Import duty and VAT trap

I was asked to participate in a conspiracy to commit tax fraud a few weeks ago! There – I am sure that that has caught your attention. Before I go on to explain I should assure any of our readers in HMRC that I declined the opportunity.

I am among many other things a recorder player and I saw a nice bass recorder advertised for sale on eBay. I put in a bid of around £300 and was pleased to be successful. I hadn’t realised at first but before the bid was confirmed I saw the seller was in Europe so I knew that I might be faced with import VAT and customs duties. But I received an email from the seller suggesting that he described the item as a gift so that I did not have to pay duty – to be fair to him...