Very late to Wolf Hunting's railway book issue and it's probably no longer relevant, but... books are not exempt from customs tax and or duty. They are classified as items of commercial value and not as personal correspondence so therefore CN22's and eCustoms data needs applying. The fact is a 'gift' or book that's been previously paid for and sent to a mate is a slightly different issue and one that's a very grey area [because etailers would just send stuff as gifts if the loopholes were not closed].
This is the 'official' stuff:
Sending items from the UK to the EU will require a CN22 or CN23 Customs Declarations and electronic customs data and an S10 barcode from 1st Jan 2021.
| For further guidance please see below: Definition | Customs and VAT rules* | |
Items containing only Personal Correspondence
DOES NOT REQUIRE A CN22 or CN23 | Items sent and addressed to an individual
Letters, postcards, braille letters, individual invoices/statements. Items such as a university prospectus/brochures/catalogues sent with a personalised covering letter addressed to the individual enclosed. | No CN22 or CN23 required |
Items of Non -Personal Correspondence
REQUIRES A CN22 or CN23, Electronic customs data and S10 barcode | Anything that does not fall into the category above and is purchased / sold / gifted / sent free of charge or is a sample - including , periodicals, bulk sets of blank forms (such as invoices and statements), stationery, maps, books, posters, tickets to events, gift vouchers DVDs, CDs (with commercially created films, games, music and software) etc. The CN22 or CN23 must show a value according to customs rules. If there is a transaction value (i.e. goods are bought/sold) then that will normally be the value used – otherwise refer to valuation information on www.gov.uk
Printed items sent as part of a mailing campaign addressed to an individual without a personalised covering letter enclosed or without any personalised text visible through or on the wrapping of the item. Whilst the item may not have been purchased a value still needs to be declared (i.e. printing/production per item cost). Items cannot be declared as having no commercial value or with a value of zero. | CN22 for items valued up to £270
CN23 for items of £270 and over or if the item contains more content items than can be listed on the CN22.
NB For EU items under €22 (inc cost of postage & compensation) will not attract VAT until 1st July 2021 (date subject to change by the EU) |
