Incorrect Excise Charge

Hi, Hoping someone can help. I am a private individual and ordered some beers from a wholesaler in Belgian and shipped into GB. 36 bottles of 330ml of 9% and 10% ABV. The order was approximately £120. Circa £80 being the beer itself and around £40 shipping. I have been charged of £40.44 VAT, which looks very high. As does the 'other government charge' of £76.24. I assume this is excise duty but works out at over £2 a bottle which doesn't seem right. I've tried looking online on how to claim but at a loss and very confused. Is there an easy way to claim/dispute? I have the UPS invoice showing the charges I have paid, the delivery note/invoice from the supplier and the tracking number of the order. It's really stressing me out and Gov.uk is confusing me. Thanks, Lee

Hi VAT will be charged on the value of the goods plus shipping plus the excise duty. The VAT charge is on a little over £200 If you have purchased in Euros an HMRC exchange will be used which may account for the slight difference in total value for VAT. https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/exchange_rates/monthly Excise duty on beer of the strength you mention is £28.50 per litre of alcohol so £76.24 seems bit high on the quantity mentioned. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/work-out-how-much-alcohol-duty-you-need-to-pay If you think you have been overcharged you can reclaim on a C285. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/how-to-apply-for-a-repayment-of-import-duty-and-vat-if-youve-overpaid-c285

Thank you! I'll take a look at that. Do you know what info may have been missing/wrong for customs to have potentially got this wrong? I want to order more in future but want to ensure that I avoid issues where possible. Thanks again

Also, another question sorry. I believe there is a VAT exemption if orders are below £135. So if I place an order that is below this amount even after duties will it be VAT free? Or doesn't that apply to excise products?

It hard to say what the issue may be. It could be the information provided by the seller isn’t clear or the information declared to HMRC hasn’t been done correctly. Ie the quantity or strength may not be clearly indicated. The duties charged will be automatically calculated on what UPS has declared to HMRC. UPS can only base their declaration on the information provided by the seller .

Thank you again. As above I've read that orders under £135 are VAT free. Does that include alcohol/excise orders or are they still liable for VAT under £135? Thanks

Hi WCTiger,
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. You can check below link for more information.
Tax and customs for goods sent from abroad
You can also check trade tariff UK to find a commodity code for goods you are importing to or exporting from the UK. This will allow you to check if there is duty or VAT to pay and find out about suspensions or reductions.
Trade Tariff: look up commodity codes, duty and VAT rates
Thank you.

Hi WCTiger,
Please see below link for thresholds of postal imports.
Tax and customs for goods sent from abroad
Thank you.

Hi WCTiger Sorry but the£135 exemption is for import duty not import VAT. VAT is chargeable on the whole value.

Many thanks to you all for your help! Much appreciated.

Hi,
These thresholds only apply for non-excise goods.
As the guidance states,  you will not have to pay anything to the delivery company to receive goods worth less than £135 unless they’re gifts over £39 or excise goods (for example, alcohol and tobacco).
Thank you.