I know there's been a few posts on this subject, which helped clarify things a bit, but the info I've found isn't really conclusive, so if no-one minds I'll just ask the question anyway...
Based on your own knowledge or experience... if I am considering a lens which costs £700 in the UK, but costs $900 from B&H, does it make (financial) sense for me to buy from B&H? Since the lens itself would cost equivalent of £450, is the import duty going to be near the £250 difference?
Thanks!
Edit: I don't know why I didn't find this earlier, but the HM Revenue and Customs site indicates that in addition to the 17.5% VAT, 6.7% is the "standard" rate for camera lenses. Some things are still not clear - for example, will I simply be paying the item's value, plus 17.5% of the item's value, plus 6.7% of the item's value, or will it be something sneakier like adding the 6.7% duty and then charging the 17.5% VAT on the item's new value including duty? Also does "standard" duty rate mean they could arbitrarily increase it without notice? Sorry if this all sounds a bit confusing, it's certainly confused.
Based on your own knowledge or experience... if I am considering a lens which costs £700 in the UK, but costs $900 from B&H, does it make (financial) sense for me to buy from B&H? Since the lens itself would cost equivalent of £450, is the import duty going to be near the £250 difference?
Thanks!
Edit: I don't know why I didn't find this earlier, but the HM Revenue and Customs site indicates that in addition to the 17.5% VAT, 6.7% is the "standard" rate for camera lenses. Some things are still not clear - for example, will I simply be paying the item's value, plus 17.5% of the item's value, plus 6.7% of the item's value, or will it be something sneakier like adding the 6.7% duty and then charging the 17.5% VAT on the item's new value including duty? Also does "standard" duty rate mean they could arbitrarily increase it without notice? Sorry if this all sounds a bit confusing, it's certainly confused.