[Elecraft] Import duties on amateur radio items

[Ian White GM3SEK]

Ken Kopp wrote:
>Aren't amateur radio related items duty-free in the UK and EU,
>as they are in Canada?  I became aware of this through extensive eBay 
>sales.

Most are free from import duty, or else it's only a few percent. The 
killer is the Value Added Tax, which is 17.5% in the UK and even higher 
in some other EU countries. Unless the item is of small value, or is 
below the Customs exemptions for incoming travelers, VAT will normally 
be charged on *all* incoming goods.

The worst thing is that both duty and taxes are applied to the bottom 
line of the invoice, the total including both shipping and insurance! 
Helpful exporters to the EU will bill for those two service items 
separately, so that duty and VAT are applied only to the true value of 
the goods. As far as I'm aware, this is a perfectly legal way to 
minimize the tax liability.


-- 

73 from Ian GM3SEK
http://www.ifwtech.co.uk/g3sek