Customs charge

Accounting
1

Hi - I’m a sole trader and VAT registered. I’ve just bought a small piece of secondhand equipment from the USA, total cost £210.41 with shipping. In order to receive it, I had to pay a Customs charge of £29.20, of which £8 is the Royal Mail handling fee. How do I enter the balance of £21.20? Should it be entered as ‘Tax payment to HMRC’, or what? Or should I record it as VAT payable on top of the cost of the original item?
Thanks,
Alex

2

Hi @alexr

I’d be inclined to say the payment should be tagged to an invoice to who the payment was made to. If this was made as a whole to HMRC, then that’s what it should be.

Is the £21.20 just a tax payment (e.g. VAT)?

3

I’ve already tagged the original payment of £210.41 to the supplier in the USA. As far as I know the additional £21.20 charged by Customs is either all VAT or VAT + customs duty

4

Maybe this topic would help? C79: Import VAT / Import Duty / Handling Fees

5

Thank you, Matthew - that’s exactly what I needed to know!

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