Can I bring a new or second hand bass back from US?

[BassYerbouti]

I am going to New York in a couple of weeks, unexpectedly and have always wondered what the rules are about buying a new or second hand bass over there, taking the neck off and putting it in my suitcase. Are there any taxes to be paid, either side that would make in an unattractive proposition? Can I buy my dream Sadowsky or something a little more vintage a lot below what I would expect to pay in the UK?

thanks for any guidance

Bassyerbouti

[mybass]

i recently plowed through U.K. customs website pages and I think you’ll be hit with around VAT rate 20% and 3.5% import tax. This is all on how much you have paid out though I’m not so sure about second hand stuff but definitely get a receipt.

[Happy Jack]

The US won't charge you anything for taking a bass out of their country (unless it takes your suitcase over-weight and into excess baggage).

UK Customs will charge you Import Duty on the cost of the bass, and then VAT on the cost of the bass PLUS the Import Duty.

That said, I brought a bass through Heathrow earlier this year, declared it on arrival, and they were quite helpful on the assessment, especially since the UK£/US$ rate had moved sharply against me over the period.

 

[josie]

Correct, 2.5% import duty on anything up to £630, plus VAT on the value plus the duty. Official web page here.

Also, for anything containing rosewood (such as many fretboards), you need to apply for a CITES permit.  

 

 

[Mykesbass]

Isn't CITES going to be a problem?

[Mykesbass]

Just now, josie said:

Correct, 2.5% import duty on anything up to £630, plus VAT on the value plus the duty. Official web page here.

Also, for anything containing rosewood (such as many fretboards), you need to apply for a CITES permit.  

 

 

Posts crossed.

[stewblack]

The old trick of taking a crappy old bass with you, dumping it and bringing a different one back not viable any more?

[paul_c2]

49 minutes ago, stewblack said:

The old trick of taking a crappy old bass with you, dumping it and bringing a different one back not viable any more?

I don't think it was ever a "trick" - they probably wouldn't check into the USA, but out of it, with a bass, they'd need to see evidence of ownership prior to the trip (ie you'd need to prove it was already yours, not bought in the UK). Do you have a receipt for that crappy old bass? With the serial number and description of the new one??

[stewblack]

3 minutes ago, paul_c2 said:

I don't think it was ever a "trick" - they probably wouldn't check into the USA, but out of it, with a bass, they'd need to see evidence of ownership prior to the trip (ie you'd need to prove it was already yours, not bought in the UK). Do you have a receipt for that crappy old bass? With the serial number and description of the new one??

Dammit. I was sure that was a real genuine ruse.

[project_c]

I bought a used Fender P in NYC about 8 years ago. I was fully prepared to declare it at customs, I stood there for 10 minutes with the case in my hand, nobody showed up. All the guards were over in the ‘nothing to declare’ area trying to catch people sneaking through and they completely ignored me so I just left. 

I thought I scored but the bass turned out to be a fake anyway.. Legit neck, random body. Still my favourite bass though.

[Happy Jack]

19 hours ago, stewblack said:

Dammit. I was sure that was a real genuine ruse.

It goes back to the days of touring bands heading overseas with a truckload of equipment, especially before the Common Market (as we used to call it).

To avoid being charged duty going in/out of various countries, you'd start with a Waybill of some sort, a docket listing (in detail) all the kit you were transporting.

You'd be checked on arrival in each country, and as long as you still had it all when you checked out then nobody would hit you for Import Duty, whether in Spain, or the States, or coming back home.

A decent 4-piece band might be carrying, say, six guitars and three basses, plus a ridiculous amount of other gear. The chance that anyone would bother to check serial numbers was pretty remote.

Now compare that with a tourist arriving at Heathrow with an expensive hardcase for a bass, strolling nonchalantly through the Green Channel and whistling ...

 

[BassYerbouti]

Thanks for all the advice. I guess my dreams of making a killing have evaporated.

[yorks5stringer]

6 minutes ago, BassYerbouti said:

Thanks for all the advice. I guess my dreams of making a killing have evaporated.

Not necessarily... prices could be lower in the USA due to the laws of supply and demand and even after paying all duties you could still get a  Bass otherwise unobtainable in UK?

[Belka]

I recently moved back to the UK after a long time abroad (non EU country) with basses I'd purchased abroad and just walked through the green channel with no questions asked. I didn't do this deliberately, I had owned them for a minimum of two years and so didn't even think of them as purchases that needed to be declared. If I had gone abroad to buy them I would have declared them. As for rosewood, you can take one bass back from the US with you if belongs to you (and it will be your bass if you buy it, obviously). It's when you send them abroad/import from abroad that you need a CITES cert. If it's Brazilian rosewood however you will need a CITES cert to take it out of the States/bring it to the UK as I think it's in a different category to other rosewood types. 

[BassTractor]

Exporting a bass from the US once, certainly before the CITES rules were the talk of the day, I had to get an export clearance for the neck inlays. I guess it's mother-of-pearl we're talking about, but am not sure.

Twas not very expensive, a few tenners, but everything adds up, and also IMS it had to be declared as part if the import value before VAT. 

[NikNik]

They have guys at Heathrow ready to spot guitars coming in. That said, I managed to get a '64 Jazz into Manchester and Linc bass into Glasgow,  both brought back by holidaying friends. 

[cetera]

Replying 'for a friend'....
He may (or may not) have brought back a number of basses from the US on more than one occasion.... and walked straight through the nothing to declare channel each time...

As you were.....

Edited November 5, 2018 by cetera

[discreet]

5 minutes ago, cetera said:

Replying 'for a friend'... He may (or may not) have brought back a number of basses from the US on more than one occasion... and walked straight through the nothing to declare channel each time...

It was you, wasn't it? 

[Dad3353]

8 minutes ago, discreet said:

It was you, wasn't it? 

Good gracious, no..! Whatever gave you that idea..? Almost libellous, to boot..! Retract, I say; retract or face the consequences. 

[Monkey Steve]

I've got a guitarist friend who always did this for major purchases.  Depends on the exchange rates, so very time dependant, but he reckoned he could get a cheap flight to New York or LA, spend a day in one of their mega warehouses full of gear, get exactly the guitar he was after, stay in a cheap motel and fly back, paying the relevant tax, for about the same total as he would be able to get the guitar for in London.

It wasn't that he was saving a load of money, more that he could sit down and try, say, two dozen Starts in all the colours they make, to find exactly the one he wanted, and break even.  Plus he got a couple of days in New York or LA thrown in. He said that the stories of finding vintage guitars in pawn shops for peanuts are long gone, but your chances of finding something more interesting that you typically find over here in second hand shops are probably greater, certainly for US manufacturers,.

He may or may not have tried the "nothing to declare..oh, sorry, you mean I have to pay tax on this?" trick - you might try the wrong channel but be prepared to pay if you get stopped.

[josie]

Of course within the £630 import allowance you could probably find something interesting that was easier to get there than here - it might still be worth nosing around the pawnbrokers, basses are a lot cheaper and less sought after than comparable guitars. Maybe something that's cheap because it needs a bit of work that you could do when you get it home.

That's $800 at current rates - that can buy a seriously good bass if you're lucky. My 2002 Aerodyne cost less than that, so I walked out with it through the green lane legitimately, with the receipt in my pocket to prove it in case I was stopped.

[Russ]

Been back and forth from LHR to EWR more times than I care to remember, and had a bass/basses with me on at least half of those occasions. 

Never been checked once, on either end. 

That doesn't mean you won't, but, in my experience, the likelihood is minimal. Maybe stuff a shabby-looking old gig bag in your case to bring it back in. 

[ped]

If you get stopped do you get a fine for trying to sneak through on top of any tax you have to pay? If not then I suppose there's no harm in trying!!

[cetera]

1 hour ago, Monkey Steve said:

I've got a guitarist friend

Lol! You as well eh?

[MacDaddy]

20 hours ago, Happy Jack said:

 

Now compare that with a tourist arriving at Heathrow with an expensive hardcase for a bass, strolling nonchalantly through the Green Channel and whistling ...

 

so make sure to have a knackered old case, preferably one with a 'Keep Music Live' sticker on it? 😎