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OllyW

Moderator
Staff member
Oct 11, 2005
17,196
6,800
The Black Country, England
It has already been established that duty will need to be paid only if the value of the good ie device, in the UK, is above £390. The thread is purely speculative in terms of the price.

It doesn't matter if it sells for £500 in the UK, if you have the receipt for the goods and it is below £390 you are in the clear.
 

ct2k7

macrumors G3
Aug 29, 2008
8,382
3,439
London
It doesn't matter if it sells for £500 in the UK, if you have the receipt for the goods and it is below £390 you are in the clear.

Valuation of imported goods for customs purposes, VAT and trade statistics, plus, if not already included in the price:
  • all incidental expenses such as commission, packing, transport and insurance costs incurred up to the goods’ first destination in the UK; plus
  • all such incidental expenses where they result from transport to a further place of destination in the EC if that place is known at the time of importation; plus
  • any customs duty or levy payable on importation into the UK; plus
  • any excise duty or other charges payable on importation into the UK (except the VAT itself).

Unless I'm misinterpreting this, the first point: "transport" does include your flight expense?
 

ct2k7

macrumors G3
Aug 29, 2008
8,382
3,439
London
You are being ridiculous. We are talking about someone bringing back goods as part of their luggage, not importing as a commercial operation.

It doesn't have to be commercial import. An import is an import. There's further regulations and taxation for commercial operations.
 

nomad01

macrumors 68000
Aug 1, 2005
1,734
73
Birmingham, England
Trust me, I've seen worse. When you're caught going through customs with a macbook pro... erm yeah.

A Macbook Pro would be over the £390 limit though.

If the sole purpose of your trip was to purchase the iPad, you could argue that the flight costs should be included but if you're on holiday... what's the problem?

Personal allowance for the average traveller is to cover purchases abroad and not the cost of travel.
 

0dev

macrumors 68040
Dec 22, 2009
3,947
24
127.0.0.1
Nope, you pay sales tax online. Also, I live in Louisiana where tax is 9%. We have one of the highest sales taxes in the US. It's like 5% federal and 4% state or something like that.
I always wait until "Tax-Free Weekends" where they drop the 4% state tax to buy my Apple products. I can't handle the price.

I do think it's unfair for Apple to raise the price explicably.

If you guys want me to buy you an American one and ship it to you I'd happily oblige.

But then again UK folks would have to buy a converter and I'm not sure the American iPad would work with the UK iStores.

If 9% is high over there, I envy you that! Here, it's 17.5%! And there's no drop in weekends or anything, it's 17.5% all day every day. Not only that, but the crooks that run this place might up it to 20%! Mad, ain't it? Income tax if you earn over £150k a year is also over 50%! Yes, they take over half your money!

Importing one from the US wouldn't be cost effective either after imprt duties and VAT is slapped on.
 

ct2k7

macrumors G3
Aug 29, 2008
8,382
3,439
London
A Macbook Pro would be over the £390 limit though.

If the sole purpose of your trip was to purchase the iPad, you could argue that the flight costs should be included but if you're on holiday... what's the problem?

Personal allowance for the average traveller is to cover purchases abroad and not the cost of travel.

To customs officers, they seek the customs value, in the case, it's still over £390. An import is an import regardless of whether you're on holiday or not.
 

apl

macrumors newbie
Jan 31, 2010
1
0
Mad, ain't it? Income tax if you earn over £150k a year is also over 50%! Yes, they take over half your money!

Wait -- so you don't understand the tax system? That is certainly an interesting point, thanks for making it.
 

northy124

macrumors 68020
Nov 18, 2007
2,293
8
To customs officers, they seek the customs value, in the case, it's still over £390. An import is an import regardless of whether you're on holiday or not.
FTLoG the allowance does not include flight costs if it was bought on holiday, this is not a commercial import!

Please learn the law before blabbing on!
 

ct2k7

macrumors G3
Aug 29, 2008
8,382
3,439
London
FTLoG the allowance does not include flight costs if it was bought on holiday, this is not a commercial import!

Please learn the law before blabbing on!

I know the law regarding this. So you need to learn the law. This does not just apply to commercial imports.
 

northy124

macrumors 68020
Nov 18, 2007
2,293
8
I know the law regarding this. So you need to learn the law. This does not just apply to commercial imports.
RIght I give up, you seem to know what is right and what isn't despite what others have also chimed in saying the same or nearly the same as I have to you.
 

nomad01

macrumors 68000
Aug 1, 2005
1,734
73
Birmingham, England
To customs officers, they seek the customs value, in the case, it's still over £390. An import is an import regardless of whether you're on holiday or not.

Where are you getting this from?

They base it on the value of the goods. The amount you payed. If I purchase jeans from J Crew they can't guess bow much they'd be worth if they were available in England.

I know they don't care if you're on holiday I was just pointing out that it's a PERSONAL allowance and not a commercial import. There IS a difference
 

Hdunlopclark

macrumors member
Nov 15, 2007
48
0
U.K.
Just checked with my dad (as he works for DHL international) and he said the price that determines whether you pay tax or not, it from the items country of origin (where purchased). So if you buy it from the US the converted price is £308 so YOU ARE IN THE LIMIT!
 

carpets

macrumors member
Jul 11, 2008
41
0
Warwickshire, UK.
Back on thread after some trolling from a certain someone!

Interesting UK price speculation originally from macworld think;

http://www.macvideo.tv/editing/news/index.cfm?newsId=3211504&pagType=allchandate

also I heard amazon us do tax free if not in certain states. Will hopefully get one for £308 from mate in LA

Thanks for getting back on thread!

I struggle to see the logic in this news article.

If you look at the pricing structure of the iPod Touch 32G & 64GB these models are £72 apart.

Having worked out the US$ to GB£ comparisons on apple.com like in a previous post, and applying the above logic, I think pricing will be as follows...

16GB WiFi £399
32GB WiFi £469
64GB WiFi £549

16GB WiFi 3G £499
32GB WiFi 3G £569
64GB WiFi 3G £649

Note - I think the GB pricing will fall back to rounded £XX9 figures with new products launched after the VAT rate change on 1st Jan 2010.
 

MecPro

macrumors 6502a
Mar 6, 2009
586
414
London
Note - I think the GB pricing will fall back to rounded £XX9 figures with new products launched after the VAT rate change on 1st Jan 2010.

Apple never adjusted their prices in the first place though. I think I'm going to get it from the USA, but I wanted one with 3g, so I'm not sure now
 

carpets

macrumors member
Jul 11, 2008
41
0
Warwickshire, UK.
Apple never adjusted their prices in the first place though.

I think you're right. I don't remember prices dropping back in December 2008, when VAT dropped to 15%!

Pity Apple didn't absorb the VAT increase like some other retailers when it went back up this year.

At the end of the day, if you want it bad enough you will just have to pay up and look big, no matter what the cost is.
 

OllyW

Moderator
Staff member
Oct 11, 2005
17,196
6,800
The Black Country, England
Apple never adjusted their prices in the first place though. I think I'm going to get it from the USA, but I wanted one with 3g, so I'm not sure now

I think you're right. I don't remember prices dropping back in December 2008, when VAT dropped to 15%!

Not this old chestnut. :rolleyes:

Apple definitely dropped their prices on the 1st December 2008 to take into account the 15% VAT rate.

http://www.macworld.co.uk/business/news/index.cfm?RSS&NewsID=23728
 

nomad01

macrumors 68000
Aug 1, 2005
1,734
73
Birmingham, England
Apple seems to adjust the exchange rate it uses when releasing or updating products rather than just adjusting them across the board. This is why some products in the Apple Store have better exchange rates applied than others.

Just remains to be seen if they use a good rate for the iPad or maybe they'll force the price down to look attractive to buyers.
 
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