There must be a whole load of rules on this, because (allegedly) buying a €20k Patek Phillipe watch in Hong Kong and bringing it back to the UK as “I bought this in Brighton 10 years ago” is a popular activity 
I read, many years ago, that Customs have lists of top-brand watch serial numbers so they know which serials were sold in HK and which serials were sold in the UK, for example.
But most jewellery has no serial numbers, so how do they work this?
Also the Customs staff at Gatwick are obviously highly trained (I have been “turned over” after just about every long haul flight e.g. from the USA) but the police officers who work the “GA circuit” are not.
This must be a big thing on the bizjet scene…
Peter wrote:
I read, many years ago, that Customs have lists of top-brand watch serial numbers so they know which serials were sold in HK and which serials were sold in the UK, for example.
How do they know a “HK-sold” watch has not been properly declared on import and worn on a trip outside the UK and back? Particularly if it has been resold in the UK?
Whilst most of the time Customs might not examine you or your effects, if they decide to do so, I suspect that paperwork and perhaps attitude are the only things that will save you.
I have only ever been subject to one customs examination (at a land border crossing) and the Customs officer was very aggressive in his questioning and the subsequent search of my possessions and vehicle. I don’t know why he selected me, but he looked everywhere, including many places that I would not have considered to be accessible. He never asked about my watch though. He found absolutely nothing, because there was nothing to find – which is what I told him right at the start.
My experience with HMRC (UK Revenue and Customs) in other matters suggests that they are equally aggressive and that mere suspicion that taxes or duty might be owed is enough for them to seize whatever item is in question and it will then be up to you to provide sufficient evidence or to pay the taxes/duties before the item will be released.
I have just been “turned over” as one puts it by Customs on, of all things, a hat – well a cap actually. It cost the equivalent o £10.00 in Japan and it was still unwrapped, I had to pay “VAT” of £13.80!!!!!!!!!
No I have no explanation and just paid up to leave the awful airport before I really lost it.
You don’t have to pay customs for a “cap” for L 10… that’s the first time i hear something like that. I would have let them call the supervisor. We brought a SUITCASE full of clothes, electronics, you name it, from Japan, and the german customs officer couldn’t care less about these “personal items” …
Or is that a UK specialty?
The limit for gifts or personal imports into the UK from outside the EU is £390, reduced to £270 on board your own boat or aircraft, with exception if it forms part of the required equipment for safe passage.
Thanks for the information and yesI am aware there are limits higher that would have affected my “charge” BUT the dsire to leave the awful Brtish airport meant more to me than the £13.80!
The key thing here, which someone told me just now about Germany whose import limit is €300, is that the onus is on you to prove the item belongs to you and has already had duty/VAT paid on it.
I kind of suspected that, because anything else would be a farce. Just buy the €20k watch, put it on your wrist, and chuck away the box and the paperwork (or post the paperwork to yourself in the mail).
Presumably Customs have some unwritten rules for operating this system e.g. if the watch looks old/scratched then you might get away with it.
If you travel by airline or ship the limit is € 430, not € 300. 300 would be valid for GA. If you travel witha 20 K watch you are obliged to carry the receipt for the watch, but afaik they will also accept showing them the receipt later. But it’s better to carry it.
If the watch is 15 years old, like my Omega, the customs officer will not bother you. Normally they are not after people like me, or you, they are looking for the professionals. I have been to the US +40 times and i have brought all kinds of stuff, like five or six guitars, which the customs people will always see, but they did not even ask me about them once. I was lucky, because expensive guitars are much cheaper in the US … and many buy them there.
If the watch is 15 years old, like my Omega, the customs officer will not bother you
How do they tell?
