Further UK Import Duty advice

I was considering importing an item from the USA and put the question to somebody that gets involved with couriers to and from over the pond for a bit of guidance on the curved rules.
This is his reply:

Goods sent as a gift that are over £40 in value are liable to import VAT. Customs duty also becomes payable if the value of the goods is over £135 but is waived if the amount of duty calculated is less than £9.
To qualify as a gift:
the customs declaration must be completed correctly
the gift must be sent from a private person outside the EU to a private person(s) in this country
there is no commercial or trade element and the gift has not been paid for either directly or indirectly
the gift is of an occasional nature only, for example, for a birthday or anniversary
Note: if you purchase goods from outside the EU to give as a gift to a relative or friend, whether or not addressed to that person, is treated as a ‘commercial consignment’ for which the import VAT relief threshold is £18 (paragraph 2.3 refers, but please note that with effect from 1 November 2011 the £18 threshold will be reduced to £15).
Declaring goods as used medical equipment would render them exempt from import tax , however the company who sends them would need to agree to declare them as this but it is highly unlikely they would do so as they could get into big trouble with the US customs if the shipment was inspected (and I cannot imagine them wanting to take that risk).

Technically, for them to be considered as a gift, they would need to be sent from a private individual (not from their company) and declare the shipment value less that £40.00

I’m not sure what else to suggest because the customs people know all the tricks of the trade and everyone tries to avoid import tax if possible..

So bending the curve seems to be a no no. Above may be of guidance to peps.

only if you get caught, lol,

good info

but there is another thing some companies are using, its called the buddy address, there is a web site, where you register, some one will contact you from the buddy list, you check out there feed back as well,

basically, the USA company send it to the buddy address in the USA, then your buddy sends it to you, but then you have to pay the postage and a handling charge,

Or if you know somebody in the American Forces they can get stuff shipped to the as if they were still in the USA, where ever they are in the world thru the PX and could save you money that way.

Trev