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
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, due to executive orders from Donald Trump, 'de minimis' treatment either has been or will be suspended for nearly all shipments entering the USA, and there are substantial increases to the import duty rates, especially on products originally manufactured in China (which is the case for some of the items that we sell).
This means that orders which we ship directly to customers in the USA will be increasingly at risk of being taxed by US Customs. Which items are affected and how much the taxes will be will vary depending on when and for which countries Trump decides to introduce, suspend, or remove additional tariffs.
As of 10th April, our current understanding is that (subject to change by future executive orders, which may happen without any advance notice):
- For articles of steel made in China, de minimis treatment might or might not have already been suspended. This is a change that has been planned for a while, but we are not sure whether it has already happened yet, or whether it will be happening at the same time as for other items made in China (2nd May). The current chaos is difficult to keep track of.
- For other items made in China, de minimis treatment is available until 2nd May. For packages entering the US after 12:01am EDT on 2nd May 2025, de minimis treatment will no longer be available for items manufactured in China, regardless of item type or value. Large taxes will be due on these items.
- For items made in other countries outside the US, Trump plans to make de minimis treatment unavailable for these on a currently unspecified future date, when there are more efficient sytems in place for collecting import duty.
This means that most orders that we ship directly to customers in the USA will only be exempt from import duty:
- if they contain any products originally manufactured in China, then only if ordered early enough before 2nd May.
- if they only contain products made elsewhere, then until further changes are announced by Trump. There might not be much advance notice when this happens.
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. If you would like us to either use or avoid any specific couriers for your order, please contact us.
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.
- Drive-on stands are made in China. Note that they are classed as articles of steel, so duty rates and 'de minimis' suspension dates may be different to other items 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.
- Antenna Wire Winders are made in Cambodia. The smaller Midi Winders 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.
Although the USA is going to make de minimis treatment according to 19 U.S.C. 1321(a)(2) unavailable in the future, there is also an amount payable threshold of $20 in 19 U.S.C. 1321(a)(3), below which our understanding is that although there are technically duties due, collection of them is waived. So depending on the details of future executive orders and on how the USA decides to collect import duties, small enough orders might still be exempt from import duties for a bit longer after de minimis treatment is ended.
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.