Thread: Duty applied to razors imported to UK

How much did you get your norton for? I would be interested.
I bought mine form www.johnlloydfinefurniture.co.uk it cost me over £55.
How much do you think yours will be if you do end up paying VAT on it?
Nick

***sidles up quietly***furtive glance***

It cost me £44 from Howard **shifty look** but he only put whetstone on the package and it did not seem tampered with so I think I may have gotten away with it!

If not I reckon it will cost me more than £55!

No longer in Bradford,

Si.

VAT is an EU tax: it helps fund this crazy Brussels circus!

I have been lucky until now: Dutch customs never charged me anyting for ebay razor nor Tony Miller strop! Even though Tony gave it to me he put the value on the green label! Maybe they fell asleep or they think: nah, straight razor stuff can't be that expensive.

Do far I've not been charged at all for anything I bought from the states. And that includes my mp3/minidisc player and my nice TI 7/8 Silversteel.

Dutch customs seem not to have any problems with people bringing goods into the country. But then again The Netherlands are a trading nation so they might be a bit more lenient.

I wouldn't dream of asking someone to lie on the form so I pay less tax. It's most likely putting them in a difficult position. So the advice about just approaching it from a straight cost comparison basis is the only way to go.

I bought my Nortons, Tony's strops and other stuff from US, paid the VAT and Parcelforce levy on them, and still ended up paying less than UK/Europe prices. So although it might be frustrating, you can still end up... well... up!

It's a bit like buying stuff in general in North America. The price you see on the label is not the price you pay. You take it to the till, get all your change ready, and then the tax is added and you end up paying something entirely different to the price tag. I've never understood that system. Surely it would be much easier to display the post-tax price on the tag? Then you know what you're paying. I dunno, go figure as they say.

Sometimes, with ordering goods from the US you get a nice surprise. The 4/8 TI I bought from ClassicShaving was sent to Lynn to hone, then sent onto me and for some reason that one got past customs without any charge.

Hey Lyn, you didn't go fibbing on the little green form did you?

Originally Posted by LX_Emergency

Do far I've not been charged at all for anything I bought from the states. And that includes my mp3/minidisc player and my nice TI 7/8 Silversteel.

Dutch customs seem not to have any problems with people bringing goods into the country. But then again The Netherlands are a trading nation so they might be a bit more lenient.

Leniency is not the 1st thing that springs to mind when thinking of the Dutch taxman...

Originally Posted by majurey

I wouldn't dream of asking someone to lie on the form so I pay less tax. It's most likely putting them in a difficult position. So the advice about just approaching it from a straight cost comparison basis is the only way to go.

I bought my Nortons, Tony's strops and other stuff from US, paid the VAT and Parcelforce levy on them, and still ended up paying less than UK/Europe prices. So although it might be frustrating, you can still end up... well... up!

It's a bit like buying stuff in general in North America. The price you see on the label is not the price you pay. You take it to the till, get all your change ready, and then the tax is added and you end up paying something entirely different to the price tag. I've never understood that system. Surely it would be much easier to display the post-tax price on the tag? Then you know what you're paying. I dunno, go figure as they say.

Sometimes, with ordering goods from the US you get a nice surprise. The 4/8 TI I bought from ClassicShaving was sent to Lynn to hone, then sent onto me and for some reason that one got past customs without any charge.

Hey Lyn, you didn't go fibbing on the little green form did you?

I'd never admit to asking anyone to be economical with the truth on a customs declaration, or whether I've done it myself. Generally I'm pretty honest and so are most of the folks I've bought stuff from overseas.

Even with the true value declared, parcels don't often get intercepted in my experience. I've had 2/2 Maestro Livi razors from Lynn which passed under the radar with honest declarations, as well as several razors from Classicshaving (maybe 6/8). I got caught for the RW razor I just bought, I think it's often just down to luck as to whether they charge you.

Even if you get caught, with the exchange rate the way it is, you usually get either a good deal or if you're lucky a super deal.

Ok - maybe I don't understand the system....but....

VAT = Value Added Tax

...it seems to me that if you send a razor, or have a razor sent, to Lynn, whether it be new or used, and he sharpens it, the Value Added is Lynn's charge for the service...right?...so isnt he honestly saying that his ADDED VALUE is the cost of his service, and since he's not the SELLER of the item, he's making no reference to the value of the item....


....or is that obviously not how it works?


-whatever

-Lou

VAT works like sale tax in U.S. It is a certain percentage (in the Netherlands usually 19,5% I think) that the retailer has to charge his customers. The retailer also paid the same amount to the wholesaler but can deduct the VAT paid to the wholesaler from his taxes. So the net amount of VAT the retailer pays to Inland Revenues is the VAT on the price difference between wholesale value and retail value. That's where the value added thing comes into it.

VAT is also levied on sevices like honing. Bascially because the honing adds value to the razor.

When importing sth from outside the EU you have to pay VAT according to the rates of the country you are importing it into. VAT is charged on the price you paid to the seller.

Originally Posted by scarface

Ok - maybe I don't understand the system....but....

VAT = Value Added Tax

...it seems to me that if you send a razor, or have a razor sent, to Lynn, whether it be new or used, and he sharpens it, the Value Added is Lynn's charge for the service...right?...so isnt he honestly saying that his ADDED VALUE is the cost of his service, and since he's not the SELLER of the item, he's making no reference to the value of the item....


....or is that obviously not how it works?


-whatever

-Lou

Lou, yes and no. (My comment about Lynn by the way wasn't serious, just a bit of jokey mischief!)

VAT applies to services as well as goods, so you're correct in saying a honing service attracts only the VAT on the service itself as far as the supplier of the service is concerned. However, the Inland Revenue here will still charge VAT on the total value -- i.e. goods and service combined. As the buyer I'm responsible for paying that -- but the provider of the honing service doesn't need to provide details about any goods involved if it didn't originate with him.

So with the Classicshaving razor plus honing service route the final declaration from Lynn need only refer to the value of the service I guess. And since that falls under the value of £18 (see original post), then no levy is raised.

However, the Inland Revenue don't know that the goods originated from the US. If they did they'd charge VAT on that too. But they have no easy way of discerning whether the razor Lynn sends back was bought in the EU/UK and sent to him for honing or whether it was bought in the US and forwarded to Lynn. The former would not atract VAT on the value of the razor, the latter would.

So it seems that those of us in the EU buying a razor from ClassicShaving might want to get it honed by Lynn as well. Because although it will cost an extra $20, you might end up paying less tax!

Of course, the downside is that tax avoidance is illegal!