import duties on second hand pedals?

[mot]

Hi everyone,
Does anyone know whether I'd have to pay import duties if I ship my pedal board home (clearly second hand pedals)? After many years in Asia I'm finally moving back to Britain. I'm wondering whether to just take my pedals as luggage on my flight (heavy) or get them shipped.
Cheers,
Tom.

[Kev]

Ship them and you have to declare their full value. Do that and you will be liable for duty. I have never understood why duty is payable on second hand products, given the tax has at some point already been paid, but there you go.

[Skybone]

But surely, if you send them to yourself, then you shouldn't be liable for tax, as they are your property.

How are you getting the rest of your stuff back to the UK, like your instruments etc.? Wouldn't it be better to send a bunch of stuff together in a crate than using a postal/courier service?

[Kev]

[quote name='Skybone' timestamp='1469376419' post='3097809']
But surely, if you send them to yourself, then you shouldn't be liable for tax, as they are your property.

[/quote]

It doesn't matter. You legally have to declare a value on the goods you are posting, and that value will attract duty when it arrives in customs.

I don't understand why the system works in this way. Well, I do; Revenue generating.

[dannybuoy]

So if you move to another country, you have to pay import charges on all your belongings that you can't squeeze into your luggage?

[Kev]

[quote name='dannybuoy' timestamp='1469383052' post='3097877']
So if you move to another country, you have to pay import charges on all your belongings that you can't squeeze into your luggage?
[/quote]

If you use a postal service, yes. But surely you would use a moving company or something?

[molan]

Official govt line is:

" You can bring in your personal belongings or private vehicle free of duty and tax so long as you:

are moving your normal place of residence to the UK only
have had your normal place of residence outside the EU for a continuous period of at least 12 months
have possessed and used the belongings for at least 6 months outside the EU before they are imported
did not get them under a duty/tax free scheme (but see paragraph 5.3)
declare them to us as explained in paragraph 3.2
will keep them for your personal use
do not sell, lend, hire out or otherwise dispose of them in the UK or anywhere else in the EU within 12 months of the date of importation, unless you notify us first and pay duty and VAT on disposal"

[Kev]

[quote name='molan' timestamp='1469395435' post='3098014']
Official govt line is:

" You can bring in your personal belongings or private vehicle free of duty and tax so long as you:

are moving your normal place of residence to the UK only
have had your normal place of residence outside the EU for a continuous period of at least 12 months
have possessed and used the belongings for at least 6 months outside the EU before they are imported
did not get them under a duty/tax free scheme (but see paragraph 5.3)
declare them to us as explained in paragraph 3.2
will keep them for your personal use
do not sell, lend, hire out or otherwise dispose of them in the UK or anywhere else in the EU within 12 months of the date of importation, unless you notify us first and pay duty and VAT on disposal"
[/quote]

I'm surprised there are that many rules for taking things with you!!

But yes, none of this applies to using the postal service to send items home, which I think is the OPs main query.

[molan]

[quote name='Kev' timestamp='1469397488' post='3098032']


I'm surprised there are that many rules for taking things with you!!

But yes, none of this applies to using the postal service to send items home, which I think is the OPs main query.
[/quote]

There are lots more rules - this was just a brief summary

The import guys are fairly hot on ex-pats returning with goods (either shipped or posted).

With a lot of products being cheaper overseas than in the UK it's very common for people to try and 'fund' their move home by bringing things over purely to sell.

Jewellery is very common and, unsurprisingly amongst musicians, guitars. I know someone who brought three expensive basses back with him from the US and sold each one for around £1,000 profit over here.

As the pedals have been owned and are not intended for sale I'd be tempted to check all the govt regs and maybe post them and make the declaration stuff first. If the import guys decide to tax them it's a nightmare getting the money back

[funkydario]

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif][size=3] You can bring in your personal belongings or private vehicle [size=6]free of duty[/size] and tax so long as you[/size][/font][/color]

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif][size=3]1)are moving your normal place of residence to the UK only[/size][/font][/color]
[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif][size=3]2)have had your normal place of residence outside the EU for a continuous period of at least 12 months[/size][/font][/color]
[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif][size=3]3)have possessed and used the belongings for at least 6 months outside the EU before they are imported[/size][/font][/color]
[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif][size=3]4)will keep them for your personal use[/size][/font][/color]
[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif][size=3]5)do not sell, lend, hire out or otherwise dispose of them in the UK or anywhere else in the EU within 12 months of the date of importation, unless you notify us first and pay duty and VAT on disposal[/size][/font][/color]

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif][size=3]If i got your situation correctly...living outside UK for a while....now moving back....you do not have to pay taxes...[/size][/font][/color]

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif][size=3]But maybe i didn't get it ....[/size][/font][/color]

[tonyquipment]

You would declare it as a reimport of personal artifacts. free of duty and VAT.

I work for software company of customs and excise natures ... get all sorts of weird questions like this every day