Importing Cigars from The Philippines

Hello, I have bought two boxes of 25 cigars and a packet of 5 cigars from The Philippines but UPS have emailed me with a £739.31 bill. £696.16 government charges and £43.15 brokers charge. How can the price be so large?

Hi The excise duty on cigars is £395.03per kg. Plus there is duty of 25% of the value plus shipping plus 20% duty. We do have a preferential duty rate with Philippines if the goods were made there and this information was included on the consignment. If you think you have been charged too much then you should first ask UPS for details of the shipment and how the charges have been calculated. You can make a reclaim request for overpaid duties to HMRC but you will need the import particulars. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/how-to-apply-for-a-repayment-of-import-duty-and-vat-if-youve-overpaid-c285

Sorry should have said 20% VAT on the duty inclusive value.

Hi,
The courier will provide a breakdown of customs charges, it depends on the declared value of the items along with customs, excise duty and import VAT. You can check customs charges/rates on trade tariff UK by searching the commodity code.
Trade Tariff: look up commodity codes, duty and VAT rates
Thank you.