Anyone just paid import tax on oversea purchase?

Hello, I got my wedding dress from Ebay from a US seller.

When I ordered it, I had no idea that I would have to pay tax as it didn't cross my mind.

You pay VAT (20%), duty and an admin fee (I think)- this is valued as what you paid for the item. Your package will get stopped in customs if a company such as Fed Ex are delivering. If it is going through as a package through the postal system you have a chance that you won't have to pay.

Luckily for me, it was posted US Mail and wasn't stopped (as it wasn't massive or heavy) so I didn't have to pay! Yay!

Is there a label on your package for custom declaration?

I bought a normal dress from china in February for £12. When I receive it, there is a custom label sticker on it stating "custom declaration". The sender declare it at USD$10, I didn't get any tax too.

It would depend what value the sender wrote on the customs label, I always aske the sender to mark it as a gift buty it doesn't always get through that way.

You'd pay the vat and duty on wghhatever customs deem the item is worth (they can have a look what's inside

Summer Bee- after I told you yesterday that I NEVER get charged when I get parcels from China, they got me this morning!!

I paid £7 on a parcel marked as being a gift, worth £10. It had about 20,000 rhinestones in it + an invoice- RM had defo had a root through it, so they knew it wasn't a gift given that my paypal details were there.

Either my postman has been keeping an eye on me or the post office are stalking me on hitched....grrrrr.

£7 for product worth £10??? That's like 70%! There shouldn't be import duty for items below £135. They should only tax you the 20% VAT! Unless you're paying some handling charges by royal mail? How much was the value on the invoice?

Nah, I don't think the post office is stalking you, it was the CUSTOM! lol

I paid £26 for my £164 cape from the States- they wouldn't deliver it til I paid online or over the phone. Then i ordered some shoes and they were the wrong size (I thought a UK 4 was a US6 - it said on their chart online but when delivered they were impossibly tight) and I had to pay £13 for a £69 pair of shoes and didn't even get that refunded, only the shoes and postage!