If you are in the USA and you prepay a person's customs fees?

[tulagirl]

Lets say my grandmother lives in the UK and I wan't to send her a gift but I don't want her to have to pay customs charges, taxs and vat fees as it will be over her country limit for a gift.  Is it possible for me to prepay them for her when I ship from the USA? I can't find any information on the USPS website.  I have been trying to find this out all morning.  It should be possible, but perhaps I have to use another carrier?

[Oneleo1]

Are you declaring the full value on the customs form?

[ponylady]

Why do international recipients pay fees, can a sender prepay fees?

Customs, duties and other fees assessed by the destination country for an item can NOT be paid to the United States Postal Service when the item is mailed. The recipient of the mailpiece is the only one who can pay the customs fees.

All items entering a foreign country are subject to customs inspection and assessment of duties, taxes, and fees in accordance with that country's national laws. Customs duties and taxes are assessed, generally, if the item sent is dutiable and if the value of the item is above the threshold set by the country's laws. Each country assesses customs, duties, and taxes. Check the Worlds Customs Organization website for general information, or visit the website of that country's customs service.

It is important to understand that, if duties and taxes are assessed on an item mailed via the Postal Service, they are collected from the recipient. Postage is charged to cover the expense of delivery only. Postage does not cover charges assessed by customs in the destination country.

This is from USPS's website. So it looks like you can not prepay 

[tulagirl]

Thank you so much that was what I was looking for and could not find it.  That answers my question and honestly it makes a lot of sense really!!  Ponylady you are seriously talented when it comes to getting information.

[ponylady]

Thanks Tula! 

[Oneleo1]

Can you estimate how much in fees it might be assessed and send the money to cover it to her?

[tulagirl]

Yes I could do that but I would have to mail the money order separately since many packages can't contain money and I don't know if that means MO's too.  Then there is the issue of trying to figure out how much she would have to pay mathmatically I don't understand anything at all I am reading. I guess I just don't have the brain for this sort of thing.

[ponylady]

Ringlets is in the UK and should be on soon.  She knows all about VAT fee's and how they work.

But here is some info if it is sent as a gift:

Goods sent as a gift that are over £40 in value are liable to import VAT. Customs duty also becomes payable if the value of the goods is over £135 but is waived if the amount of duty calculated is less than £9.

To qualify as a gift:
■ the customs declaration must be completed correctly
■ the gift must be sent from a private person outside the EU to a private person(s) in this country
■ there is no commercial or trade element and the gift has not been paid for either directly or indirectly by anyone in the UK
■ the gift is of an occasional nature only, for example, for a birthday or anniversary

Note: if you purchase something from outside the EU to give as a gift to a relative or friend, whether or not addressed to that person, it is treated as a ‘commercial consignment’ for which the import VAT relief threshold in paragraph 2.3 applies.

So maybe you could send it as a gift under the said value and not be charged???

[nhal039]

maybe you could get something from ebay uk for her and ask the seller to ship it direct to your grandma?

[tulagirl]

Everyone has great suggestions.  Thanks so much.

[HoustonCollector72]

great post, I was not aware of the customs fees and all that, so far I have not been charged for any of my international purchases

[hathorcat]

When a parcel is held in the UK for a customs charge, there is a 28 day grace period - so you could in theory wait until the receiver gets the notification on customs which will detail the charge and then send the MO on to them. After the MO is received the receiver can cash and then collect the parcel. However, that could be a tight time frame. The other option is for you to pay the customs and handling charge for them via credit or debit card.

In the UK parcels get stuck in customs via 2 carriers - Royal Mail or Parcelforce [who are essentially Royal Mails own courier company]. For the former you are then posted a letter which states the charges and your delivery reference; for the latter you get a card put through your door by the post man which again states the charges and a payment reference.

You then go on line to the website which will be stated in the letter/on the card - http://www.royalmail.com/discounts-payment/fee-pay or http://www.parcelforce.com/receiving-parcel/importing-uk/customs-charging - which let you pay the customs charge via card. Once paid the parcel is then released for delivery as normal. As long as your debit or credit card has international transactions permitted it "should" be possible for this to be done - but you may want to double check with your bank/credit card company first.

[xeevee]

If its a gift under declare the value and say it's a gift.  I assume that you will wrap it and include a card, so they'll just take it at face value. 

[Ringlets]

UK customs fees *eyeroll* yeah my faves ...  *thinks of the numerous times I've had to pay crazy amounts of money to get my international items*
There is no way to pay them in advance (thanks Ponylady for posting the info already ), and sending a MO and waiting for it to arrive before your gran pays might not work - the item might get sent back before the MO arrives since international shipping times are all over the place ATM.   What I would suggest is the same as hathorcat - wait until your gran gets the letter/card  from Royal Mail/Parcelforce, then she can contact you with the amount - that way you will know exactly the amount due in fees and handling charge. Then send an online payment via Paypal/credit card etc  to cover the fees.

How much is the item valued at though? because if it is marked as a gift and the value is under £40 (approx . $60-$63), then it shouldnt get charged any customs fees    ETA - oopsy Ponylady already said this   I guess I'm tired tonight!

[Sebby6]

I think every has answered about the customs fees (although I really wish people would start realising that it's OK to undervalue stuff a long as you are not sending a brand new ipad or something)

However I would not send her a money order. They are very difficult and very expensive to cash over here