Can someone help me?

I live in the UK. I would like to take advantage of the strength of the dollar against the pound and buy cycle equipment in the US and have it shipped over here.

What is the rate of duty you pay on cycle products when you import from the US?

Is it just VAT (17.5%)?

A bit OT but i am keen to know.

P

There is a fair amount on this if you search around. From what I remember import duty is 8%, although I might be completely wrong. Then you pay tax at 17.5% too.

I have no problem with buying stuff from the states, but remember that you may have issues with warranty should you need to use it. Sending something back to the states for a warranty claim will remove any savings at all. On the other hand, you might not ever have a problem.

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the duty varies depending on what you import. Not sure but from memory a frame is something like 4.5%, complete bike 11%, parts around 8% - I think, it'll give you an idea.

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tommyb just recently bought a frame from R&A. Customs and excise will be knocking for him soon perhaps he will enlighten us when they do

Import duty varies. When the goods enter the EU, you will first be liable for import duty. Like I say, it varies. Bicycle accessories, frames and complete bikes have different rates. Look it up here: http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/dd ... er?Lang=EN

The site is a bit unfriendly but you'll see special tax rates for all sorts of things, from inner tubes or tyres. So much for free trade.

On top of this, you will then pay the national VAT rate.

I recently bought a Sram force groupset from the US and paid 8% import tax plus the 17.5 VAT, plus a holding charge to parcelforce of about £20.
Although it sounds alot it still cost just over half the price of UK retail.

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Guildford/Woking is the home of F1.
We make loads of other stuff here too.

That's in line with my experiences. Parcelforce also won't deliver until you've paid the charges. There is a chance you won't get charged particularly ifthe value of the goods is under delcared but doing that is illegal.

That's an interesting point. I've recently been looking at the price of cranksets from across the pond and most are no cheaper than I can buy here in the UK! Campy parts can actually be more expensive!