Average import duty amount from the US

[bremen]

[quote name='neepheid' post='1362851' date='Sep 5 2011, 01:43 PM']VAT is 20% on anything above £18 (commercial) or £40 (gift). Import Duty (Customs Duty to give it it's official name - separate and distinct from Excise Duty) is only payable on goods of a greater value than £135. It is waived if the Duty works out at less than £9.

Copied and pasted from the horse's mouth:

If you order or send purchased goods other than alcohol, tobacco, perfume and toilet water from a country outside the EU then you:
don't have to pay Excise Duty
may have to pay Customs Duty on goods with a value that exceeds £135
will have to pay Import VAT on goods with a value that exceeds £18
Note that on all goods from outside the EU, Customs Duty is waived if the amount of duty calculated is £9 or under.

If you're sending or receiving a gift from outside the EU:
Excise Duty is payable on any alcohol or tobacco products.
Customs Duty is payable if the value of the gift exceeds £135, but will be waived if the amount of duty is £9 or under.
Import VAT is payable if the value of the gift exceeds £40.
To qualify as a gift:
It must have been sent from a private person outside the EU to a private person(s) in the UK.
The Customs Declaration must be completed correctly (see link below).
It must be for the use of either you or your family.
There must be no commercial or trade element and it must not have been paid for by the recipient either directly or indirectly.
It must be of an occasional nature only - for example for a birthday or anniversary.
If it's perfume or toilet water it must be within the allowances described in the earlier section 'Perfume and toilet water'. If the allowances are exceeded than charges apply on the excess.

See [url="http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/customs/post/buying.htm"]http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/customs/post/buying.htm[/url][/quote]

I stand corrected!

[muttley]

Note that the VAT threshold is about to be reduced to £15. Won't make a difference to the import of a high value item like a musical instrument but useful to know for other items.

(The reason behind this was to try to close the loophole whereby CI based retailers can undercut their competitors by not having to charge customers VAT. Unfortunately, the govt stopped short of closing this properly.)