Import duties from Canada to UK

[Apeneck Sweeney]

I've bought 3 Broughton Audio pedals recently. I budgeted for 20% + for importing and was pleasantly surprised not to have to pay anything both times (I bought two pedals the first time, one the next). A friend who got a Broughton Fliptop at the same time as me also didn't pay. I think one package was under £200 inc delivery and the 2 pedal package was just over £200. I'm in the market for a tube DI or tube pre with DI and have gone back and forth between the Broughton P15, the Khan DI and either the Gnome or Goliath from WR in Luxembourg. I'm leaning towards the Gnome as I already have a few preamps I like but the import duties are an unknown due to VAT. I don't want to pay VAT twice and import duties on top. I can't find any clear info on gov.uk. The P15 is around £400 which may tip it over the limit for Canada, I don't know. Has anyone had anything in that price range from Canada recently?

Edited July 29, 2021 by Apeneck Sweeney
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[nekomatic]

I haven't bought anything from overseas recently but the VAT position seems pretty straightforward: if the goods are worth more than £135, you'll need to pay VAT to the carrier (plus their collection fee). The seller shouldn't charge you any sales tax if they are shipping outside Canada. The £135 figure is the same for all countries.

 

Whether there's any duty to pay on top of that (or rather underneath that, as the VAT gets charged on top of the duty) I don't know, but I think it would be a few percent at most - maybe someone with experience can help, or you can find it somewhere here (maybe)

 

If you've recently imported something worth £200 and not been charged, it sounds like you got lucky.

[Apeneck Sweeney]

Thanks nekomatic. I probably won't push my luck then, though the P15 sounds great in the clips I've heard.

 

The trouble with smaller non VAT registered builders in the EU is they can only put cost of goods as including VAT on the customs form without an exact breakdown. This leaves you open to the possibly of paying VAT on top of the retail price. I really like the Gnome and Goliath but hate not knowing the final price.

 

I think when I bought some double bass strings from the US I ended up paying enough to make them the same price as buying them here plus £11 to DHLfor the pleasure of paying them.

[Downunderwonder]

1 hour ago, Apeneck Sweeney said:

Thanks nekomatic. I probably won't push my luck then, though the P15 sounds great in the clips I've heard.

 

The trouble with smaller non VAT registered builders in the EU is they can only put cost of goods as including VAT on the customs form without an exact breakdown. This leaves you open to the possibly of paying VAT on top of the retail price. I really like the Gnome and Goliath but hate not knowing the final price.

 

I think when I bought some double bass strings from the US I ended up paying enough to make them the same price as buying them here plus £11 to DHLfor the pleasure of paying them.

If they are non registered for VAT there is €0.00 Euro VAT in the price they are charging you!!! You can easily work out what you will pay in import duty and UK VAT.

[nekomatic]

If they’re not VAT registered then they don’t have to add it to their prices, but they also don’t get to subtract it from their costs, so yes arguably you’re paying extra VAT in a way you wouldn’t be if you weren’t importing the goods. But I guess that’s how the fiscal cookie crumbles, and something the company has to think about if they choose not to register (I assume it’s optional below the threshold where it becomes compulsory, iyswim). 

[mcnach]

16 hours ago, Apeneck Sweeney said:

I've bought 3 Broughton Audio pedals recently. I budgeted for 20% + for importing and was pleasantly surprised not to have to pay anything both times (I bought two pedals the first time, one the next). A friend who got a Broughton Fliptop at the same time as me also didn't pay. I think one package was under £200 inc delivery and the 2 pedal package was just over £200. I'm in the market for a tube DI or tube pre with DI and have gone back and forth between the Broughton P15, the Khan DI and either the Gnome or Goliath from WR in Luxembourg. I'm leaning towards the Gnome as I already have a few preamps I like but the import duties are an unknown due to VAT. I don't want to pay VAT twice and import duties on top. I can't find any clear info on gov.uk. The P15 is around £400 which may tip it over the limit for Canada, I don't know. Has anyone had anything in that price range from Canada recently?

 

 

I bought a couple of Broughton pedals in the past few months, and both times I had to pay (which I was expecting). One was under £200 but the other was well above. I guess you got lucky?

 

 

[Apeneck Sweeney]

Thank you all for your input. mcnach has confirmed my good luck.