Import Duty

[Mutated_Hair]

Importing my new laptop from the states, is there any way i can avoid VAT?

Fedex dont go through customs do they?
Itll save me about $400USD of tax

Cheers guys

[sjhaycroft]

Get whoever to send it as a "gift" as I dont think there is tax on gifts, I ordered clothes from cali once and after import duty, I think I ended up paying the market norm over here

[JohnW]

Quote

Importing my new laptop from the states, is there any way i can avoid VAT?

Fedex dont go through customs do they?
Itll save me about $400USD of tax

Cheers guys

you won't get away with it unless it's sent with a value of less than $30 regardless of who couriers it - then it won't be insured, so no real shop is likely to do it.

Tax evasion is illegal to so probably not particularly appropriate on this board.

[aBhorsen]

MH, i just ordered some Ice Hockey equipment two weeks back. My order was $493, i ended up paying an extra £68 in tax and import duty. The duty varies depending on the type of item but it may be worth taking note of that as a "guessimate" of what your likely to pay.

Gifts are only tax and duty free when the value is below £37.

I'd really have to ask though, why the frig are you ordering a laptop from the states?

[Mutated_Hair]

The RRP of the laptop here is about ~£3400
And i cant get the spec RAM i want here,
Thought id buy it barebones with the stuff i cant buy off ebay i.e. RAM and then get the CPU HDDs etc from eBay
Thats the plan anyway =P

EDIT:
Ill try keep it legal JohnW

@aB - no Duty on laptops although there is VAT, am i correct in thinking its back to 17.5%?

[aBhorsen]

Back to 17.5% in the new year...

Being a computer hardware geek, would you like to link me to the laptop? I see a challenge for me to find you an equal if not better laptop from the UK for a good price :P

[JohnW]

I'd be fairly surprised if the is much in it price difference wise uk to us by the time you pay the fx on the transaction, shipping and import.

In the past I have flown to the US soley to buy stuff, but now I travel for work 4 or 5 times a year, I'm going next week - although nothing looks stunning value technology wise.

[aBhorsen]

JohnW you should see the price differences for Ice Hockey equipment, it's just unreal.

[myprotein.com]

If you buy something from abroad then import tax is applicable onto all valuable orders. The goverment are cracking down on this. Any form of evasion is illegal and therefore not suitable for these board.

However, we should all support UK businesses and the UK economy where we can.

MP