how do i get a letter of origin pls

[sackmcgannay]

been told that when importing if for just personal use i can pay a flat rate of £50 duty if i can also provide a letter of origin. Otherwise its 10% of vehicle cost.

does anyone know how do i go about getting one of these please?

After reading about and getting info from this site i thought i only had to pay vat on part of the shipping but it looks like you have to pay vat on everything - both cost of bus and shipping cost! any ideas's?!

cheers. Rowan.

 

[Graham L]

Hi Rowan

Not sure whose told you this?, although I have heard of it before. When I was importing buses personally all that was ever needed was the Title (proves its age) and the bill of sale.

VAT is charged on a proportion of the shipping as well as the price you paid for the vehicle and with VAT now at 20% its even more!!

Did you find out who is handling the import at this end for you??

 

[sackmcgannay]

i have not yet sorted anyone to handle it this end.. but have got a quote from kingstown - see bellow


Rowan.

That vessel is due in Southampton 1.2.11...

The UK charges upon arrival at Southampton are;-

Sterling £ 195.00

This covers...


UK Terminals handling charge
Line docs
Port security
Import customs clearance
Agency


EXCLUDES UK CUSTOMS TAXES..

Taxes are 20% Vat & a flat rate of £ 50.00 duty if you get a letter of origin stating this vehicle was
built in Germany...

If no proof of origin, then the duty rate is full rate of 10%...


Calculated on the bill of sale price, plus the shipping, plus the U.K. charges, converted at the customs
rate of exchange at the time of import...

Hope this gives you an idea..

Will leave it with you..

Best regards

Mark


I dont see why I'm having to pay vat on absolutely everything!! Has anyone imported recently and found a similar problem?
or am i just getting ripped off ?!

 

[Graham L]

I'm not sure who you think is ripping you off?, Kingstown do this all the time and know what they are doing and if Mark says thats whats needed then he's right. They handle the majority of vehicles imported into the UK from the US.

Customs requirements do change and they are clamping down and checking that they are getting the right duty, if you think you are being hard done by as a VAT registered importer I pay on average between £100 & £200 duty on each bus and VAT at 20% to get them into the UK.

 

[sackmcgannay]

Its good that if i can get a letter of origin then i will pay 50 quid duty but if not its 10% of vehicle cost - 300 quid! so then not so happy.

do you pay 20% vat on shipping/cost of vehicle duty/handling fees each end - everything? I'll look again through previous threads on it but i'm certain i've read and been told the vat is payable on vehicle cost and part of shipping. i'll check it out anyway

 

[Mr Brightside]

I have just imported one & used Kingstown, although I did not provide a letter of origin, only a clear title, I was charged £50 duty as it was a personal import, below is an extract from a mail from Mark at kingstown. VAT was at 17.5% on the total


TAXES; Normally vehicle`s attract 10% duty & 17.5% Vat.. However,
should you be able to get a letter of origin from VW, then
at the moment, customs will allow the duty in at a flat rate
of £ 50.00 and still the usual VAT...

I would recommend Mark anytime.......

Cheers

G

 

[biggles]

I'll second that mr brightside just got two in via Mark 50 quid each duty i never bothered with a letter of origin Mark said he would sort it all for and he did, the only thing that queered it for me was the bloody snow over here getting em the last 150 miles!!!. Just let \mark sort it for you.

cheers biggles 8)

 

[Guest]

the VAT is a strange one as there are certain things its is chargeable to, including a portion of the shipping, etc. To find out exactly what is VAT liable you would need to ask HMRC (dont expect a quick answer).

It is up to the HMRC office that deals with the classification of your import as to whether you will need the birth certs, the payments office is a different department and location.

Mark is very trustworthy and wont rip you off, what he will do is sort it all out so no worries your end. He was a great help to me in getting the correct classification code even though i had to used a different shipper. My shipper in Belfast stupidly tried to squeeze it through under the vehicle of historic interest which was VAT free, obviously didnt work. I didnt know this but they came back with alot of questions and ended up with more hassle and delay in getting the clearance forms from HMRC becasue of it.

I didnt need the birth certs although i did get them anyway as its a nice bit of history about the van anyway to have for posterity. Two births certs were £75(ish) and took 2 week to process from asking for them. The easiest way is to phone up, though it can be done on the website.

I know the VAT seems unfair but its the way the Govt. opperates (crooks), just look at how they work it out for fuel, VAT ontop of duty and tax already payed by the supplier.

 

[sackmcgannay]

have you got the phone number or web address?

i've ended up being dirrected to -

Stiftung AutoMuseum Volkswagen
Dieselstraße 35
38446 Wolfsburg

takes 4 weeks to get letter/certificate of birth which is 2 weeks too late - looks like i'm going to have pay more like 300 duty instead of the 50!
I still have got a good deal on the bus but the cost of getting it over here just keeps going up and up - it will all make sense when i go and meet it at port - i hope!

thanks for your help and advise

 

[Graham L]

Still not sure why you think you will pay £300 duty, if you fill in a c384 for customs that clearly states its for personal use and not for resale, I've recently done this for a customers bus and it was fine so I'm not sure what the issue is?

Are Kingstown handling it for you or not?, if so when it arrives Mark will send you a C384 to fill in, ask for a copy of the bill of sale and title doc and will then submit it to customs on your behalf, I doubt whether you will be charged commercial duty on the vehicle as you are not a VAT registered importer.