windowontheAside

Yes, but if the item's already over the limit then it's due if you carry it through.

SilverSkier

Limit is �390. Yes, you do end up paying the VAT and duty - plus a fee for FedEx collecting it. They do all the paperwork and invoice you for the fees. It doesn't save any money, in fact it costs more but it solves the problem.

sts603

Right but with most items - unless so clearly a brand new product from a non-EU country - you can simply ensure you don't have documentation on you that would allow them to easily prove that you are bringing it into the country for the first time. My experience with inbound mailing duty is that its harder to work around.

sts603

Wait really? I'm supposed to declare anything over 390 GBP?

SilverSkier

I certainly wasn't trying to find a workaround to avoid paying the duty and VAT - it was a workaround to avoid having to either risk missing my connecting flight or losing a valuable item from my checked luggage. Messing with HMRC is not something I would ever consider - I like to sleep at night!

raikje

Yep, any combination of items that in total add up to over �390. And of course any alcohol or tobacco over their respective volume limits, regardless of the cash value.

https://www.gov.uk/duty-free-goods/a...outside-the-eu

windowontheAside

Worth pointing out too that if you send stuff via FedEx that's below the personal limit, you still have to pay any duty and VAT (plus the FedEx charges) as you are not personally bringing it in.

I know people who've sent �50 items via FedEx and been horrified to have a �20+ invoice arrive a few weeks after their item arrived.

Calchas

Is there even a customs inspection point at the domestic MAN exit?

sts603

Relatively similar to the US rules (though perhaps more generous on the alcohol). But no one really cares about the monetary limit (again unless its something really obvious; and again most people probably still don't). On the alcohol, not sure what the technical rule is but at least with GE, they don't ask you on the form. And I've walked through with far more than the limit in front of their eyes (in clear bags, etc.) and its just not a priority for them. No one ever bats an eye.

SilverSkier

Absolutely - the fees can knock out any savings on low value goods. The saving on the item I mentioned was well in excess of the FedEx fees, VAT and duty so in that instance it worked for me. All the shipping companies, whether FedEx, UPS etc or Royal Mail will charge a fee for paying the VAT and duty on your behalf, in addition to collecting the VAT and duty from you - it varies quite a bit but on low value items it can be a real shocker!

SilverSkier

Yes - there's a red telephone near the exit from baggage reclaim - I've never seen any customs officers hovering in that area. When you ring them on the red phone they have to come over from one of the other terminals to deal with you so it can involve a bit of a wait.

corporate-wage-slave

There is an HMRC telephone and inspection point at every UK airport, even Castlebay, Barra.

So when you go through Flight Connections at T5, if you look on the wall, just after the photo stage, you will see a red telephone. This is where you declare your hand luggage items. You declare your checked items at the arrival airport, where there is a red telephone too. At EDI it's slightly different in that checked luggage from overseas can be delivered to a separate carousel, but I gather it doesn't always happen.

In terms of the OP's question, yes you can take properly sealed bags of duty free from the USA through security provided they are removed from other bags and scanned separately. There is a "no tolerance" policy for bags in bags, also if the sealed bag+receipt policy isn't there - at LAS I'm sure they are very good to make sure that happens.

However I also agree that for all sorts of reasons it is best to do it in AMS, particularly given the relative positions of GBP, Euros and USD at the moment. Less likely to forget it onboard too!

NWIFlyer

The fact is, it's only been �390 for a fairly short period of time. For years and years it was only �185, which meant bringing something like a DSLR camera in put you way over.

Now, with the falling price of most electronic goods and the enormous rise in allowance, that's not much of an issue.

Last year when I was in the US I bought a Sony DSLR. The HMRC USD rate at the time was about 1.70 (they have a monthly figure which is only adjusted if the currency moves by an enormous amount during the month - don't rely on it being the bank rate at the time of purchase or invoice if that's higher), and even with quite a decent 'enthusiastic amateur' camera body I was a very comfortable �50 inside the limit, and obviously anything else we bought could then come under MrsNWIFlyer's limit.

Tobias-UK

You don't see customs or immigration people there for months on end but shortly before and after Christmas they were there in volume - 6 officers meeting the LHR flight. Of the 5 or so arrivals I had over that period they were there.

sts603

How is this enforced? It would seem based on the way this is described that there is no one monitoring or spot checking whether you pick up the red phone and make your payment?