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A friend sent me a gift (knitted gloves) from abroad, to the UK. I had to pay a "customs tax" for it to be delivered, even though postage had already been fully paid. Why is that? Like, what is the justification for taxing gifts? 🤔
#UKQuestion
#ukquestion
in reply to El Duvelle

阜日木卩由巾凡
mastodon - Link to source
阜日木卩由巾凡
• •
I have never understood this, over the 15+ year my family from Taiwan sent me parcel, sometime they were gifts and sometimes they were just my belongings, I got tax probably every 3 shipments. None of my parcel are expensive stuff and until this day I have no idea any consistent rules applied 😡
in reply to 阜日木卩由巾凡

El Duvelle
mastodon - Link to source
El Duvelle
• •
yeah, these are supposed to be the rules
gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad/…
but I still don't get the justification about taxing gifts...
Or your own belongings!! That seems even worse

Tax and customs for goods sent from abroad

VAT, duty and customs declarations for goods received by post or courier - paying, collecting your goods, getting a refund and documents.
Government Digital Service (GOV.UK)
This entry was edited (4 days ago)
in reply to El Duvelle

阜日木卩由巾凡
mastodon - Link to source
阜日木卩由巾凡
• •
there is no consistency of rule application whatsoever, in the end I just gave up
in reply to El Duvelle

Alan Francis
mastodon - Link to source
Alan Francis
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the rationale (i imagine)would be if someone had bought you those gifts in a uk store they’d have been taxed but because they bought them elsewhere the govt have to get their share.
in reply to Alan Francis

El Duvelle
mastodon - Link to source
El Duvelle
• •
@acf I see.. But this means that items get taxed twice, once in the country of origin and once in the UK - that doesn't sound normal...
Plus in this case she made something from raw material (yarn) so the UK is basically taxing her labour 🤔
@Alan Francis
in reply to El Duvelle

Alan Francis
mastodon - Link to source
Alan Francis
• •
agreed. I suspect it shouldn’t actually be taxed at all but it may not be worth the argument you’d have to have to prove it was made and gifted, not purchased.
in reply to Alan Francis

El Duvelle
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El Duvelle
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@acf yes.. I also looked up these "rules" but I still fail to see the justification for taxing gifts. I'm happy to have taxes taken from my salary and to pay taxes on things that I buy. But asking me (or the sender) to pay tax on something that's gifted to me, that seems.. cheap and nasty
@Alan Francis
in reply to El Duvelle

manisha
mastodon - Link to source
manisha
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not sure if this is UK specific but usually customs tax or customs duty is levied on anything that's imported into a country. I think the customs officers don't really know/care if the imported item is a gift or not, and these taxes can sometimes even be higher than cost of items being imported (depending on which country they are being imported from and the price of the item). Happened with my partner once when he had backed a kickstarter - that's how we learnt how high these taxes can be!
in reply to manisha

El Duvelle
mastodon - Link to source
El Duvelle
• •
@manisha yeah, apparently in the UK both are treated slightly differently (see these rules, but for some reason the threshold for gifts is lower (taxed if their value is £35+ while "goods" worth £135+ are taxed). It's been a few times now that I get presents from friends and family from abroad (including nearby France, thank you #Brexit) and am asked to pay in order to be able to receive the package, this just feels like extortion

Tax and customs for goods sent from abroad

VAT, duty and customs declarations for goods received by post or courier - paying, collecting your goods, getting a refund and documents.
Government Digital Service (GOV.UK)
#brexit @manisha
in reply to El Duvelle

manisha
mastodon - Link to source
manisha
• •
oh dang! How do they determine if it's a gift or not and its value? I am guessing they make the sender declare it? In any case, it sucks! :(
This entry was edited (3 days ago)
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