Importing exhaust from USA

[IanA2]

Has anyone done this? I've spotted a cat back s/s system for sale in Texas. It's 340USD plus 220USD shipping. Does anybody have any idea what taxes etc might be payable.

Best UK quote I've had so far is £800 plus vat.

Thanks.

 

[lxi]

I think you'll get hit for the following:

3.5% import duty, plus import VAT at 20% on the combined cost of the item and the shipping and the import duty

 

[neilrr]

Steering wheel on the wrong side can sometimes lead to different plumbing in the engine bay. I'd look closer to home TBH.

 

[IanA2]

I think you'll get hit for the following:

3.5% import duty, plus import VAT at 20% on the combined cost of the item and the shipping and the import duty

If I understand you correctly t would be 660 + 3.5% = 683.10 + 20% = 819.72USD. If that's right then it works out at about £500.00 which is still less than UK quotes.

Are you sure they put the duty and the vat on the postage too, and not just the cost of the imported item? That seems rather unfair.

 

[IanA2]

Steering wheel on the wrong side can sometimes lead to different plumbing in the engine bay. I'd look closer to home TBH.

I've asked the seller and he says the exhaust systems will fit UK cars. He also says that they ship to the UK daily. I will certainly check with Lexus and see what they have to say about it.

Quite why the USA can put it together at a price so much lower than the UK makes me scratch my head a bit

 

[RBYCC]

I've asked the seller and he says the exhaust systems will fit UK cars. He also says that they ship to the UK daily. I will certainly check with Lexus and see what they have to say about it.

Quite why the USA can put it together at a price so much lower than the UK makes me scratch my head a bit

USA has no VAT, so there are no value added taxes between the steps from raw material to manufacturing and finally distributing/selling to the consumer.
Sales tax typically is only assessed to the consumer and varies from state to state. The state I reside in has no sales tax whereas California and Tennessee are 9% + to the consumer.

 

[IanA2]

USA has no VAT, so there are no value added taxes between the steps from raw material to manufacturing and finally distributing/selling to the consumer.
Sales tax typically is only assessed to the consumer and varies from state to state. The state I reside in has no sales tax whereas California and Tennessee are 9% + to the consumer.

Am I right in saying Ca has zero income tax? I seem to recall this from a conversation I had with a military chap based over here, but I think he said he had to pay Federal Income Tax. Could well be wrong.

Still taxes aside, I still can't see why an item costing £800 plus in the UK can be sold for £210.00 in the US. Does not compute

 

[renault12ts]

If I understand you correctly t would be 660 + 3.5% = 683.10 + 20% = 819.72USD. If that's right then it works out at about £500.00 which is still less than UK quotes.

Are you sure they put the duty and the vat on the postage too, and not just the cost of the imported item? That seems rather unfair.

Almost...$560 + 3.5% = $579.60 + 20% = $695.52

 

[IanA2]

Almost...$560 + 3.5% = $579.60 + 20% = $695.52

Ah! I started with 660 instead of 560 :fail

EDIT: Still do not understand why the duty and vat are applicable to the postage

 

[Touche]

If it's for original Lexus parts also try Amayama Trading - Genuine Parts for Japan Used Imports - Amayama Trading They're linked to a Lexus dealer in Japan and will ship worldwide. I've used them for some bumper parts for my IS220d and they were cheaper than anywhere in the UK and cheaper than US dealers.

If you want to try sourcing bits from the USA try SewellParts.com : Genuine OEM Infiniti/Lexus/GM Parts & Accessories and sign up to clublexus.com forums first. Use your username when registering with sewell and you get a hefty discount (20% I think, but I'm not certain). Unfortunately I've found their shipping to be a tad expensive which made amayama more attractive.

Hope that's of some use...

 

[IanA2]

If it's for original Lexus parts also try Amayama Trading - Genuine Parts for Japan Used Imports - Amayama Trading They're linked to a Lexus dealer in Japan and will ship worldwide. I've used them for some bumper parts for my IS220d and they were cheaper than anywhere in the UK and cheaper than US dealers.

If you want to try sourcing bits from the USA try SewellParts.com : Genuine OEM Infiniti/Lexus/GM Parts & Accessories and sign up to clublexus.com forums first. Use your username when registering with sewell and you get a hefty discount (20% I think, but I'm not certain). Unfortunately I've found their shipping to be a tad expensive which made amayama more attractive.

Hope that's of some use...

Many thanks, that may well be very useful. Just need to get all the part numbers together now!

 

[rf065]

EDIT: Still do not understand why the duty and vat are applicable to the postage

Because this is the UK and everybody has to get a piece of the action at your expense. It's not called Treasure Island for nothing.
(as an example, the courier or Royal Mail will also want a fee on top of the Vat & import duty for collecting it from you and passing it on)

Russ

 

[neilrr]

Am I right in saying Ca has zero income tax?

Yes, for very low incomes.

No for everyone else.

Same as here really, except there you have Fedreal Income Tax on top of the State version.

https://www.ftb.ca.gov/forms/2013_California_Tax_Rates_and_Exemptions.shtml

 

[IanA2]

Because this is the UK and everybody has to get a piece of the action at your expense. It's not called Treasure Island for nothing.
(as an example, the courier or Royal Mail will also want a fee on top of the Vat & import duty for collecting it from you and passing it on)

Russ

I still can't get my head around import duty on postage charges. Bizarre.

 

[markjay]

USA has no VAT, so there are no value added taxes between the steps from raw material to manufacturing and finally distributing/selling to the consumer.
Sales tax typically is only assessed to the consumer and varies from state to state. The state I reside in has no sales tax whereas California and Tennessee are 9% + to the consumer.

There is no VAT cost added anywhere along the manufacturing process, in the UK or elsewhere.

VAT is only payable once - by the consumer, on the final cost of the product.

The usual reasons why goods cost less in the USA are generally lower running costs to the business - local and Federal taxes are lower than in the UK (as anyone who paid Business Rates recently would know...), salaries are lower - in part because of the low Income Tax on earnings and low Sales Tax on purchasing meaning that workers can achieve the same standard of living as us (or better) on lower wages, cheaper goods transport due to lower Duty making for cheaper fuel, and shipping by train, and the list is long.

On another note, have you included the actual shipping costs in the price you mention?

 

[IanA2]

On another note, have you included the actual shipping costs in the price you mention?

Yup in my first post...220USD.

 

[IanA2]

UPDATE:

I put in a request to these scrapper broker sorts: Used Car Parts | Car Spares for Less | UK Scrap Yards

That was ten days ago, they claim to have access to one million plus used parts. Hmm... I've had one quote. £523 plus £40 delivery. When I demurred on price, thinking it might be an opening gambit, there was no movement. So I pointed out that new systems could be had from the States for less than he was asking for a used part, he put the phone down.

So, still on the hunt for a decent cat back system. Longlife promised to quote but I'm still waiting.