I've just recieved my Rio and I have to say WOW. I've wanted an empeg since the empeg website was linked on Hugo mp3mobile website (quite a while ago).

Any, I digress, I recieved my parcel and was told I had to pay over £100 for import duties and VAT, is this correct? I've bought other bits and bobs from the US, admittidly not as expensive as this, and never had a problem.

Have other people had this problem when getting the players from the states? Also, will this happen when my unit from carplayer.com arrives? I don't think I can afford another payout like that!

Cheers,

Andy M

You pay 17.5% VAT on anything you import from outside the EU (within the EU you should have been charged sales tax at source) and a variable import duty. Typically this is 10%.

Rob

Thanks, business and finance isn't my strongpoint. So I can assume the same treatment for the other unit from carplayer.com?

Yes. I believe he ships with DHL, in which case it is likely that they will pay the customs charge and bill you for it. Since you're not a business they may contact you first for a signature.

The amount of import duty charged depends largely on how the invoice is worded, and how vigilant the customs clerks are. The VAT is fixed and you would have paid that if you bought in the UK anyway.

Rob

Maybe you should move to the US. I didn't pay any taxes on mine.

"Maybe you should move to the US. I didn't pay any taxes on mine"

This guy really winds me up with stupid comments ...

Well it's the truth.

We are a very large country and occupy nearly the entire continent... so, mathematically, there are going to be plenty of uneducated dinks like this - even if they only occupy a small percentage of our population. That is how the Jerry Springer TV Show finds so many guests and why even Nascar racing and "Professional Wrestling" can be financially viable. But please don't think that the rest of the USA can in any way be represented by him.

The empeg was developed, designed, is supported and was built (at least the early ones) in the UK, so I can see how that would sting.

The slight irony is that many of us owners who have had an empeg for over a year, had to pay import taxes to get them imported to the US from the UK.

Congrats on your new toy!

I love Dennis Miller's line about Jerry Springer: "It answers the burning question: What do the people we see being arrested on 'Cops' do during the day?"

So exactly what was so wrong with my statement? Are you doubting its truthfulness? Are you perceiving sarcasm? If I would have put a little smiley face, would that have made it ok? Please explain.

But it also depends where in the US you live. Don't some states apply their own taxes, at differing rates?

I think if it ships FROM and TO the same state, sales tax applies. My buddy lives in Oregon though (for the Coast Guard) and says there is no sales tax AT ALL. wow!

I imagine this will change soon because states want in on the internet/mail order $$.

In NC, they started including a space on the income tax forms for interstate commerce last year. They want you to report anything that you ordered online, via catalog, etc. If you don't have receipts, they suggest assuming that you spent 0.0625% of your taxable income in interstate commerce. Nice.

If they were made in the UK, then wouldn't RIO have paid the import duties to get them into the US?

Then all that's left to pay is sales tax / VAT / GST depending on which state you live in.

I'm refering to back about a year ago when empeg, ltd. was its own company before being sold to SonicBlue. At that time, they were sold directly to customers from the UK.

Sonicblue did transfer a bunch to the US (or have them shipped directly from the factory as they were Mk IIa's) but I don't think they'd have to pay duty to transfer stock. (I could be mistaken though).

Hmm well if you didn't have to pay duties when transfering stock that would seem to be a huge loophole in the US laws. "No officer, i am not importing these goods for sale, i'm just transfering stock between divisions"

Surely duties apply to anything made outside the US, to protect the weak US industrial sector from international competition. Shouldn't matter if it's a consumer buying it or a business buying it from an international subsiduary?

(i could very well be mistaken too)

..except in this case the product is zero rated for duty into the USA (harmonized code 8471 5030 00 is your friend).

Shame it doesn't work the other way, though.

Rob

Hmm... so the guys that paid import taxes to get them into the US, were victums of the never consistent customs agents?

It is my understanding that, in the US, companies are required to collect taxes for any sales in states in which they have a business presence. If a company has their headquarters in Oregon and a branch office in Texas and you order something in Texas, then they collect your state/local Texas sales tax at time of purchase.

If the company has no business presence in your state, then the law is kind of vague. Dell tells all their customers that they are supposed to self-report their purchases for tax purposes. The sale is considered to have taken place where the customer is by the states, not where the company is. Some insist that it is interstate commerce, however, and thus insist that federal government should regulate it, not the states.

It would be the same in the U.S. as the EU, though, if a national sales tax ever gets passed. It gets proposed every few years and, thankfully, killed. I saw something a few weeks ago about it being proposed again, for a temporary time period. I suspect if it was passed, it might stick around longer though, much like there is a $1 tax per month on U.S. phone bills to pay for the Spanish American war of the 19th century.

Back on topic: I had no idea European tarriffs were so high. It seems silly that an item from a UK company, manufactured (?) in the UK would require tarriff fees.

-Biscuits

had no idea European tarriffs were so high. It seems silly that an item from a UK company, manufactured (?) in the UK would require tarriff fees

The biggest cost is probably VAT, which is a sales tax, and would have applied if it were manufactured and sold directly in the UK.

How much is the import duty in the UK?

Yeah I had to pay sales tax because sonicblue has employees in GA. What a bummer

Try 15% on anything that comes into Ontario, Canada. That's 7% Federal GST and 8% Provincial Sales Tax. Free Trade with the US eliminates any additional duties on this type of product. Plus $7 to FedEx for doing the customs paperwork. The 15% is the same you'd pay on anything at a local store as well.

With my first player ($699) the SB warehouse guys were nice enough to put down the value at only about $200 or so. Tax ended up being around $48 (taxes are applied on the Canadian dollar amount at whatever rate they decide to give you on the day of importation). Unfortunately got nailed for the full amount on my other order and on the order I placed for someone else.

Bruno

My recent Mk2 purchase somehow slipped into new zealand without any sales tax applied to it, even though the customs docket correctly listed the value which is double the value at which customs starts charging GST (they don't bother collecting small amounts).

They got me on my original MK1 order many moons ago...

Absolutely! I use that one all the time!

"We are a very large country .....even if they only occupy a small percentage of our population.

The empeg was developed, designed, is supported and was built (at least the early ones) in the UK, so I can see how that would sting.

The slight irony is that many of us owners who have had an empeg for over a year, had to pay import taxes to get them imported to the US from the UK. "


I thought what he wrote was funny, and there was nothing wrong with it.

As for the EMPEG being designed and built in the UK, that's great, I am glad someone besides me designed it. I researched the heck out of building a similar unit but realized it really was cost prohibitive. Who in the heck is gonna buy a compact and reliable MP3 player for over $600(my estimated cost at the time)? My answer was "very few"..

In the U.S. there was very tiny niche market for these players and it really was not worth my time. I alone could not have made as nearly a good a product as the EMPEG.

I don't know who at SonicBLue came up with the idea to buy the MEPEG, but when I heard about it I knew it would not succeed, I am just glad we Americans got to reap the rewards of its failure. I am also glad some of us are sending these to our fellow EMPEG wanabes in Europe too..

-John M

I don't know who at SonicBLue came up with the idea to buy the MEPEG, but when I heard about it I knew it would not succeed

It depends if you're talking about the success of acquiring the car player or the success of acquiring the development team. At the time of the acquisition we believed the automotive line would continue into the long term, but there have been at least two major reorganisations of management since then, each with a shift in policy. I believe that the latest policy - licencing to major 12V OEM's - will be a long term winner.

It's easy to be critical with hindsight but you should consider that of the companies interested in acquiring empeg (and there were a number of them) only SB wanted to continue manufacturing and selling our products to consumers. The alternatives would have caused the product to be discontinued over a year ago - at least how things have worked out another 4000 or so customers have had the opportunity to own a car player, and we're still developing consumer products.

As for the acquisition of the development team - we're still together, still developing products, still innovating (I believe) and working for a company with the resources and the balls to make some controversial products. Could be worse!

Rob