My friend is seriously considering importing a crf 500 af from the states, am i right in thinking if its sent over in small crates and pakages labeled parts, can this alter import duty. Also can anybody shed any light on the bike itself
Cheers Mark
sorry should have been cr 500af, whats your views on this bike
-- Edited by sparky on Sunday 11th of November 2012 03:30:32 PM
New or used its all the same to customs if its over about £37 you are liable to pay VAT and duty on it, unless you get it deliverd by USPS and Royal Mail who will put a handling charge on top
The only way to avoid it is to get the sellar to give you an invoice for a lesser amount, however this is a federal crime in the US with a minimum of 10 years in a federal prison with no parole for the sellar if convicted, thats why a lot of US ebay sales are US only
I buy a lot of stuff from overseas and you might get away once with avoiding duty buit thats all
You also have the problem that if you havent paid VAT and duty (if required) you will find it almost impossible to register the bike in the UK. The alternative is that DVLA can have the bike valued and you pay 20% of the valuation cost VAT, plus whatever supplements DVLA impose
And by the way if it could be shown that you tried to avoid duty by getting someone to make a false statement, thats conspiracy and in the eyes of the law a far more serious crime that tax avoidance
-- Edited by gaschef on Tuesday 13th of November 2012 07:54:13 AM
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Riding with enthusiasm upon the ragged precipice of disaster
£350 to Bristol airport,, buy the bike in the USA on a Saturday and you can ride it the following Saturday If its a new bike dirty the tyres and put he thing back in the crate and it becomes a used bike
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Another customer finds himself £20 better off at Teign Tyres and www.teignecotuning.co.uk
Thanks folks, i think some good research is needed before any decisions are made as to the best way to bring back, will have to find out what the duties will cost and is it really worth taking any risks if it will only save a few quid