Parts from USA & VAT

[jerrytr5]

I was making enquires with Goodparts in the US about shipping to the UK. Seems that one or other governments is making it difficult, the upshot being that either the US supplier has to register to collect UK VAT (barmy) or the receiver has to be a UK VAT registered business.

So, does anybody on here own a UK business with VAT reg & willing to act as go-between, or are any of our US members prepared to act as shipper as I suspect 'personal' transactions would be exempt?

Not attempting to avoid any duty or tax here, just like to get some parts.

Jerry

[RobH]

From this :

https://www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad/tax-and-duty

it would appear that if the US sender uses a courier then you pay VAT to the courier.

 

May be that is just too simple? 

[stuart]

Theres an extra charge from Royal Mail to collect the duty as well, about £16 I think.

TBH it often makes the carriage/duty more than the goods cost. I was trying to buy something from the US last year and it was $300 but by the time it landed here it would have cost £490 so I gave up.

Stuart.

[Chilliman]

Jerry, I've just bought some stuff in from the USA, for my cars, I just paid the vat & handling fees to the courier, very easy efficient process.

[roy53]

As Stuart said it can mount up

my last shipment from good parts was before he stopped shipping to us was via DHL and I had a landing charge of £180 on a purchase of £900

at this time they will not ship as to much paperwork etc 

it was suggested to use a shipping agent who would deal with all extra paperwork 

 

shame as been very pleased with good parts stuff

Roy

[jerrytr5]

1 hour ago, RobH said:

From this :

https://www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad/tax-and-duty

it would appear that if the US sender uses a courier then you pay VAT to the courier.

 

May be that is just too simple? 

That was my reading too, but in practice I am being told this is not the case. 

Perhaps a mis-application of the rules somewhere along the way but I don't know how to get around it if the supplier has had that experience.

Jerry

[jerrytr5]

1 hour ago, roy53 said:

it was suggested to use a shipping agent who would deal with all extra paperwork 

Roy

Any idea how to get a shipping agent for small stuff? If I wanted a container load it would probably be easy.

Jerry

[Steve-B]

Jerry,

You could give serious pause to a cheap ticket to Gilead, staying 1-2 days and having the items delivered to your hotel. I know of folks who've done that very successfully with the parts in their suitcase(s) coming back.

I know travel to Gilead may not be appealing, but if you save 50% or more, get what you need and are done with it, just a thought!

[stuart]

7 minutes ago, Steve-B said:

Jerry,

You could give serious pause to a cheap ticket to Gilead, staying 1-2 days and having the items delivered to your hotel. I know of folks who've done that very successfully with the parts in their suitcase(s) coming back.

I know travel to Gilead may not be appealing, but if you save 50% or more, get what you need and are done with it, just a thought!

Gilead 😉😄 About sums it up now.

Stuart.

[seanlen]

Jerry,

Run into this same problem trying to get bits from the states. I opened an account with shipito to act as a shipping agent from USA worth having a look. Has worked for me.

https://www.shipito.com

Sean

 

Edited April 1 by seanlen

[TorontoTim]

I am in Toronto (so not the USA) and I will be travelling to the UK twice(!) this summer. 

If you have, ideally small, parts that you want brought over from here in hand luggage, let me know. 

Obviously it would need to be sent to me in Canada and we have our own issues with tariffs etc. from our friends to the south, but if I can be of help, please let me know. 

Tim

[jerrytr5]

17 hours ago, seanlen said:

Jerry,

Run into this same problem trying to get bits from the states. I opened an account with shipito to act as a shipping agent from USA worth having a look. Has worked for me.

https://www.shipito.com

Sean

 

Thanks Sean, have created an account which gives me a California address and will give it a try and report back.

12 hours ago, TorontoTim said:

I am in Toronto (so not the USA) and I will be travelling to the UK twice(!) this summer. 

If you have, ideally small, parts that you want brought over from here in hand luggage, let me know. 

Obviously it would need to be sent to me in Canada and we have our own issues with tariffs etc. from our friends to the south, but if I can be of help, please let me know. 

Tim

Very generous Tim. Bits are too big and heavy methinks for that route but much appreciated.

Jerry

[roy53]

Be very interested huw this goes ,

Please keep us informed 

Roy

[Kiwifrog]

I have used shipito a few times to ship to France and found the service really good, especially when the seller will not sell outside of America. The heaviest item I shipped was a complete overdrive for a big Healey.

cheers

Alan

[Ian Vincent]

When I lived and worked in Ottawa in 2008/2009 I used a company called Bongo International as a forwarding agent for items purchased in the US from companies that weren’t prepared to ship outside US. I think they are now part of FedEx. 

Rgds Ian

[jerrytr5]

Update:

So for my test transaction I purchased an item with a cost of $39 and weight 0.5kg.

Despatched 8/4/26 to Shipito California. Forwarded to UK 15/4/26. Arrived 22/4/26. 

Shipping process worked seamlessly and efficiently.

Shipping cost to CA $11.57. Shipping & handling costs to UK $43.90.

Converted to GBP, parts cost £29, shipping cost £41. Total £70.

However, there was no UK duty or VAT charged at any point. So the exercise proves that it is an efficient but costly way to get stuff, but still no further forward in estimating what import taxes might be due. I did look at the HMRC website but not for long as I wished to preserve my sanity.

So there you are, make of it what you will.

Jerry

[BlueTR3A-5EKT]

Personal imports.   
Government info.   Quite clear on the HMRC web page…..once you find it.   Why do they make this info so inaccessible?

 Gifts over £39 are liable to import VAT. Customs Duty also becomes payable if the value of the goods is over £135.