Uncle Sam's Jig

[Alan Caffrey]

Hi to all concertina netters,

oh lucky me! I have recently heard that I will be getting a high line concertina from dear old England. Here's my question: will Uncle Sam want me to pay some kind of import duty on this instrument? I remember having to write a check to the delivery man for about $80 when I got my Edgley from Canada about four years ago but I'm not too clear on what that was exactly for. I'm sure some of you have received instruments from Britain, did you have to shell out?

Thanks, Alan.

[s2maur]

Hi to all concertina netters,

                                          oh lucky me! I have recently heard that I will be getting a high line concertina from dear old England. Here's my question: will Uncle Sam want me to pay some kind of import duty on this instrument? I remember having to write a check to the delivery man for about $80 when I got my Edgley from Canada about four years ago but I'm not too clear on what that was exactly for. I'm sure some of you have received instruments from Britain, did you have to shell out?

                                          Thanks, Alan.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Alan,

 

Yes, you will have to pay an import duty on the declared value of the instrument as stated by the sender. I have had two iinstruments from europe and paid the import duty at delivery the first time and the second time I took receipt of the instrument and then got a bill from the carrier about two weeks later. UPS was more trusting than Fed Ex Air which was the first carrier.

 

Steve

[Alan Caffrey]

Steve,

any idea how much they will charge me on what will probably be a $5,000 instrument?

 

thanks, Alan.

[Joyce]

Steve,

            any idea how much they will charge me on what will probably be a $5,000 instrument?

 

                        thanks,  Alan.

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According to US Customs the import fee is 2.6% of the concertina's declared value. This is also what I paid when importing from the Netherlands.

 

Joyce

[Alan Caffrey]

Alan again here,

now if I were living in England (this part of the question obviously targeted to British residents) would the Queen and her government want a slice?

Alan.

[Samantha]

Alan again here,

                        now if I were living in England (this part of the question obviously targeted to British residents) would the Queen and her government want a slice?

              Alan.

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No, but when I bought a concertina from a seller in the States, I had to pay import duty (and VAT [Value Added Tax], if I remember rightly) before I could pick it up from the carrier's depot.

Samantha

[Stephen Chambers]

... now if I were living in England (this part of the question obviously targeted to British residents) would the Queen and her government want a slice?

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Alan,

 

I'm not clear exactly what the nature of the transaction is here, but if you were buying this instrument in the United Kingdom, from someone who was selling it in the course of their business, they would normally be registered for VAT (Value Added Tax), which you would have to pay at 17.5% on the price. However, if the item is being exported to you, you do not have to pay this tax.

 

In the United States there is no VAT, and the Customs Duty is only a few percent, so on that basis, you should be getting the instrument for less than a UK resident would have to pay for it.

 

On the other hand, if someone in the United Kingdom (or any other European Union country) was importing a similar instrument from the United States, as Samantha has stated, they would have to pay both VAT and Customs Duty to "the Queen and her government".

 

And here in Ireland, VAT is a whopping 21% !

[Ken_Coles]

In the United States there is no VAT, and the Customs Duty is only a few percent, so on that basis, you should be getting the instrument for less than a UK resident would have to pay for it.

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Except that the policies of our dear U.S. government (and who knows what other circumstances, I guess I shouldn't discuss religion and politics!) have led to a plunging dollar. That's an added cost. When my Dipper was finished not to long ago the dollar was at a many-year low against the pound. I would feel better about it if Colin had gotten the extra money, but of course he didn't.

 

I recall a discussion of this topic (import duties) on the old Squeezebox newsgroup. The gist of it was that the U.S. duty collection was inconsistent - they make a judgement, that varies, whether to charge duty on a handmade musical instrument. It happens that there was no duty on my Dipper, so I guess I got part of the exchange penalty back. Luck of the draw; good luck to you, Alan C.!

[Alan Caffrey]

Alan again here,

well thanks all for the advise, especially the VAT bit -seems I'm better off paying Uncle Sam than the Queen. Also lucky me, the dollar is at last strengthening against the Brit pound.