Importing basses and customs tax

[saxobass]

Hi all. I`d like to buy a Godin A4 bass from Canada at a very favourable price. Has anybody had any experience of taxes due, (customs etc.) especially as this is a commonwealth country?

[Cat Burrito]

I've imported about 3 bodies, a neck & a whole bass. Bearing in mind the Godin A4 bass is about a grand you will pay a bit. They then add a ridiculous admin charge too. If the deal is good then go for it but bear in mind taxes.

You get a letter first with the required fees & can pay over the phone

[Prosebass]

I know a man with a lovely Godin A5 in the UK , I have played this and it is absolutely lovely. Superb on board pre-amp.

[url="http://www.bassgear.co.uk/products-page/pre-owned/godin-a5-electro-acoustic-5-string/"]Godin A5[/url]

Will be much less hassle than an import.
You can expect about 21% - 22% + a handling charge.

Paul

[janmaat]

[quote name='Prosebass' post='907586' date='Jul 27 2010, 08:59 PM']I know a man with a lovely Godin A5 in the UK , I have played this and it is absolutely lovely. Superb on board pre-amp.

[url="http://www.bassgear.co.uk/products-page/pre-owned/godin-a5-electro-acoustic-5-string/"]Godin A5[/url]

Will be much less hassle than an import.
You can expect about 21% - 22% + a handling charge.

Paul[/quote]

Would the situation be different for parts, as buying the neck, the body, and the pups separately? Guess so each transaction under a critical threshold value?

[obbm]

Let the Wiki be your guide. Ther are many members who have trodden this path.

[url="http://wiki.basschat.co.uk/info:buying:importing_gear"]http://wiki.basschat.co.uk/info:buying:importing_gear[/url]

[Prosebass]

[quote name='janmaat' post='907726' date='Jul 27 2010, 11:31 PM']Would the situation be different for parts, as buying the neck, the body, and the pups separately? Guess so each transaction under a critical threshold value?[/quote]

Threshold is about £37.00 in goods
Some things get through, the volumes are massive and smaller items sometimes just slip through.
As a dealer / trader the Customs declaration must be done properly , if not you are liable to being investigated by HMRC
Second-hand is no different than new. Value must be declared.
Many people post items as 'gifts' but it is dodgy and the last thing anyone needs is a tax investigation.

[jazzyvee]

[quote name='saxobass' post='907554' date='Jul 27 2010, 08:31 PM']Hi all. I`d like to buy a Godin A4 bass from Canada at a very favourable price. Has anybody had any experience of taxes due, (customs etc.) especially as this is a commonwealth country?[/quote]

I got stung very badly last year when I bought a unique electric guitar from a store in Texas and had it shipped over. Even though it was a used instrument it was a huge shock. I would have been better off taking a weekend break there and carrying it back on the plane.
However in an interesting conversation with the HMRC man after he had taken my money, he was very amicable actually, he informed me that tax is payable on all instruments imported into the uk from outside the EU unless they coming back to the UK after being sent abroad for repair or under warranty.
So i guess if somehow you were able to get the documentation for shipping to be worded to that affect you may be ok. But equally if the tax man isn't convinced you could be worse off.

I've heard of people who have asked the seller to down value items in the customs declaration in order to get a lower import tax bill on delivery, but it's a risk as if it is insured shipping and there is a breakage or loss you could find yourself under insured and out of pocket.

I guess the safest option is to bite the bullet, give the tax man his money and enjoy the bass if it's a bargain even after taxes. Mine was.

Jazzyvee

[Musky]

The £36 threshold is for goods marked as gifts. Ordinary purchases have a threshold of only £18 before VAT becomes due.

[Beedster]

[quote name='jazzyvee' post='907751' date='Jul 28 2010, 12:03 AM']I got stung very badly last year when I bought a unique electric guitar from a store in Texas and had it shipped over. Even though it was a used instrument it was a huge shock. I would have been better off taking a weekend break there and carrying it back on the plane.
However in an interesting conversation with the HMRC man after he had taken my money, he was very amicable actually, he informed me that tax is payable on all instruments imported into the uk from outside the EU unless they coming back to the UK after being sent abroad for repair or under warranty.
So i guess if somehow you were able to get the documentation for shipping to be worded to that affect you may be ok. But equally if the tax man isn't convinced you could be worse off.

I've heard of people who have asked the seller to down value items in the customs declaration in order to get a lower import tax bill on delivery, but it's a risk as if it is insured shipping and there is a breakage or loss you could find yourself under insured and out of pocket.

I guess the safest option is to bite the bullet, give the tax man his money and enjoy the bass if it's a bargain even after taxes. Mine was.

Jazzyvee[/quote]

+1 to all the above. I've imported a lot of basses. In the old days when the exchange rates were hugely in our favour (and I was buying MIA Fenders which are of course pretty cheap in the USA), even with duty, tax, fees etc I was better off than buying in the UK. However, for me to consider importing a bass in the current climate, it would have to be a real bargain, i.e., priced at no more than 60% of what I'd pay in the UK.

Don't be fooled into thinking the guys at C&E are stupid by the way, they have experts in musical instruments and know what they're doing. BTW Canada being part of the Commonwealth doesn't help a whole lot I'm afraid.

C

[Beedster]

[quote name='Beedster' post='907827' date='Jul 28 2010, 08:25 AM']+1 to all the above. I've imported a lot of basses. In the old days when the exchange rates were hugely in our favour (and I was buying MIA Fenders which are of course pretty cheap in the USA), even with duty, tax, fees etc I was better off than buying in the UK. However, for me to consider importing a bass in the current climate, it would have to be a real bargain, i.e., priced at no more than 60% of what I'd pay in the UK.

Don't be fooled into thinking the guys at C&E are stupid by the way, they have experts in musical instruments and know what they're doing. BTW Canada being part of the Commonwealth doesn't help a whole lot I'm afraid.

C[/quote]

In short, don't buy a bass from outside of the EU, no matter how much of a bargain it appears, unless you've calculated all the taxes, duties etc, and then compared the total price with UK price, and then factored in the risk elements, for example, if it's damaged or not as described, you might have a ell of a battle, and at the very least, if you have to send it back, you will normally have to pay shipping. If you're buying from the USA you have to be even more careful as retail law varies from state to state and occasionally, even if the bass is evidently a load of sh*te, there's nothing you can do, even via eBay/Paypal (funny how the dodgy dealers seem to be based in the states with the weakest laws!)

C

[Clarky]

[quote name='jazzyvee' post='907751' date='Jul 28 2010, 12:03 AM']I've heard of people who have asked the seller to down value items in the customs declaration in order to get a lower import tax bill on delivery, but it's a risk as if it is insured shipping and there is a breakage or loss you could find yourself under insured and out of pocket.[/quote]
The California-based seller of my stealth black Alembic Spoiler quoted the shipping value as the maximum insured price under the USPS service ($650). My tax bill was not very big as a consequence. As the internet is open to all readers, I will leave it to you to judge whether $650 is the actual price I paid! Had it been broken or seriously damaged in transit I would have been seriously upset, mind ....

Edited July 28, 2010 by Clarky

[antti]

[quote name='saxobass' post='907554' date='Jul 27 2010, 10:31 PM']Hi all. I`d like to buy a Godin A4 bass from Canada at a very favourable price. Has anybody had any experience of taxes due, (customs etc.) especially as this is a commonwealth country?[/quote]

If the customs fee (tax) is equal it should be something like 3-4 % of the whole price. Then they will charge VAT, which, I believe, is 15% at the moment in England. They will charge that from the price of the bass + shipping. So, if you buy this bass you can calculate something like this:

Bass - 650
Shipping+ins. - 150
Tax - 32
VAT - 124,8

Total price 956,8

This may not be accurate. Depends on the price of shipping but it won't be too far from this.

[obbm]

[quote name='antti' post='907837' date='Jul 28 2010, 08:50 AM']If the customs fee (tax) is equal it should be something like 3-4 % of the whole price. Then they will charge VAT, which, I believe, is 15% at the moment in England. They will charge that from the price of the bass + shipping. So, if you buy this bass you can calculate something like this:

Bass - 650
Shipping+ins. - 150
Tax - 32
VAT - 124,8

Total price 956,8

This may not be accurate. Depends on the price of shipping but it won't be too far from this. [/quote]

VAT is 17.5% now going up to 20% next year.

[farmer61]

Have a weekend in New York.

Buy a bass

Ask shop for the most battered bass case

Put in on the plane

And walk through customs whistling with fingers crossed

Simple

[antti]

Add 20.8 to the price

[mybass]

[quote name='saxobass' post='907554' date='Jul 27 2010, 08:31 PM']Hi all. I`d like to buy a Godin A4 bass from Canada at a very favourable price. Has anybody had any experience of taxes due, (customs etc.) especially as this is a commonwealth country?[/quote]

After complaining once to HM Customs about charges,which amazingly including an extra freight charge for a carrier to take it to and from customs at the airport,
the officer advised that if I had a friend in mainland Europe, I could actually get the guitar sent to them first, re addressed/posted from Europe to me with no UK import tax.
Haven't tried it but that may work although possible postage charges may lessen the financial gap.

[mybass]

[quote name='saxobass' post='907554' date='Jul 27 2010, 08:31 PM']Hi all. I`d like to buy a Godin A4 bass from Canada at a very favourable price. Has anybody had any experience of taxes due, (customs etc.) especially as this is a commonwealth country?[/quote]

After complaining once to HM Customs about charges,which amazingly including an extra freight charge for a carrier to take it to and from customs at the airport,
the officer advised that if I had a friend in mainland Europe, I could actually get the guitar sent to them first, re addressed/posted from Europe to me with no UK import tax.
Haven't tried it but that may work although possible postage charges may lessen the financial gap.

[xgsjx]

I was in Ed Romans' about 5 years ago trying out a few basses & they offered to put it in a well used case complete with worn out stickers. Or if t's a bolt on neck, remove the neck & pop it in a suitcase.

[saxobass]

Thanks Guys. A lot of wisdom in there. I think that any gains from this `deal` might be quite slender. I`ll think on!

[Musky]

[quote name='mybass' post='908123' date='Jul 28 2010, 12:58 PM']After complaining once to HM Customs about charges,which amazingly including an extra freight charge for a carrier to take it to and from customs at the airport,
the officer advised that if I had a friend in mainland Europe, I could actually get the guitar sent to them first, re addressed/posted from Europe to me with no UK import tax.
Haven't tried it but that may work although possible postage charges may lessen the financial gap.[/quote]
But your friend would end up being hit for VAT at the local rate when the guitar arrived from the US. Unless they were a diplomat or US serviceman based in the EU.

[Shambo]

[url="http://dutycalculator.com/"]http://dutycalculator.com/[/url]

[WalMan]

Said it before, but do please bear in mind that whilst you might get away with some of the suggestions, as Beedster says HMRC are not fools and have plenty of people who know about these things. Getting an under declaration of value or trying to walk it through in a battered case, or in pieces in a suitcase [i]could[/i] get your exchange rate bargain confiscated so you'd be out the cost of the bass, and trip if that's the option you tried, with nothing to show for it. And it does happen. In the last of these threads I quoted bits of a tax tribunal case where just that happened, and the fact that the bloke doing the importing said the pricing "error" on the Customs slip was down to the seller not him made no difference. At the end of the day you would be trying to avoid the duty and smuggling.

For purchases from outside the EU the limit for charge is £18, and if it comes through in the post there will be a handling charge by Parcelfarce or whoever - the last item I bought for #2 son that came in from the US was a shirt that got hit with £8 VAT & £8 handling charge.

Basically, always factor in VAT & a handling charge when deciding whether it's a good deal. If it still is, and you're not bothered about dealing with any issues over a distance rather than being able to take it back to the shop personally, then by al means go for it. Sometimes things do slip through the net through without a charge by the courier, but don't bank on it.