Expats - Beware sending gifts to the UK

Well, for the first time in 22 years, I sent a small Jiffy envelope with family gifts and my mother has to pay thirty six quid before they will release the package. Import VAT Customs, thank you very much.

Come on, it was Christmas!

Anyway, as a public service, here's the scoop -

According to Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs web site, if you're sending packages from outside of the EU, your recipient in the UK can be charged the Import fee thus -

2.4 Gifts

Goods sent as a gift that are over £40* in value are liable to import VAT Customs duty also becomes payable if the value of the goods is over £135 but is waived if the amount of duty calculated is less than £9.

*Please note this limit will reduce to £36 with effect from 1 January 2013.

To qualify as a gift:

• the customs declaration must be completed correctly
• the gift must be sent from a private person outside the EU to a private person(s) in this country
• there is no commercial or trade element and the gift has not been paid for either directly or indirectly by anyone in the UK
• the gift is of an occasional nature only, for example, for a birthday or anniversary

Note: if you purchase something from outside the EU to give as a gift to a relative or friend, whether or not addressed to that person, it is treated as a ‘commercial consignment’ for which the import VAT relief threshold in paragraph 2.3 applies.

Unfortunately, the mistake I apparently made was not to itemize every single gift in the Jiffy bag, because since none were over the forty pound value threshold, I could have escaped some of the charge. I did have gift tags on each item, which would prove to anyone that they were all intended for different people, but since it wasn't all indicated on the customs declaration (partly because there's not enough space), the entire package is being classed as a gift to my mother. 
Here's the breakdown - 

Goods sent as gifts	Relief given
One item valued at £40* or below	Free of customs duty and import VAT.
One item valued at £44	Import VAT is chargeable on the full value.
Six of the same items valued at £8 each	Five items are relieved of import VAT leaving import VAT chargeable on the remaining one item.
Five different items valued at £120 each	Import VAT is chargeable on the full value.
One item valued at £300	Customs duty is charged (but will not be collected if the amount of duty is less than £9). Import VAT is chargeable on the full value.

You're welcome!