Import tax issues

[Guest]

[grecopa]

Do you even get a free national health service out of all this nasty taxation?

Roz, nothing is free except advice.   

[Roz]

LOL and even that isn't free these days... I mean not pay per use... a wonderful friend of mine in Philly got cancer. She's recovered from the illness but the financial strain of the illness is something she still has yet to get over (yes of course she had insurance, but not everything seems to be covered). If you are ill I think the last thing you should be worried about is how to pay to get better

[m.o.b.]

Just a few observations on this thread

Just to throw this info into the mix ...

My postie confirmed it's a random pick from the mail which enters the country as to which items get checked and which don't ... anything marked over $30 will get put to one side and be charged ... like mine was.

Since 9/11 almost all packages are checked

Anyway, he then told me that this would be a thing of the past shortly, when Royal Mail introduce an automated sorting machine which is proven to be capable of sorting ALL the mail prior to delivery ... letters, packets, parcels, handwritten or printed addresses and labels... it doesn't matter what it scans as this machine will read the lot.
Think about it - at the moment it's a hit-and-miss affair whether you get charged on your items coming into the UK or not and £18 in value isn't a very high limit is it - you won't have that to fall back on once this machinery is up and running as everything will be scrutinised whether you like it or not!
The implications for the postal staff are wide-ranging and not good - there will be a massive number of people being made redundant and sorting offices WILL close ....
I've not heard of anything about it in any of the Press here in the UK and believe me, there will be such a stink once it gets out about the redundancies.
The machinery itself is hugely expensive and I believe the Dutch mail service already uses this automated system to good effect. You won't need an army of people hand-sorting the mail prior to delivery, just a couple of folks to load the mail in one end and and bag it up at the other ....

We have been waiting for machines that live up to there promises in Royal Mail for years. It may happen, but these machines usually only perform with perfect mail and I doubt that the machines will be reading customs forms anyway.

As for declaring the correct amount on customs forms, if you're surcharged at least its a more secure form of delivery than the signed for services. Registered mail coming into the UK is now sorted with the normal mail (although it should still be signed for), instead of being transfered from office to office by a more secure system.
And before anyone complains about this to the Post Office I can assure you the staff have already done so, but they have been told that this is by order of the Postal Regulator.

[LikORish-Spider]

Do you even get a free national health service out of all this nasty taxation?

Roz, nothing is free except advice.   

And it's usually worth every penny you pay for it.

[Nienna]

Thanks for the input m.o.b. - I'd forgotten you work for the Post Office!
I know there are radical changes proposed and if you're anything like my regular postie, you're being run off your feet with a bigger workload and less time to do it in!
I hadn't realised everything was being checked or is it a regional thing ... no that can't be right as the Customs Office is in London, unless there are others?
I recall being told some time ago that signed-for items from the US didn't require signing for anymore - I believe it was to do with the reciprocal signing arrangements between the two countries being cancelled which might go some way to explaining why items aren't trackable once they leave UK shores?
If I've got it wrong then please correct me.
I agree with you in that incoming signed-for items should be kept separate (and secure) from the main bulk of the post, but my guess is that it would cost more than they're budgeting for to reinstate it?
Why has the Post Regulator chosen to ignore this when it's clear postal staff think it's something worth doing?

~**~

John ... now now, that's a very cynical comment ...

[m.o.b.]

Why has the Post Regulator chosen to ignore this when it's clear postal staff think it's something worth doing?

Most of the workforce think the only purpose of the Regulator is to dismantle the Post Office. You would think that Postcomm would be about trying to give everyone one a better sevice, instead it just reduces costs for big business which will lead eventually to higher postage costs for you and me

[Nienna]

Yeah ... sounds about right ...
Like the 2p rise in the cost of 1st and 2nd class stamps - it doesn't sound much but I'm sure Royal Mail will have huge profits this next financial year because of it.
I do find all this annoying ... I have a regular postie who goes the extra mile when he's delivering mail (trying to be in the right place at the right time so ppl don't have to trek down to the sorting office to collect their items) ... and the staff at the Post Office couldn't be more helpful - why is it these ppl get such a rough end of the deal when they're all trying hard to provide the level of service to the public without the back-up from the top-levels of management?
I know we've all had a whinge about the postal service as a whole and deservedly so in a lot of cases, but I do think the Postal Regulator is losing sight of the fact that it's a service the Post Office should be delivering to everyone and not just big business.
*grrr*

Sorry .... we've gone off-topic on this one, but I'm sure it's not just the postal authorities in the UK which need a kick up the rear ....

[padge77]

Hi All

I am expection in 7-10 days 2 boxes of cards I have imported in from USA does any one know if and how much I might have to pay as the total was $94

Be very grateful if someone could help me

Cheers

Paul

[Nienna]

Paul - it depends very much on who you've bought them from and how they've been packaged to be sent over, as to whether you'll have to pay anything extra them or not!  

[Sharon]

It also depends Paul on how much you have imported from abroad.  We went for years without getting caught but once they charged us duty on one thing it just snowballed, as if they were looking out for our address  .  The import duty is bad enough but the post office charge is now just plain silly.  You pay for the postman to drop a card through your letter box telling you to go to the sorting office to collect the parcel.  Then you pay another fee for the post office to take your money  .  I think all in all the post office fee is now between £4 and £8 

Here's hoping they miss your package    What are they by the way