Importing books to the UK and customs and excise

Not sure about importing books into the UK, but when I have ordered miniature wargaming books from the UK, there was no VAT added to the books I purchased.

There are a few ways that people have tried to avoid the import fees on goods. One of the most common is to declare the item sent as a gift, toys, or product samples. There are several items that are not taxed, but still allows the item to be insured with an accurate price.

I have orded multiple shipments of miniature figures retail stores, and multiple ebay auctions won and shipped from there without ever having to pay any extra fees (other than postage) or had to resort to anything dodgy.

I would suggest that your best option would be to call the local postal office and see if you can get an answer to you question.

Yup, actually most of the time customs would turn a blind eye or something. They may open it to check if its not 'offensive material' or anything , wrap it up and put the label 'checked by customs'.


But from what I been told its a random check, worse comes to worst you'll have to pick it up at the sorting office and pay an extra £2 or something. (I got charged 75p once for ..er.....Shu Qi's Highlight reel*ahem*)

Ive bought loads of stuff from ebay and never had any problems having them imported from the US

Books are free from Customs duty and Zero rated for vat. So there should be no charges provided the sender states clearly on the post label. If you're ever in doubt about bringing in stuff from outside the EC, UK customs have a classification service on 01702 366077. If you give them a description of what your buying they will be able to tell you how much duty will be applied to it.

I thought that you only got charged if the value was above £30 or something like that. And it is only the value of the book that will matter not including how much you got charged for postage. And you will probably only get charged if he is to accurate in his description on the box anyway. Most people put something like gift on the front that way you dont get charged especially if it is only a small item. I have bought loads of expensive things from the states and only got charged when one guy posted that the value was £200- boy did i get stung then.

I wouldnt worry about it mate.

if the parcel is marked as a gift, the allowance is £36. If you're over the £36 then duties and vat, if due will be based on the value of the goods exclusive of postage. Goods sent US post get collected by ParcelForce - they tend to be a bit more relaxed in enforcing the rules due to the sheer volume of goods that they have to process. But when sent US post some parcels can take a long time ot get here and sometimes get lost. Goods sent by couriers such as fedex are pretty strict though much more reliable interms of receiving your parcel.

Books shouldn't be a problem as long as its clearly labelled on the CN22 as a book, as Fatsan said they are Zero rated so there is no tax to be paid, my mate deals in rare and first edition books and imports from the States all the time and has never had a problem and he has received hundreds of books over the years

Neil

Thank you sooo much everyone, I was pretty sure I did read somewhere that books are exempt from duty/vat etc. etc. despite being ordered outside of the EU.

Thanks again all. My dad is going to be a happy man when I get this book for you.

Oh and Mushroom, Shu Qi highlight reel!! Send a copy to Chimp c/o Jungle.