Quote Originally Posted by marbles View Post
Just received a Fedex invoice for £61.16 for a spindle and vfd Chinese import, which didnt make my day :(

I've bought loads of stuff from China inc hiwin rails and vfd's etc and I cant remember paying that amount of duty or often any duty at all on these purchases.

Have I just been lucky or are the spindle and vfd packages in particular always subject to 20% duty?

ps
Just on another note the postman due to his diligance and professionalism has managed to get this invoice through my letterbox even though the name, the number, the street are all wrong. Only the postcode is correct. I'm wondering if its even valid as such?
I buy quite a lot of parts for making fishing lures from the states and normally get stung for import VAT plus Royal Mail handling charge. I keep the total value (which I believe includes postage) below £135 as over this import duty is added on as well. I sometimes don't get charged but as a rule I do. The charges also can also vary depending where the item is sent from and what it is. You have probably been lucky in the past but I expect these days HMRC will be looking for every penny they can get.

As to your question if it is valid I think if you don't pay within the timescale they just send it back.