# Custom duties for shipping to the UK



## studentgoingtouk (Jul 28, 2009)

Hi, I will be going to Cambridge for studies this fall. I was looking around shipping and air frieght options for my personal effects (clothes, a handful of appliances like crockpot, books) but all companies I contacted were unable to tell me if custom duties were applicable. I tried checking out the customs and revenue agency website but I don't quite understand what is relevant and what is not. 

For instance, do I fill in the C3 form and still claim T1 relief? 
My course will last 3 to 4 years, but there's a 24 month clause under the C3 form conditions. How does that affect me? 
To complete the C3 form, I need to estimate the cost of my personal effects. But costs vary between Singapore (where I'm shipping from) and the UK. How do I fill in the form then? 
And of course, the question at the root of all these: do I need to pay custom duties/VAT or any other hidden costs on top of what I am already paying the freight company? 

Thanks!


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

As long as you're moving to the UK on a valid visa, you should be able to bring in your personal belongings pretty much duty free. They will charge you VAT on anything new you purchased just before moving - the limit is usually 6 months or 1 year.

You need to make a listing of everything you are shipping, with estimated value (i.e. your cost less a reasonable margin for "wear and tear"). It will help if on this list you also indicate when you acquired the items you are shipping. You don't need exact dates, in most cases just the year will do - and even that can be an estimate on your part.

You may want to ask your freight company if they have a customs clearing agent in the UK. Obviously, there will be a fee for that, but it can save you having to run out to the airport or some other customs facility to clear your shipment when it arrives. The customs clearing agent will probably need a copy of your passport and visa to clear the shipment. The detailed list of what you're shipping will help speed up the process.
Cheers,
Bev


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## studentgoingtouk (Jul 28, 2009)

right, thanks!


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## jlms (May 15, 2008)

studentgoingtouk said:


> Hi, I will be going to Cambridge for studies this fall. I was looking around shipping and air frieght options for my personal effects (clothes, a handful of appliances like crockpot, books) but all companies I contacted were unable to tell me if custom duties were applicable. I tried checking out the customs and revenue agency website but I don't quite understand what is relevant and what is not.
> 
> For instance, do I fill in the C3 form and still claim T1 relief?
> My course will last 3 to 4 years, but there's a 24 month clause under the C3 form conditions. How does that affect me?
> ...


Do you have too much stuff?

I would rather get rid of it and then buy stuff here in the UK. If you know where to buy (your fellow students will know the places in Cambridge, otherwise online shops are plenty) you could replace most of your stuff and avoid all the hassle.


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## studentgoingtouk (Jul 28, 2009)

jlms said:


> Do you have too much stuff?
> 
> I would rather get rid of it and then buy stuff here in the UK. If you know where to buy (your fellow students will know the places in Cambridge, otherwise online shops are plenty) you could replace most of your stuff and avoid all the hassle.


Perhaps... actually i was hoping more to cut down on check in and hand luggage by shipping my stuff over coz i thought it might be more convenient that way, but yes... it can be quite a hassle...


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## Punktlich2 (Apr 30, 2009)

Bevdeforges said:


> As long as you're moving to the UK on a valid visa, you should be able to bring in your personal belongings pretty much duty free. They will charge you VAT on anything new you purchased just before moving - the limit is usually 6 months or 1 year.
> 
> You need to make a listing of everything you are shipping, with estimated value (i.e. your cost less a reasonable margin for "wear and tear"). It will help if on this list you also indicate when you acquired the items you are shipping. You don't need exact dates, in most cases just the year will do - and even that can be an estimate on your part.
> 
> ...


Good answer, and strictly correct. But as someone who moved for a living (albeit as a diplomat so my Embassy cleared stuff and there were never taxes, but read on) and have moved innumerable times, including to and from GB since, I can tell you the following:

1 out of 100 C3 forms are audited and the goods checked. The percentage is far higher from known drugs transhipment points in Latin America, Asia and Africa.

Nobody is going to ask for proof of how long you owned anything. But take it out of the box and don't include bills of sale in your shipment.

You will almost certainly use a customs broker in London. The fee should be under £50.

You don't need a valid visa to import stuff. In fact, tourists automatically get tax exemption. No proof is asked of foreign residence or its duration, and I suspect there is a lot of cheating as a result. 

For a brief period in the late 1970s I worked with a NY advertising agency that shipped shop window materials for their well-known travel agency client all over Europe. We cleared everything for duty and VAT in London knowing that British Customs is less officious and easier to deal with than any of their Continental counterparts. We then used Securicor to ship the stuff to destination, free of duty and tax under EU rules since that had already been paid.

You do not need a detailed description of stuff. In real life, they only want to know "used clothing, value $100", "pots and pans, value $5" and so on. Never put insured value: put eBay value or garage sale value.

The story in France and Switzerland, where I also have experience, is quite different. For France one needs a consular visa for household goods shipments and I saw that they wrote on my daughter's one ("elle possède passeport américain ET passeport britannique"). As I said, Continental authorities are much more likely to look at the details, and the French wanted to know that my daughter had legal status at origin and destination. When I shipped stuff from London to Switzerland the Swiss customs broker needed a copy of my Swiss ID card.

Hey, in GB you have a week to show up at a police station with your ID, driving licence and car registration. In those other countries you wait at the police station for someone to bring them. No wonder nobody wants mandatory ID cards in the UK.

So far as I know T1 is relevant to certain intra-Community shipments. Why are you concerned with this?

In 1978 we installed a new kitchen in our London house. The kitchen stuff came from Germany. We wanted to avoid VAT so we took title to the goods in Germany (as was possible at the time to avoid VAT, it won't work anymore in view of the harmonised VAT rues). Diplomats do not pay VAT on imports from abroad, only on local purchases, but somehow the exemption form had not arrived at the port or been given to the lorry driver. This was the heyday of labour power I guess, because the driver got annoyed at the long delay and threatened to leave his lorry blocking the port. At which time the exemption papers quickly materialised and we got our kitchen.


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## studentgoingtouk (Jul 28, 2009)

Punktlich2 said:


> You will almost certainly use a customs broker in London. The fee should be under £50.
> 
> So far as I know T1 is relevant to certain intra-Community shipments. Why are you concerned with this?


Oh dear, seems like I still have some details to sort out. e.g. What does a customs broker and why do I need to use one? I've been talking to DHL but they haven't made any mention of a customs broker. 

Actually, I am very confused with all the different relief schemes, so I wasn't sure which ones were relevant to me, hence the question on T1.


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

studentgoingtouk said:


> Oh dear, seems like I still have some details to sort out. e.g. What does a customs broker and why do I need to use one? I've been talking to DHL but they haven't made any mention of a customs broker.
> 
> Actually, I am very confused with all the different relief schemes, so I wasn't sure which ones were relevant to me, hence the question on T1.


Your need for a customs broker (or clearance agent) varies according to how much stuff you're shipping and how you're shipping it. If DHL is handling it, you may not need to worry about it - but be very careful that your stuff is labeled correctly (i.e. as "personal household items - used" or something similar) and with an appropriately low value.

If DHL is promising you door to door delivery, they will apparently take care of the customs clearance for you - but it wouldn't hurt to ask them before you ship your stuff off.
Cheers,
Bev


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## Punktlich2 (Apr 30, 2009)

Bevdeforges said:


> Your need for a customs broker (or clearance agent) varies according to how much stuff you're shipping and how you're shipping it. If DHL is handling it, you may not need to worry about it - but be very careful that your stuff is labeled correctly (i.e. as "personal household items - used" or something similar) and with an appropriately low value.
> 
> If DHL is promising you door to door delivery, they will apparently take care of the customs clearance for you - but it wouldn't hurt to ask them before you ship your stuff off.
> Cheers,
> Bev


DHL, UPS and FedEx, etc. handle their own customs clearances. You will find them expensive and since they clear the goods without reference to you they may pay too much duty and you will have little or no recourse as there are no refunds. If they pay duties they will bill for what they paid, plus their fee. (Similarly, the Post Office clears goods through customs, and if there are taxes to pay they add their fee and deliver COD.)

Shipping via an airline or an "excess baggage service" means that you will be called when the goods have arrived and they will suggest arrangements. This will be cheaper, considerably cheaper I think if the shipment is substantial. Recently we had goods released and delivered within hours. There was no customs duty or VAT, and the delivery charge from Heathrow was £35. That was using an "excess baggage service" from Sydney Airport, the cost of that shipment was A$500.

A "customs broker" is a bonded and licensed service company that may or may not be part of a shipping company. Because they are bonded they can get goods released without advance payment of taxes. With a form C3 there are, in most cases, no taxes to pay but the document is submitted through a broker or other licensed firm. Unless you do it yourself, which can be a nuisance but may or may not save you a few pounds.


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## hollylane (Dec 9, 2010)

Bevdeforges said:


> As long as you're moving to the UK on a valid visa, you should be able to bring in your personal belongings pretty much duty free. They will charge you VAT on anything new you purchased just before moving - the limit is usually 6 months or 1 year.
> 
> You need to make a listing of everything you are shipping, with estimated value (i.e. your cost less a reasonable margin for "wear and tear"). It will help if on this list you also indicate when you acquired the items you are shipping. You don't need exact dates, in most cases just the year will do - and even that can be an estimate on your part.



Would this same statement apply when traveling just with luggage in the airport on a spousal visa? I don't really think I'll ship to much, if anything, just wait until my parents travel over there to bring more stuff to me if needed. Just wondering!


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## Bevdeforges (Nov 16, 2007)

hollylane said:


> Would this same statement apply when traveling just with luggage in the airport on a spousal visa? I don't really think I'll ship to much, if anything, just wait until my parents travel over there to bring more stuff to me if needed. Just wondering!


If you'll be bringing lots of luggage, it sure wouldn't hurt to have a listing of your "personal belongings" with dates acquired and estimated current value, just in case they ask. Then again, I've been known to do stuff like this precisely to assure that no one asks. (It's a sort of charm. If you're prepared, no one will ask. If you're not, they will.)

Technically, of course, anything your parents bring over that they will be leaving in the UK they should declare. I think in practice this is probably more abused than observed, but again, if they're carrying an unusually large amount of luggage for the length of their visit, they could be questioned about it.
Cheers,
Bev


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## hollylane (Dec 9, 2010)

Bevdeforges said:


> If you'll be bringing lots of luggage, it sure wouldn't hurt to have a listing of your "personal belongings" with dates acquired and estimated current value, just in case they ask. Then again, I've been known to do stuff like this precisely to assure that no one asks. (It's a sort of charm. If you're prepared, no one will ask. If you're not, they will.)
> 
> Technically, of course, anything your parents bring over that they will be leaving in the UK they should declare. I think in practice this is probably more abused than observed, but again, if they're carrying an unusually large amount of luggage for the length of their visit, they could be questioned about it.
> Cheers,
> Bev



Thanks! I shall prepare myself as well, as that often happens to me as well. Go to great extents to do something only to have it not matter.


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