jazzys

My daughter wants a prom dress she has seen one on an american website. however, my daughter is in the UK. I am here in Oz.
I was wondering with the import duty and all that malarky if i would be better off getting the dress sent to me in oz and then forwarding it onto her as a gift and hopefully avoiding import tax into the uk.

anyone got any thoughts on this?

Jazzys

Timber Floor Au

When international items are posted from USA etc, they mark on the postage ( import stamp ) GIFT ! to bypass duty.

You shouldnt have to pay Import Duty at all

Ste

jazzys

Is that to oz or the uk timber? I have paid it when i was in the uk. I think its anything over 18 quid unless its a gift.

Jazzys

Icarus

i think they may mark it as gift if its a freindly shop , you may be able to ask them .

thinks its anything over £18 is duty payable

jazzys

Thats what i thought. thats to the UK though.

The question is would i be better off getting it sent to oz, paying no import tax and then sending it myself to the uk as a gift?

Jazzys

Icarus

well , depends on the price of the dress i guess against the price of shipping to UK from OZ .

http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsP...yType=document

Icarus

be cheaper to have it shipped to you 1st i reckon , whats a dress cost to ship to the UK ? maybe less than 20AUD by sea if no rush ?

jazzys

For the record, The dress is 400 us dollars.
That link you gave me sez that excise duty is to be paid even on occasional gifts, although i suppose i could say its not a gift, its just her dress and i.m sending it to her.
It would have to go by air as there wouldn't be enough time to get it there by sea. Any idea where i would find out how much i would be hit for if i had it sent straight to the UK?

Jazzys

Icarus

not sure , but i reckon it would be a fair amount .

quote from the site :-

Charges are raised by Customs staff at the postal depots where the packages are received. However, in some cases special arrangements are in place for goods purchased on the internet (see paragraph 3.4 below).

The amount of customs charges payable will depend on the type of goods imported and the value (converted using the rates of exchange for the month of importation as shown on the HMRC website) stated on the customs declaration (CN22/CN23):

Customs duty - this is usually charged as a percentage of the value. The percentage varies depending on the type of goods and their country of origin. Duty is charged on the price paid for the goods including any local sales taxes plus postage, packing and insurance costs. However, postage is excluded from the calculation for duty on gifts sent by post except for Express Mail Service (EMS).

Where the value of gifts is below £290 per consignment a flat rate of duty of 3.5% will be applied, but only if it is to your advantage.

Note: Customs duty will be waived if the amount is less than £7.

Icarus

i'll pm you

Dorothy

It better be some special dress for $400. She would also want to hope that it fits properly. US sizes are different from UK, so it may not be so wise to spend that amount of $$ on something she's only seen online.

jazzys

Your right, it had better be some bloody dress! she's followed the sizing instructions and stuff off the website so she should be OK.

If its not she'll have to either eat loads of cakes or go on loads of long runs, depending on whether its too big or too small.

Jazzys

Dorothy

It's possible you could have it made for 1/2 that price. If you send me the link I'll let you know if it's something I think could be made for less.

jazzys

Here's the link, thanks

http://www.tjformal.com/Products/625...rom-Dress-5686

Dorothy

It's really beautiful. There's probably $150-200 worth of fabric there when you add in the beading, etc, so $400 is not bad. I'm sure I couldn't make it for less than the price they're asking. She's going to look absolutely fabulous at her prom.