On 13/05/2021 03:15 pm, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

On 13/05/2021 14:05, wrote:

Recently, I ordered something (costing about £700) from the Czech
republic and have just been sent a demand for £143 duty and handling
from DHL. My choices are to refuse the shipment, which means I get
refunded less shipping charges, or pay. Bu&&er!

VAT perhaps but not duty...

There's probably no duty to be charged from the Czech Republic (due to
agreements). VAT will be chargeable on the purchase price plus the shipping.

Had he bought from (say) the USA, a £700 purchase would probably have
been free of state tax, but subject to UK import duty of about 2% on the
price and on the shipping charges. The 102% would then have been
increased by 20% for VAT.

So a £700 purchase could have been (assuming £50 for shipping):

(£700 + £50) = £750.

£750 plus 2% = £765.

VAT on £765 @ 20% = £153.

Total price at the door: £918 PLUS the charge made by the courier for
the collection of the taxes.

Standard stuff (subject to the correct figure for import duty). It's
been like that for a long time.