Royal Mail ‘charging expensive Brexit duties on wrong items’

ROYAL MAIL has been accused of charging incorrect post-brexit import duties on items received from abroad, including on objects customers already own or that are supposed to be exempt.

Experts have accused postal firms of being overzealous with charges after one man was billed almost £200 for a pair of spectacles he had left behind on a holiday to Spain, which he had asked hotel staff to post to him. This included £17 in customs duty, £170 in import VAT and a £12 admin charge.

He wrote on social media: “I have told them they are my glasses bought in this country, prescription and second hand. They are not being imported. They are being reunited with their proper owner.”

Payment demand letters from Parcelforce, part of the Royal Mail group, told customers to pay their invoices within 20 days before parcels are returned to the sender.

Customers are encouraged to pay the fees even if they plan to contest them.

Parcelforce has rejected the allegations, blaming people sending parcels for making errors on their customs declaration forms.

Since post-brexit rules changed in January 2021, goods valued at more than £135 sent to Britain from the EU, including personal belongings, have been subject to import and customs duties. Gifts with a value of less than £39 are exempt, as are letters, postcards and documents. Before this, no duties applied.

Royal Mail and other postal providers collect this money directly from recipients on behalf of the tax office before they are delivered. The duties are calculated based on the customs declaration forms filled out by the sender. Simon Sutcliffe, of accountants Blick Rothenberg, said the “sea change” of tax rules caused by Brexit had left ordinary people to deal with a complex system, leading to errors on declaration forms. But he said Royal Mail and other providers were not offering enough support to customers to deal with the changes.

A spokesman for Parcelforce said the firm was “obliged to present all imported goods to HMRC for fiscal assessment” and that it was “not authorised” to assess tax charges itself.

“The information that we submit to HMRC for assessment is based entirely on the customs declaration that the sender has filled in, and we are not responsible for any errors in the information that we have received,” the firm said.

“Anyone who thinks that they have been charged taxes or duties from which they should have been exempt must first pay the charges, and then submit a ‘BOR286’ form to HMRC, requesting that the charges be reviewed. HMRC will then refund any charges that it agrees are incorrect.”

£200

The amount a man was billed after asking hotel staff in Spain to post him his glasses that he had left behind while on holiday