any way of getting pipes from usa into the uk avoiding nasties like vat?
Go over to the US, collect them there, put them in a battered old case and bring them back yourself.
Otherwise it is import duty, then VAT on top of that (note both duties will be charged on the total cost of the pipes including postage and insurance). Plus if they are being posted over, the Post office gets their pound of flesh as well, for collecting the duty.
David
You could try (if the vendor is willing) to receive the instrument in several packages, preferably posted over several days, that way the value of each package is reduced and less likely to attract the attention of the taxman. Against that idea is the increased cost of postage and the greater risk of one of the components going astray 
Even bringing the item in hand-baggage (yourself or a maybe a travelling friend) runs the risk of being intercepted by customs, if you get unlucky.
There are actually rules about dividing up the goods.. if all the parts are needed then it counts as one (if they find out).
As for bringing the goods in your luggage, the trigger value for VAT is usually much higher than when you ship it. I don’t know what that limit is for the UK, I know that the shipping limit is very low though.
For my country the carry-limit is 30 times higher than the shipping limit, if I’ve been out of the country more than 24 hours. So I can bring ukuleles and whistles without problems, but stay away from ES-335s and the like.
-Tor
it’s only a single chanter - it’s 2nd hand and was made in the uk - does this make any difference?
Nope
Looks like you will have to bite the bullet.
David
I have had several flutes and one chanter shipped from US to Scotland and have only had to pay duty once. I always have the seller mark the package, returned for repair/reeding no sale. Have the seller include a little invoice saying they made a reed or repaired something. Only once did it not work so be prepared. My fees were around 200 quid for a flute valued ar around 1200 dollars on the package.
I also once had to pay duty on pipes shipped from the UK to the Canary Island as apparently they are out of the EU for tax/vat purposes. I wasnt expecting that in Spain to be honest.
Good luck,
Patrick
when you receive an instrument as a gift from a relative based in the states do you still incur all these charges?
if the value is over 40 pound you must pay vat. if it is over 135 you must pay vat and duty.
There are really only three ways to go about it.
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Put the value real low and risk it getting lost but you wont have to pay duty.
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Mark it returned for repair put the value around 500 dollars or so and it might just slip by, but you might have to pay. as in my post above.
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Full value, full insurance cover, pay the duty.
I have only had to pay once.
gift will not work.
Call me ‘Old Mr Paranoid’ if you like, Patrick, but I don’t think I’d be advertising the fact that I circumvented HMRC on a public forum!
Fair play for getting away with it, but still. Least said, soonest mended and all that.
m.d.