Did you know you have to pay VAT when sending parcels to the UK?

Monday, 12 May 2025 09:00

If you’re sending parcels to the UK that are worth £39 or more, did you know that VAT needs to be paid on the goods inside?

Jersey Post say they advise customers to pre-pay VAT on these parcels at the Post Office if they want to speed up delivery.

When they were researching the speed of mail getting the UK, Jersey Post said their GPS trackers found that post with pre-declared VAT reached its destination quicker, in an average of 2.4 days.

Meanwhile, those items where VAT needed to be declared took 1.5 days longer, in an average of 3.9 days.

Read the results of our recent postal speed test.

And don't forget, Jersey Post have also recently announced that they will be charging customers a £5 ‘packing surcharge’ for all large parcels not packaged in a cardboard box.

The charge will come in from Monday, 12 May and will apply to incorrectly packaged parcels you send with a weight between two to 30kg.

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