Ok, a couple of questions. My friend packed up his family and moved to the UK a few months ago. He left me with two boxes of stuff to sell which he has now changed his mind and wants. Is there anyway I can send it so he doesn't get nailed with taxes? I though about marking it as a gift and placing no $ (or a really low)amount on the form and putting a note inside the box explaining the situation. Do you think that'll work? Any advice is appreciated.:thumbsup:
IF it looks pretty inconspicuous (i.e. not from a company) then its less likely to be checked. I'm sure there must be ways to ship it without it incurring taxes, as otherwise anyone who moves here would have to pay taxes on their possesions! Bear in mind that if you mark it as low value on the tax form, then insurance may only pay out to that value
The gift/$0 thing never works, customs look for these kind of stunts and go down on you like a ton of bricks. There is no easy way to post them to him without him paying tax - if he is living in the UK now then he will be liable to pay VAT the items. You could try posting the items in many small packets, but that would get expensive.
Wait, wait, wait. Aren't they his personal effects anyway? How can he get taxed on that stuff? Assuming he's a yank, he's only there "temporarily". As such, so is his stuff. Of course, he or you have to prove it. The other option is to send it over w/ people. I had a relative mail my wife's engagement ring to a colleague that was in the states on vacation, and he carried it through Japanese customs. I get a massive discount on such stuff. It didn't cost me much, but was valued at about $10k. Probably would've had to pay about 20% in duties had it been mailed.
If he stays over 6 months then I think tax applies to him, or if he has a visa. The idea, as I understand it, is you pay tax on anything you intend to bring to UK soil and leave there when you return to the USA, so if he did get stung on tax he could reclaim it when he returns home. He could also claim back the tax he paid in the USA if he still has his receipts. Life's not fair.
My advice is tell the truth, the value should be what you'd have sold it for ( if you mark it up or down it's fraud ). Make sure you put on there something like that it's personal items being sent to the owner. The HM customs web site should have everything you need to know. smf
Thanks guys. I didn't think the $0 value would work, but I'm just thinking out loud before I send them. He has moved there and is not coming back AFAIK. I believe his wife has dual citizenship. I'll look up the coustoms information as suggested.
