 for clearing your import – this is unavoidable and is a per shipment amount – having discussed this with FedEx, it makes no difference whether or not you are a business account holder. That’s the fee plain and simple
2. All imports will be VAT free as long as they are under £18
3. All imports will be Duty Free as long as they are under £135
4. Vat currently is 17.5% and is levied on the “customs value” INCLUDING DUTY (if applicable) in GBP £
5. Customs Duty (well on my latest shipment anyway) was 12.8% levied on the “customs value” in GBP £
6. To work out the customs value, you need to take the NP Goods value (before shipping and before the application of any discounts/coupons applied as part of the checkout procedure) and apply the exchange rate published on the HMRC website, HM Revenue & Customs
So an example of my experience
Example 1 (lets say I place an order for $100)
NP order value $100
NP Shipping $30
NP Total $130
Customs exchange for June 2010 USD 1.4367 to 1 GBP
Customs Value £69.60 (goods value in USD - $100 / 1.4367)
BELOW Duty limit (i.e. < £135) so only Vat to Pay @ 17.5%
Vat due, £12.18 + FedEx clearing charge, £10.00 = Total “hidden costs” £22.18 on top of the $130 paid to NP
Example 2 (let’s say I place an order for $500 because NP were having a really good sale on products I buy :fing02
NP Goods value $500
NP Shipping $80
NP Total $580
Customs exchange for June 2010 USD 1.4367 to 1 GBP
Customs Value £348.02 (goods value in USD - $500 / 1.4367)
ABOVE Duty limit (i.e. >£135) so duty to pay @ 12.8% + Vat to Pay @ 17.5%
Customs Duty, £44.55 + VAT (£348.02 + £44.55 = £392.67 x 17.5%), £68.70 + FedEx clearing charge £10.00 = Total “hidden costs” £123.25 on top of the $580 paid to NP
Moral of the story, know the limits and buy accordingly! The duty is per shipment, just like the FedEx charge… but at least hopefully this might enable some others to budget accordingly if ordering like myself.
As I have said before, do your maths people… depending on what you’re buying and how you structure your order, there are savings to be made and given my last order arrived in 2 days door to door, a time saving too (very important for me because I’m a little disorganised at times!)
Hope you other UK guys out there find this useful
and as always, big shout out to the NP guys, who constantly impress me with their service, fantastic product selection, shipping times and SALES!!!
Guide to Customs and Vat to estimated charges on NP purchases
Ok guys
As many of you already know I am a MASSIVE NutraPlanet supporter, and will continue to be one for the foreseeable future....
I know that many of you will be put off by the possible Customs and Vat charges that you will pay on top of your order, so through my own experience and after speaking to some nice people at Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, I thought would share with you how you can estimate the “hidden costs”
PLEASE NOTE, THIS POST IS FOR GUIDANCE ESTIMATION PURPOSES ONLY, YOU SHOULD PHONE YOUR LOCAL HMRC OFFICE FOR SPECIFICS - THIS POST IS AIMED AS GUIDELINE ONLY AND IS BASED SOLELY ON MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE
1. Firstly NP uses FedEx, who will charge you a fee of £10 for clearing your import – this is unavoidable and is a per shipment amount – having discussed this with FedEx, it makes no difference whether or not you are a business account holder. That’s the fee plain and simple
2. All imports will be VAT free as long as they are under £18
3. All imports will be Duty Free as long as they are under £135
4. Vat currently is 17.5% and is levied on the “customs value” INCLUDING DUTY (if applicable) in GBP £
5. Customs Duty (well on my latest shipment anyway) was 12.8% levied on the “customs value” in GBP £
6. To work out the customs value, you need to take the NP Goods value (before shipping and before the application of any discounts/coupons applied as part of the checkout procedure) and apply the exchange rate published on the HMRC website, HM Revenue & Customs
So an example of my experience
Example 1 (lets say I place an order for $100)
NP order value $100
NP Shipping $30
NP Total $130
Customs exchange for June 2010 USD 1.4367 to 1 GBP
Customs Value £69.60 (goods value in USD - $100 / 1.4367)
BELOW Duty limit (i.e. < £135) so only Vat to Pay @ 17.5%
Vat due, £12.18 + FedEx clearing charge, £10.00 = Total “hidden costs” £22.18 on top of the $130 paid to NP
Example 2 (let’s say I place an order for $500 because NP were having a really good sale on products I buy :fing02
NP Goods value $500
NP Shipping $80
NP Total $580
Customs exchange for June 2010 USD 1.4367 to 1 GBP
Customs Value £348.02 (goods value in USD - $500 / 1.4367)
ABOVE Duty limit (i.e. >£135) so duty to pay @ 12.8% + Vat to Pay @ 17.5%
Customs Duty, £44.55 + VAT (£348.02 + £44.55 = £392.67 x 17.5%), £68.70 + FedEx clearing charge £10.00 = Total “hidden costs” £123.25 on top of the $580 paid to NP
Moral of the story, know the limits and buy accordingly! The duty is per shipment, just like the FedEx charge… but at least hopefully this might enable some others to budget accordingly if ordering like myself.
As I have said before, do your maths people… depending on what you’re buying and how you structure your order, there are savings to be made and given my last order arrived in 2 days door to door, a time saving too (very important for me because I’m a little disorganised at times!)
Hope you other UK guys out there find this useful
and as always, big shout out to the NP guys, who constantly impress me with their service, fantastic product selection, shipping times and SALES!!!
