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You americans are soooo lucky

#61
MAGUS®;5436503 said:
Just apart from the extra shipping costs alone, 3.5% import duty on the goods, ( approx ) and theres 17.5% UK VAT . Our postal system also charge a handling fee

A $500 bass there can end up as £500 here ( say $1000 give or take )


Bear in my mind that the Govt. here, it doesnt matter which party, are all about taxing the life out of the citizens. Thats their job.

Our fuel is now at £1.11 ( more in some areas ) per LITRE. Yes per litre. In old money, thats like £4.50 a gallon. Nearly $9


Getting the picture yet ? :D

Oxygen will be next


EDIT: I should say that the 17.5% VAT ( value added tax ) is on the shipping and price of the bass combined. OUR Govt. say the value of a bass is not what it cost in the shop. Its what it costs in the shop PLUS the shipping cost. Hows about that for a rip off ??
Click to expand...

Jeezus---we had a revolution over that...
 
#62
lawsonman said:
What?! I don't even know anybody that pays 50% taxes.You need a different tax accountant if you're paying 50% taxes.
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It's a fact that we pay over 50% of our income in taxes. Add up federal income tax, state income tax, Social Insecurity tax, sales tax, gas tax, phone tax, utilities tax, real estate tax, personal property tax, inheritance tax, vehicle registrations, etc., etc. and you will be amazed. We are taxed out the wazoo and it's STILL a great country in spite of that. (and to think some politicians are actually talking about raising our taxes) If we had to pay all these taxes at once every year there would be a revolution.

Sorry for the rambling. This probably shouldn't be in the "Basses" section.
 
#63
high taxes?
V.A.T through the roof on every product?
import tax thats higher than a hippy at download?
royal mail failing to deliver the most simple of tasks?

yup you've got to admire how tony blair and gordon brown have royaly rodgered england up the behind on this one

looks like were destined to pay over the odds for our bass's n amps over here on the plus side though...... dammit..... there is no plus side:crying:
 
#67
lunarpollen said:
We wouldn't be complaining if we had european-style public transportation or european-style towns and cities where we didn't have to drive a billion miles for just about every little thing. The horrible systems of transportation infrastructure and the sheer scale of things here are what people from other countries don't take into account. And ere we are plagued by ridiculous urban sprawl and irresponsible planning brought about by greedy developers and their cronies in the local governments whose elections they helped finance. I do what I can by driving a tiny car and not driving if I don't have to. But the situation often infuriates me. I really don't enjoy driving, and I resent having to drive for much of the things I have to drive for. Someday I hope to be able to live in a place where I can live my life without needing to drive except when hauling my gear to and from a gig or otherwise transporting an item too large to carry.
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This is one of the issues I have about being here. Gas is definitely way more expensive in Europe, but, when I lived in the UK, I could walk to most of the places I wanted to go, most of the rest of them I could take a bus, tram or train to, and my car didn't actually see all that much use. Plus, I got my groceries delivered. :D Also, most people drive smaller, much more fuel-efficient vehicles - cars that get 50-60mpg aren't uncommon in the UK. You still see pickups, SUVs etc, just not nearly as many of them as you see here, and certainly nothing the size of a Chevy Suburban, Ford Expedition or Dodge Durango - people just can't afford to run them, and, to be honest, they're too big for many of the roads.

I've only been to a few places in the US that have anything like this kind of infrastructure and accessibility. Boston's probably about the best I've seen in this respect - the Boston T is a pretty decent transportation system, certainly compared to what else is on offer in most other US cities.
 
#68
Samthebassist said:
isnt the whole tax thingy y we split from Britian in the first place?! that and religious freedom and blahbedy blah??

THe US is friggin awesome...we have a lot to offer..u just need to know where to go!

:bassist:
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Amen! In spite of the crazy tax's, this is an incredible country. I think it's awsome that we can hop in our SUV and drive anywhere in this wide open land of ours. That's a GOOD thing.
 
#69
It's not much better in Australia.

You want a MM Stingray? AUD $3000 please. That's US $2750 for a basic, run of the mill 4 string Stingray. MIA Fender Jazz Deluxe? AUD $3300+. That's over US $3000.

Don't even ask about Warwick or any of the other 'expensive brands'.

I can save approximately AUD $1000 by buying an American Fender or Stingray brand new from the US and paying $300 to have it shipped over. That's just wrong.
 
#70
I KNOW HOW YOU FEEL!!!!!

$1600 for a New Musicman Stingray 4HH from US, £1200 from the UK. thats £400-$800 diffrence in price!!!

But.. ($1600+$200shipping)*3.5%)*17.5%= £1094.61

£100 cheeper but you have to wait to get it shipped.

Im gonna take my old bass with me to florida, get rid of it and put a new Sr4HH in its case, tax dodge heaven.:hiding:
 
#71
dreadheadbass said:
high taxes?
V.A.T through the roof on every product?
import tax thats higher than a hippy at download?
royal mail failing to deliver the most simple of tasks?

yup you've got to admire how tony blair and gordon brown have royaly rodgered england up the behind on this one

looks like were destined to pay over the odds for our bass's n amps over here on the plus side though...... dammit..... there is no plus side:crying:
Click to expand...

You know, I don't think that the current Labour government actually invented VAT or import tax... :ninja:
 
#72
Happynoj said:
You know, I don't think that the current Labour government actually invented VAT or import tax... :ninja:
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But they do love enforcing it!

They make it 24 hour drinking, but then they increase the price of beer. They plan on putting another 2p a litre of petrol, my car tax is normally £66 for 6 months, thats gone up to £100 this time around. I drive a 1.6 Escort ffs, not a SUV, I dont even wanna know what those guys pay a year!

Tax sucks. I should have married my ex from Atlanta and moved over there like I planned.
 
#74
lawsonman said:
What?! I don't even know anybody that pays 50% taxes.You need a different tax accountant if you're paying 50% taxes.
Click to expand...


The idea that the average American pays 50% of total income in taxes is wrong. I live in a state (NY) with a very high income tax rate, have an income that't far above average, and pay approximately 42% of total income in tax. Americans pay among the lowest tax rates in the westerm world, and enjoy among the lowest gas prices. However-everything here costs, from good education to good healthcare (unless you're below the poverty line or older than 65), the wealthy have it and the low to middle incomes struggle for it or do without. There is no perfect solution. But in terms of buying a bass, I'd rather be here than anywhere else, not only for price, but choice as well.
 
#75
ok we get (mainly) free health care in England but at what cost?? we pay so much in taxes for it and we need to pay even more taxes cause the National Health Service is struggling! not enough beds for people, Nurses/doc's are underpaid, job cuts. Its going down the pan tbh, doesnt help we get so many mirgrents taking our free health care.. I dont blame them, if I lived somewhere without good hospitals, id come to england too, but as someone from England it sucks cause they rape the health service.

Anyways... Bass's eh? pretty things arnt they!
 
#76
I imported a MM Bongo 3eq from US in to the UK without much hassle.

I think that once I paid the VAT and import charges the total cost was £800. I know that's still $1600, but it's still £300/$600 less than the price of a new one in the UK at the time. :smug:

Still, because I didn't have the £118 charges/VAT etc in cash when the Postman arrived, and I couldn't find my chequebook, he took it back to the depot with him and I couldn't collect it for another 8 hours because he had other deliveries to make. :(

Something to consider though when importing to the UK; a friend of mine bought a $100 watch (Uk price £120/$240) - he knew what the customs charges would be and was happy to pay them, but the Post Office/Parcelfarce charged him an £11 admin fee on top because they had paid the charges for him...

Seems they're making a killing on that because the way importing in to the UK works means the Post Office handle all imports and pay all fees on your behalf, so that's £11 they make every time something arrives in the UK and you don't have a choice.
 
#77
I think there'd be all out riots in the States if they tried to raise fuel prices nearly every week like they do here. We just dont stick together enough in this little tinpot country. We need more riots , like when Maggie Thatcher tried to introduce the Poll Tax. The streets were burning up and down the country.

So what happens? .. they rename it Council Tax, change a few minor details and the riots stop. But its no different.

Anyways - i think the best option if a UK bass player wants to import a bass from the US, its best to go for the more esoteric brands. Ones that UK dealers / shops dont import themselves. Basses like Valenti's, say.
Dealers mostly bring in basses in numbers, getting discounts. The same old stuff ( mostly anyways ).
 
#79
MAGUS®;5436503 said:
Just apart from the extra shipping costs alone, 3.5% import duty on the goods, ( approx ) and theres 17.5% UK VAT . Our postal system also charge a handling fee

A $500 bass there can end up as £500 here ( say $1000 give or take )


Bear in my mind that the Govt. here, it doesnt matter which party, are all about taxing the life out of the citizens. Thats their job.

Our fuel is now at £1.11 ( more in some areas ) per LITRE. Yes per litre. In old money, thats like £4.50 a gallon. Nearly $9


Getting the picture yet ? :D

Oxygen will be next


EDIT: I should say that the 17.5% VAT ( value added tax ) is on the shipping and price of the bass combined. OUR Govt. say the value of a bass is not what it cost in the shop. Its what it costs in the shop PLUS the shipping cost. Hows about that for a rip off ??
Click to expand...

Sorry to drag up a long dead thread, but I have a question regarding this...

Do all items that are shipped into a country get picked up by customs and get the import taxes added on, or is it just luck of the draw?
 
#80
mojtahedi said:
are healthcare is **** even though its free, it was on the news, some old man was halfblind but the goverment sed they wud only help pay if he went completly blind
Click to expand...

Calm down there, daily mail.

My mother was diagnosed in spring 2008 with breast cancer. Though the chemo took up a year of her life and she lost her hair etc, she didn't have to pay a penny for the service. Now the government might have "sed they wud only help pay if he went completly blind" but atleast they would offer him that service for free.

On the other hand I heard the health service 'are' now handing out free spelling and punctuation. Maybe you should head down there and get some.:D
 

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