Just a quick question, is it worth trying to buy turbos or engine components whilst abroad?

I'm off to Canada and the US in Feb (mainly snowboarding, and most of time in Canada).

Would it be worth me looking for some engine components and turbo kits etc while out there?

IIRC yonks ago I read about a guy who brought 2 turbos back with him in his suitcase, went through the "nothing to declare" lane, and so paid zero import duty. Can you still do that sort of thing?

 

new Hampshire would be the better place to get parts from as there is no sales tax
It is hit or miss whether you get through customs on the way back.
I'm bringing inlet manifold,injectors,engine mounts and a lot of other bits when I go I feb
It is also what allowance you have on the airline
I'm flying with virgin so I've got 1 bag at 23kg and the snowboard bag at 23kg
It is easier to pay the airlines the over weight charge than shipping it back

P.s
If you are anywhere neT the us/Canada border end of Feb look up jay peak in Vermont,thee are 40 of us over there

 

just don't bring reciepts or boxes back, i'd send them on their own via postal service, boxes flattened down too.

 

Ive just thought, what about japan?
My brothers out there at the mo.
Is it worth me getting him to post me stuff?
Is it cheap enough out there and where would you look to buy from?

If he sends it in his own box with no reciepts and says its 2nd had do you no longer have to pay duty cos there isnt any on 2nd hand stuff?

 

anything with a value imported over the threshold needs tax paying on it i'd have thought.
just get it sent as a gift and send receipt separately.

 

Looking likely to stay in Canada only at the mo - the US leg of the trip has been postponed at the mo

New Hampshire is close to where I'm staying in Nova Scotia, Canada, but not that close that I could just pop there for the bits

Liking the idea of "snowboard" kit allowance. Not looked into how it works with Air Canada (who I'll be flying with). Do you pay much extra for your 23kg sports kit allowance?

Good plan, I'm after a large turbo mainly, possibly pistons too, wonder what the X ray scanner man would make of that going through in the handluggage?

 

im flying virgin
them and british airways are the only ones left that dont charge for an additional sports bag
i go out light with 2 bags and come back maxxed out with 23kg in each and i have a rucksack and laptop bag as well
im thinking of an exhaust manifold now for the snowboard bag

 

Dont know about that but i would say they would be a fair bit less edgy than when i went through with a pile of camera gear, my laptop, ipad and 3 bottles of coke. they wanted to speak to me so much i got my own room!!

 

customs are not muppets unfortunatly, even know a turbo from a toaster and what there worth.

ive imported quite a bit from the states personally and from tuning companys for 5 pot Audi motors and i have had everything caught up at customs EVERY time, even 10x mikalor style hose clamps for $3 + $12 postage (only parts taxable) right upto 034 motorsport top spec ECU for $3000 IIRC

pity, no loopholes to jump through now, even bringing stuff in personally, so much is checked you wouldnt belive.

****when i got my Turbonetics T61 i paid less duty on the turbo than i did for 2x wastegate springs in a package that arrived 3 days later, mugs

 

A member of this Forum brought me a GT40 turbo in his luggage from the States .

 

Can customs actually ever force you to pay import duty if say a friend in the US gave you a turbo as a present?

 

Fair point. But I'm sure it will work the same way most tax or motoring laws work.

When you have proven this to be true, possibly in court, they may accept it. Until that time, they'll seize your goods.

Ive known people to bring all sorts of strange stuff back as hand luggage and never been queried though. But as already said, if it has value and is coming into the UK then duty and VAT is liable.

There is a select few range of goods that arent liable for duty, but they are mostly weird stuff. Again you would have to prove your goods fall into these criteria
Stuff like antiques, some medical gear, stuff purely for testing/destruction, temp imports like repairs etc.

You'll need the paperwork to support it though. I got a list of them one time from customs

 

Thanks - that does make sense, because otherwise everyone would be claiming their imported items were "presents".

 

What about all them second hand parts that you got from a breakers yard out there that have allready had the duty paid

 

that dont mean shit!

seriously dont get me started on being a car breaker,

i ran a Ford breakers as most of you north east lads know for many years for someone, and the laws, taxes and stealth taxes are fucking rediculous, importing such items mean fuck all, my imported ECU was a gift that was used and broken to be used for spares only, they looked online, saw how much an 034 motorsport ECU was from the serial no.s and charged me full whack on a new cunt, if it wasnt new and un used id have been well pissed off

 

You bought second hand parts in the US that had UK Import duty and VAT already paid ?

Never come across a breakers yard with that arrangement before !!! lol

And if it existed, they and you would of course have the paperwork to back those claims up.

I'm certainly not agreeing with the system. I think it's scandalous. Even more so when they charge you duty/vat on top of the bloody postage charges too.

But it is very clear. If it has value and you're importing it. Then they want their money. I think the threshold was around Ł30, although that may have risen to Ł100

 

I always thought Car parts are exempt from UK import duties .. I shipped allot of stuff from Canada to the UK and never had any problems .. This included Car parts, Tools & Clothing etc ..

Where in Canada are you going? Anywhere near Fernie Alpine resort .. Drop in for a coffee

 

There are varying levels of duty on all sorts of stuff. Car parts usually around 3.5-4.5% plus the extortionate 20% VAT

 

custom charges do not apply for items shipped for repair's or service. and they are not stupid they will find the value of the item and bill you the import duty.

 

Get it sent over as a present from our friends,

Mike

 

Yes. And when you send the item back you will have the original purchase receipt and proof of payment of the duty on original import. The shipment must be posted as a tracked shipment that will be returning for the purposes of customs.

Again, often you can get away with it, but the above is how it is supposed to be sent, and of course you would have all the paperwork to support your claims

Doesnt matter. If it has value it is liable for tax ! If there is no value indicated and a dispute is raised, good chance customs will simply hold the goods until it is resolved. This can take months.
But there is a good chance the stuff will get through.

The bottom line is, there are many ways to try and reduce what you pay. Many of them work most of the time. But you have to bare in mind there is always a risk when doing so.
90% of the time it is worth it and things will go smoothly.

I was very lucky one time, I bought a load of stuff and it was sent via UPS. Lucky for me the driver dropped it off without realising there was duty to be paid. When I got the bill, the idiot had calculated the duty totally wrong. On the written value as if it was ŁŁ instead of $$.

This dispute about duty owed carried on for 6 months. Letters, phone calls etc. If the driver hadnt dropped it off by mistake, I would never have seen my parts. And it was all down to their sheer stupidity and inability to perform simple reading and maths tasks. I was up front at all times and told them I'm quite happy to pay, when the correct value is calculated. Even at 6 months they still couldnt manage it !! The last attempt I seen, they had written everything out right right til the very end. Then for some unknown reason, they simply added the total to itself doubling it !!

After all that and another argument down the phone it all seemed to disappear into oblivion. So ended up paying them nothing lol

Ive had a few things with duty calculated more, and some less. Unless it's extreme Ive just ended up paying as it's less hassle.

And duty is usually calculated on the declared value of the goods. Worth baring in mind when getting stuff shipped. Although not all senders are willing to work with this. Just make sure all paperwork sent with the items reflects this value. And dont rip the arse out of it and make sure the value can still be sensible.

 

My Tremec was sent as antique motoring spares . Not liable for tax.

 

All depends on customs mood I think, I brought a pair of V8 alloy heads through as hand luggage and a load of stuff carbs, elec ign etc in my suit case and nothing was said apart from one customs lad asked what we were building and was more interested in the spec list

 

I tried the one for testing, R&D and destruction purposes. They wouldnt wear it and I still had to pay.

Strictly speaking it was true though

I was going to test the parts, and there was little doubt I was going to break them lol

 

Cover it in dirt/grease and say it's second hand?

 

Doesnt matter, you still have to pay duty.

The only thing that may help with, is if you can get the seller to declare it at a reduced value because it's second hand.

But again, some sellers will accommodate others wont

 

Ah right, did not know this. Was kind of a tongue in cheek comment though lol.