Importing Tools

[Rosco]

Hi All,
I have a question for all of you good people in the know. As anyone that knows me will know I like a bargain and I have seen a Porter Cable 8529 router with a step down transformer for £138.88 in the States the question I have is how much extra it will cost me to bring it into this country i.e. import tax I know I will have to pay 17.5% vat but how much else.

All the best Chris.

Rosco.

 

[Waka]

Chris

Can't give you a definative answer but I recently imported a plane from Lee Valley for slightly more than the PC router and had to pay £30.00.
On the other hand I have imported other tools and had to pay nothing. So I guess its hit and miss whether you get charged or not.

Not much help in answering your question.

 

[matt]

You may find some info on this subject over on the eBay forums. My little bit of knowledge tells me that import duty is often avoided by claiming that the item is a gift. However, I think that only counts up to a certain value and the value of the item has to be declared.

 

[9fingers]

Beware. Importing costs can wipe out the advantages of Lower US prices.

As I understand it the imported item is subject to import tax usually only a few percent levied on the declared value of the goods BUT on top of this is VAT which is charged on the Goods, the duty, the carriage and even the insurance you might have paid.

What is more most of the US carriers have bulk mail handling deals with Pacel Farce in the UK and they act as tax collectors for the UK customs and are allowed to charge a fee to the recipient for their trouble. This can be several pounds.
Marking goods as Gift does not get round import duty or all of the above unless the declared value is less than about £18 ish.
If you are buying from a legit business they won't normally mark the value artificially low and even if they do, your insurance cover is reduced to the marked value.

The best way I have found to legitimately import tools with no duty is to get them delivered in the US to someone who is visiting from the UK (to their hotel perhaps) and they can bring them home for you provided the price is under the personal duty free allowance which I think is about £150.
I think this makes them VAT free too.

There used to be a customs website but since their merger with the inland revenue I have not been able to find the details.

Hope this helps

Bob

 

[Sean the amateur]

This is my first post.

Like Bob said, if you can get somebody visiting the USA to have it delivered to their hotel, then you will save duty and get a good price.

If you know somebody in the British army stationed in Germany, then another possibity is to get them to make friends with an American soldier and have it dleivered to him/her. That way you will get American prices, domestic postage, and no VAT.

Sean

 

[Waka]

Sean

Welcome to the forum

 

[Rosco]

Hi,
Thanks one and all.

Chris.

 

[Newbie_Neil]

Sean

Welcome to the forum.

Cheers
Neil

 

[RogerS]

Rosco..The one practical concern I'd have is the size/weight of the transformer. Depends on the wattage obviously but I'd be worried about it rolling around and crushing everything else in sight!

 

[Scrit]

Hi Rosco and welcome

Many P-C tools are rated for use at 25 to 60Hz AC 120 volts or 120 volts DC so they can be used on a 110 volt site transformer bought here in the UK - this certainly works for my P-C 691s which work happily on a 3.3kVA 110 volt site transformer (the yellow plugs come from and tool hire shop or electrical wholesalers as well as some caravan sales places and are referred to a BS.4343 or CEE type 17 plugs and you need a 110volt 2P+E, or 2-pole plus earth). I'd check in the manual to see if that applies to your choice - almost all P-C manuals are now on line at the P-C web site. Your manual is here. I'd also suggest emailing the supplier as well for confirmation.

On a different note the 7529 hasn't been universally adored in the USA generally coming out third or fourth behind both the Festool EB1010EQ, deWalt 621 and Bosch 900 watt in many tests I've read. It might be worth eliciting opinions from some of our American visitors or on US fora such as Taunton's Knots or Wood Central.

Scrit

 

[Newbie_Neil]

Hi Rosco

For the sort of money you're looking to spend, you could buy a UK DW621K(see Scrit's post re comparisons).

It is a superb router.

Cheers
Neil