Re: New York Lesley`s trip

[Guest guest]

Yes Joyce, I got " caught " about 10 years ago, coming back from

Singapore when the allowance was much lower. I think you could only

spend £40 (approx) outside Europe without paying tax. The stupid

thing was that I had kept all my receipts (and we are talking major

spending spree here, silk dresses, shoes, etc. - this was in the days

of full time work and NO children!), to check when the credit card

bills came in. Fortunately, the less-than-pleasant HM C&E lady did

not find the receipts so could only guess what we'd spent, plus she

didn't realise we'd also done the " buy a new suitcase " trick, which

was at least £70 on its own. We were charged £40 and DH was told off

for being a seasoned traveller and going through the green channel

when he should have known better..... I think though that they were

trying to meet their targets and were stopping just about everyone

that went through. Having paid our fine and repacked, we continued

through the green channel, only to get stopped again! They soon

realised we'd already been done and let us through, but it scared me

enough to be much more careful in future, as it wasn't very

pleasant.

The allowance of £145 is still not very high and I don't know how

it's worth while going shopping in the US if that's all you can spend

without declaring. Is that all you're going for Lesley, or are you

going to spend more and declare it or are you going to be a

Smuggler!?!?! If you do keep receipts though, either post them home

first so C&E don't find them, or hang on to them in case C&E want to

charge you more and you may need them to prove how much/little you've

spent.

Have a great trip!

Hannah

> If your shopping amounted to less than ?145 then you wouldn't have

owed

> anything. It's nothing to do with weight - that's just a concern

of the

> airline, not HM Customs and Excise. Here are the duty-free

allowances from

> their website:

>

>

> The customs allowances

> For travellers arriving from outside the EU

> (including the Canary Islands, the Channel Islands and Gibraltar)

> 200 cigarettes; or

> 100 cigarillos; or

> 50 cigars; or

> 250 gms of tobacco.

> 2 litres of still table wine.

> 1 litre of spirits or strong liqueurs over 22% volume; or

> 2 litres of fortified wine, sparkling wine or other liqueurs.

> 60cc/ml of perfume.

> 250cc/ml of toilet water.

> ?145 worth of all other goods including gifts and souvenirs.

>

> Joyce

> -----

>

> Not a penny. Weren't overweight.

>

> Ruthie

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>

[Guest guest]

> What's the situation on buying stuff from the US by mail order (says

she,

> having accidentally won an ebay auction whilst under the alfluence

last night)?

Have a look here, Lynda:

http://www.hmce.gov.uk/bus/regions/dutyrate.htm

They have a section on internet shopping

http://www.hmce.gov.uk/public/new/index.htm and click on internet

shopping.

--

Sue

[Guest guest]

> Computer equip is good as it doesn't attract duty, only VAT at 17.5%

> and works out cheaper as long as, in some cases, you don't go for

big

> names e.g. Sony, who seem to have a worldwide pricing policy. Seems

> to me the only way to win with them is if one country is bundling

> something special into the package

Be careful with computer equipment, it may not work outside of the USA

as the voltage is different, (you need a converter) and if it is

anything to do with TV (like video cameras) they work on a completely

different system NTSC, while UK work on PAL.

Ruthie

[Guest guest]

> Computer equip is good as it doesn't attract duty, only VAT at 17.5%

> and works out cheaper as long as, in some cases, you don't go for

big

> names e.g. Sony, who seem to have a worldwide pricing policy. Seems

> to me the only way to win with them is if one country is bundling

> something special into the package

Be careful with computer equipment, it may not work outside of the USA

as the voltage is different, (you need a converter) and if it is

anything to do with TV (like video cameras) they work on a completely

different system NTSC, while UK work on PAL.

Ruthie

[Guest guest]

> Computer equip is good as it doesn't attract duty, only VAT at 17.5%

> and works out cheaper as long as, in some cases, you don't go for

big

> names e.g. Sony, who seem to have a worldwide pricing policy. Seems

> to me the only way to win with them is if one country is bundling

> something special into the package

Be careful with computer equipment, it may not work outside of the USA

as the voltage is different, (you need a converter) and if it is

anything to do with TV (like video cameras) they work on a completely

different system NTSC, while UK work on PAL.

Ruthie

[Guest guest]

> Hi all

>

> > What's the situation on buying stuff from the US by mail order

(says she,

> > having accidentally won an ebay auction whilst under the alfluence

last

> > night)?

When I order my lansinoh(sore nipple cream which I sell) supplies from

the USA, it is very hitty missy as to whether I have to pay duty

for the delivery ; basically I think I am meant to, but I would say

the majority of the time I don't get asked for anything.

Ruthie

[Guest guest]

Hi all

> Be careful with computer equipment, it may not work outside of the USA

> as the voltage is different, (you need a converter) and if it is

> anything to do with TV (like video cameras) they work on a completely

> different system NTSC, while UK work on PAL.

Having imported a DVD player from the US a good few years back, I can confirm

this. However, power converters are available in the UK and don't cost a lot

- as long as it's not a high wattage appliance. With DVD the NTSC factor

isn't that important as most TV's these days happily convert the signal. A

video camera would of course be another matter.

Something to remember... if you go to the US and visit a shop selling videos

- make sure you know if your player can play them. Most new VCR's will play

NTSC tapes - but not all... so check before you visit the US. DVD is

another matter - lots of Region 1 discs are available in the US... but you

will need either a Mult-Region player, or a Region 1 player to play them.

Nick

[Guest guest]

Hi all

> Be careful with computer equipment, it may not work outside of the USA

> as the voltage is different, (you need a converter) and if it is

> anything to do with TV (like video cameras) they work on a completely

> different system NTSC, while UK work on PAL.

Having imported a DVD player from the US a good few years back, I can confirm

this. However, power converters are available in the UK and don't cost a lot

- as long as it's not a high wattage appliance. With DVD the NTSC factor

isn't that important as most TV's these days happily convert the signal. A

video camera would of course be another matter.

Something to remember... if you go to the US and visit a shop selling videos

- make sure you know if your player can play them. Most new VCR's will play

NTSC tapes - but not all... so check before you visit the US. DVD is

another matter - lots of Region 1 discs are available in the US... but you

will need either a Mult-Region player, or a Region 1 player to play them.

Nick