The 'inc tax' prices on our website include UK tax (VAT, 20%). Customers with a shipping address outside of the UK will not be charged this tax - prices should update to the ex-tax ones after entering the shipping address and selecting a shipping method, either on the checkout page or on the cart page.
However, many countries will charge you import duties or other taxes on any imported items. As of Feb 2025, this may affect a much larger proportion of orders going to the USA than was previously the case, depending on what tariffs Trump currently has active, and the details of how they are implemented. See further notes below under 'USA customers'.
In some countries, these taxes are collected on behalf of your government by the postal service or shipping company, who usually charge an administration fee for this service. SOTABEAMS is not responsible for the payment of import taxes or other associated charges, payment of these is the responsibility of the purchaser.
Other countries may expect you to calculate, declare and pay the applicable tax on any imported goods as part of your tax return, instead of the tax being collected through the shipping company. If so, this is also the responsibility of the purchaser to deal with.
We do not have a definitive list of countries that charge import taxes, but all EU countries definitely do. Some countries have an order value threshold below which they do not bother with import taxes, although this exemption is increasingly being removed.
The best places to look for more information are the websites of:
- The government and/or the customs agency of your country. They should have details of tax and duty rates, and any threshold below which you do not have to pay anything (often called the 'de minimis' value, or a low value exemption).
- The national postal service for your country, if you are using one of our 'International Standard' shipping options. If the postal service is responsible for collecting taxes on imported parcels, they will usually publish information about how to pay these taxes and any administration fees added.
- The relevant courier company, if you are using one of our other shipping options.
Note if selecting DHL Express: if there are more than 5 different items in your order, then DHL might add a "multiline entry" charge which will substantially increase the clearance fee you have to pay. We will combine items where possible (for example, wire winders in different colours will be combined into a single line on the customs declaration), but if ordering a lot of different items, then it might be better to choose a different shipping option. Please contact us if you need any help, or would like us to use or to avoid a specific courier for your order (this may result in a higher shipping cost though). We have not yet managed to get clarification from DHL on the exact circumstances in which multiline entry fees will be charged.
USA customers
Update: there has been a temporary reprieve. On 5th Feb 2025, Trump decided that 'de minimis' treatment will continue to be allowed for goods produced in China until more efficient systems are in place for collecting import duties. This means that most orders that we ship directly to customers in the USA will continue to be exempt from import duty for the time being. However, import duty may start being applied at some point in the future, and there might not be any advance notice of when this will happen.
In the past, most orders that we have shipped directly to customers in the USA have been exempt from import duty, since the the USA had a generous 'de minimis' threshold of $800. For shipments which had a value below this threshold and were sent direct to consumers, US Customs did not charge the recipient any import duty.
However, it looks like recent executive orders from Donald Trump have suspended this 'de minimis' treatment for all items subject to his additional tariffs, so import duty will now be payable on those items regardless of the order value. Example: sections 2(a) and (g) of https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/imposing-duties-to-address-the-synthetic-opioid-supply-chain-in-the-peoples-republic-of-china/ which say that articles made in China are subject to an additional 10% rate of duty, and duty-free de minimis treatment under 19 U.S.C. 1321 shall not be available for those articles.
Some of the items that we sell were originally manufactured in China. Due to these executive orders, those items might now be subject to import duty, and be rendered ineligible for the 'de minimis' exemption. Which items are affected will vary depending on when and for which countries Trump decides to introduce, suspend, or remove additional tariffs.
If there are any import duties or customs clearance fees to pay, then it is the responsibility of the recipient to pay these. They will not be shown during checkout when ordering on our website, you will need to pay them separately at a later date.
For customers in the USA, if you select 'International Standard Tracked' as the shipping method for your order then it looks like any import duties will be collected by USPS with a customs clearance fee of $8.85 added if your parcel is subject to any import duties. For the 'Tracked courier' shipping option, the amount of import duty will be the same but the customs clearance fee added by couriers is likely to be larger.
Due to the rapidly changing nature of the additional tariffs, it is difficult to provide a definitive up-to-date list of which items are affected, but we can tell you the country of manufacture for particular items if you would like to try working out yourself whether they will be subject to import duty. It is listed below for some of our most popular items, for any others please email us:
- All of our telescopic masts are made in China.
- Our lightweight antenna wire and heavy duty antenna wire is made in the UK.
- DX-WIRE UL wire is made in Germany.
- Pegs are made in China.
- Most other guying parts (such as nylon cord, and all acrylic parts) are made in the UK.
- Custom coaxial cables with connectors fitted are assembled in the UK. Short pre-made coaxial cables are assembled in China.
- Powerpole junction boxes (4-way and Fuser-6) are made in the UK.
A question for someone more knowledgeable about US law is whether the wording used in the executive order that 'duty-free de minimis treatment under 19 U.S.C. 1321 shall not be available' refers only to the order value threshold of $800 in 19 U.S.C. 1321(a)(2) below which import is 'free of duty', or does it also refer to the amount payable threshold of $20 in 19 U.S.C. 1321(a)(3), below which I think there are technically duties due but collection of them is waived. If it only refers to (a)(2), then small enough orders may still escape import taxes for now.
If you buy from DX Engineering instead of directly from us, then import duties will be included in the price that DX Engineering charge you, there should be nothing extra to pay. However, they might have to raise their prices at some point if the increased duties remain in place.
EU customers
Please note that you are likely to be charged VAT and an administration fee by the parcel delivery company on any imported parcels, since we no longer charge you VAT at the time of purchase. We are not currently enrolled in IOSS, but plan to look into it in the future.
Before Brexit, we had to charge VAT at checkout. After Brexit, VAT is paid through the shipping company instead. You still have to pay a similar amount of tax, just the timing is different. The main difference in the total cost of your order will be the administration fee added by the shipping company.
The size of the administration fee depends on the country and the delivery method. DHL Express is usually the most expensive admin fee (in addition to being the most expensive shipping cost), Economy Courier or International Standard may be cheaper.
If the shipping method selected is International Standard, then the parcel will normally be delivered through the national postal operator in your country. There is a slightly out of date list available here, compiled by the EU Commission in June 2022, comparing the administration/clearance fees added by various national postal operators in the EU. The fee can range from a few Euros to tens of Euros depending on the country. For example, at the time of writing, it seems to be €4.95 for Ireland, but €22.39 for Belgium (€18.50 plus 21% VAT), in addition to the import taxes themselves.
Our international agents stock a range of our products. If buying from one of our EU agents, taxes should be charged at the time of purchase with no extra admin fee.