Moving from US to UK and selling off some gear - tax help?

Hi!

As you read, I am moving to the UK soon. I will be taking all my camera gear with me, but because I won't be staying in the UK for a particularly long time (couple years) I will be downscaling what I own. I only rent property in the UK and don't want to pay for storage there, and so the camera stuff is coming with me (will be shipped ahead of time to the apartment I've started renting ahead of time.) I'm going to be selling the camera gear in the UK but was wondering - will I be paying tax on the sales? Income tax or the like. I ask only because I will be making just under the higher tax band according to this salary tax website, and wouldn't have paid UK VAT on it as they were bought in America. How does this work? Has anyone done this?

Many thanks :)

If you show up at the airport in the UK carrying obviously brand new gear and don't declare it then as you are a resident it could I believe be siezed. There is no way to tell if you will be checked or not. If you declare the stuff expect a hefty 20% vat bill. If it's older gear and you are staying it's personal property. I would not say anything about selling. What would happen is anybodys guess. If as resident you import gear from outside the EU into the UK you will be charged VAT even if it is vintage gear. Anything purchased in the EU then no tax. When I returned from the US I mailed my Hasselblad kit to myself just before I took off. I seem to remember a customs form that covered

it as personal property. It all arrived with no tax bill.

. . . How does this work? Has anyone done this? . . .

I have worked in London and Victoria (Canada). Both times my equipment has travelled unaccompanied by me. I live in Australia. Both times there's has been inventory of gear leaving Australia and also when leaving those two destinations. My gear was not inspected either time, but I as I understood it could have been and the contents must match the inventory. Obviously the two inventories (i.e., leaving AUS and returning AUS) must also match - and they did: if they do not then one must explain why. 'Selling gear' would not have been an explanation. Both my trips were in the 1990's. I don't know what applies now, but it seems logical there'd be a similar procedure now.

My experience may be different to your situation; obviously, one point is, I was not exiting and re-entering the USA; secondly it is not explicit that you will be working as a Photographer in the UK, in which case your camera gear could exit the USA and enter the UK as what might be termed "personal possessions" similar to your clothes etc, and as such might not attract the same detailed inventory requirements; however I would expect that, as you are sending the gear ahead of time there would be some 'description' required on the consignment document with that gear and I would also expect that the contents (of any consignment) would be subject to being opened and investigated, simply in the course of what is now normal security, and this could be at either end of its journey.

I see two key points that you need to get clarification upon:

> The first is how the UK deals with the importation of goods for sale. For example I'd expect there'd be a declaration of some sort where you'd attest that you were not bringing in to the UK goods for sale or samples. In my experience this is a fairly standard question/ and document which is required to be completed upon entering many countries

> The second is to guess how diligent the authorities will be scrutinizing what you gear you bring in and what you take back out, of the UK

If you want a bottom line simple answer: I think it would be all too difficult.

I don’t follow your reasoning anyway: you wrote that the reason for downscaling your gear is because you won’t be staying in the UK for a long period of time. And you also wrote that because you don’t want to pay for storage ‘there’ is why all the camera stuff is coming with you.

Now the key point as I see the situation is – IF you don’t want to pay for storage of this gear in the UK and your intent is to sell the gear anyway, why are you paying for freighting all this ‘excess to needs gear’ over to the UK in the first place? Why not just sell it in the USA?

I’d expect that would be the salient question any Customs Official would ask repeatedly if he were investigating an imbalance of gear entering and exiting.

WW