Importing Goods from Sweden

I've recently bought a wetsuit, paddles and float from Sweden. The total consideration paid was £429 with postage free. Fedex have sent an invoice for Duty and Tax coming to £159.03. It's broken down as follows: - Disbursement fee £12.75 - Original Duty £45.03 - Original VAT £101.25 I've finding conflicting advice online whether this is correct or not. The Duty and Tax Invoice amounts to 34% of the overall purchase price which seems incorrect. There are no tax codes on the invoice also which doesn't help.

Hi Import duty is due on the cost of goods plus shipping ( if not already included in the price) VAT is charged on the goods the shipping and the duty. You can check duty rates in the UK tariff schedule. The all countries duty rate applies unless the goods are of EU manufacture. If you think you have been overcharged check with FedEx how they have come to those charges. If you have been overcharged it is possible to make a duty reclaim to HMRC.

Hi RGJ2024,
Anything posted or couriered to you from another country goes through customs to check it is not banned or restricted and you pay the right tax and ‘duty’ on it.
The parcel or courier company (for example, Royal Mail or Parcelforce) is responsible for taking goods through UK customs.
You do not pay customs charges if imported goods are under the personal allowance.
Please see below link for more information.
Tax and customs for goods sent from abroad
You can use this service to find a commodity code for goods you are importing to or exporting from the UK and check if there’s duty or VAT to pay find out about suspensions or reductions.
Trade Tariff: look up commodity codes, duty and VAT rates
Thank you.