Customs Duty

[SVB]

Anyone know what the process / timescale is for Customs Duty etc.?

I have received a parcel from the States delivered by FedEx yesterday that I was expecting to pay duty on but the parcel was just left for us.

Will they write separately with the duty bill or do I wait for the knock at the door?

Thanks
Simon

 

[wizer]

Don't worry, it's passed through customs and they have decided not to charge you. If Fedex have delivered it then you have not been charged duty. If they were going to charge you they would have held it for you to pick up and then charged you for the pleasure.

 

[Karl]

Don't worry, it's passed through customs and they have decided not to charge you. If Fedex have delivered it then you have not been charged duty. If they were going to charge you they would have held it for you to pick up and then charged you for the pleasure.

Not so.

Fedex bill separately for the customs (and their handling fee!). At least, that's what they have always done with me :x

Cheers

Karl

 

[wizer]

oh, I buy regularly from an ebay seller in the states and it comes via fedex. When I watch it on the online tracker, it always says it's sitting in customs for a day, then it goes out for delivery. I've never been charged, but I assumed it'd work the say way as ParcelForce, UPS, etc

 

[matt]

I know very little about this but... Was the value of the item displayed on the outside of the box? I seem to recall that duty is only charged on item greater than a certain value as everything below is treated as if it's a gift (for which duty is not charged). If the item does not display the value then I think some things kinda just make it through in any case.

 

[Ironballs]

Often depends on the courier (and the goods, as some get through with no charge), I've had to collect several items from the sorting office and pay them (in cash, in this day and age :x ) to get the goods. However, as Karl says, I've had Fedex items that I've been billed for after the goods have been delivered, received an invoice through the mail with various different ways to pay. Much more civilised and modern than the bloody Post Office

 

[motownmartin]

Don't worry, it's passed through customs and they have decided not to charge you. If Fedex have delivered it then you have not been charged duty. If they were going to charge you they would have held it for you to pick up and then charged you for the pleasure.

Not so.

Fedex bill separately for the customs (and their handling fee!). At least, that's what they have always done with me :x

Cheers

Karl

Same here, had a seperate bill from fedex

 

[frugal]

Fedex bill separately for the customs (and their handling fee!). At least, that's what they have always done with me :x

Same here, had a seperate bill from fedex

A while ago a friend realised that the company he worked for used FedEx for their courier service. So he always made sure that the parcels from abroad were delivered to the office (sensible as that was where he worked all day). This had the nice side effect that FedEx just added his VAT duty to the monthly company bill (the parcel was delivered to the company offices, so it must be company related) and as it was small compared to the monthly FedEx bill the company never noticed.

 

[Ironballs]

Fine if you get away with it, but the company would see it as fraud and gross mis-conduct probably and be within their rights to walk you off the site. Not worth the risk for the sake of a few quid

 

[frugal]

Fine if you get away with it, but the company would see it as fraud and gross mis-conduct probably and be within their rights to walk you off the site. Not worth the risk for the sake of a few quid

Very unlikely. The company would have to prove that it was premeditated which would be very difficult to do. All the employee had to do was say "but I never knew there was any duty to pay, now I know of course I will pay it", then the company does not have a leg to stand on. If they fire him for gross misconduct he would have a good case to sue for unfair dismissal.

Any company large enough not to notice £15 every couple of months on their FedEx bill is large enough to not care about £15 quid every couple of months. Yes technically it is fraud, but then again so is stealing stationary or using the company phone, photocopier or email for personal use. For most companies it is technically a breach of contract, but unoffically an unwritten benefit. So long as the amount of inconvenience they cause the company is less that the amount of inconvenience that it would take to get rid of them companies would rather let it pass.

I am not saying it is right, I am just saying that it happens.

 

[wizer]

I am just saying that it happens.

Agreed