[geeks] Avoiding VAT on shipping items to the UK?

[Ken Hansen]

I have sent a few small, but (relatively) high-value packages to the UK/Europe, and I have always sent them with descriptions of surplus computer parts with a minimal value, and (this is my leap) - I tend to check off that the recipient is a relative (hey, we all feel a special form of kinship, don't we?).

For shipping software, the first thing would be to value it at replacement cost (as in,  if the box wound up on a deserted island with Tom Hanks and "Wilson", what would it take to replace it) *not* purchase price. The second thing might be to ship media seperately from manuals/documentation (individually, either is worth considserably less than the sum of both). One final thought, you could wrap it up in birthday wrapping paper, include a birthday card and call it a gift. ;^)

HTH,

Ken 

-----Original Message-----
From: David Cantrell [mailto:david at cantrell.org.uk]
Sent: Wednesday, April 25, 2001 4:50 AM
To: geeks at sunhelp.org
Subject: Re: [geeks] Avoiding VAT on shipping items to the UK?


On Wed, Apr 25, 2001 at 12:05:34AM -0500, Bill Bradford wrote:

> I'm about to ship a large software bundle to a guy in the
> UK; any tips on avoiding large customs valuations / VAT?