If you would be so kind, I would appreciate any votes on The Horde in the October monthly Bestee vote-off-athon. But - you know - the important thing is to vote on your favourite design. So just make sure you exercise your right!

OCTOBER BESTEE! CLICK HERE!

Now that you're buddies with Twitter, How about you insert a field on people's profile pages for their Twitter avatar under the 'URL' and 'AIM' fields.

Eh? EH?!

BBC News

Tragic and terrifying. Strange that there seems to be 3 shooters. What the hell is going on?

And just days after 5 British Soldiers were killed by an Afghan Policeman. Thoughts are with the friends and families.

EDIT: Turns out that there was just the one shooter and it turns out he was not killed as officially reported hours ago.

Tax on goods bought from a non-EU country

If you're ordering or sending goods from a non-EU country to the UK - even as a gift - you may have to pay Customs Duty, Excise Duty and Import VAT.

Please note that where the guidance below refers to 'purchased goods' it makes no difference if the goods are new or used - for example goods bought on an auction site. And it doesn't matter if you buy them for yourself or to sell on.
Alcohol and tobacco

If you order or send purchased goods of alcohol or tobacco you have to pay:

* Excise Duty
* Customs Duty on goods with a value that exceeds £120
* Import VAT

Cigarettes and hand rolling tobacco must bear UK health warnings and fiscal marks and containers of spirits that are larger than 35cl must bear a UK duty stamp.
Perfume and toilet water

If you receive goods of perfume or toilet water as a gift from a country outside the EU then you:

* don't have to pay Excise Duty
* don't have to pay Customs Duty
* only pay Import VAT if you're ordering or sending more than 50g of perfume or 0.25l of toilet water

If you order perfume or toilet water (as an example) over the Internet from a country outside the EU then you:

* don't have to pay Excise Duty
* don't have to pay Customs Duty unless the value of the goods exceeds £120
* will have to pay import VAT on the full value of the goods

All other goods

If you order or send purchased goods other than alcohol, tobacco, perfume and toilet water from a country outside the EU then you:

* don't have to pay Excise Duty
* may have to pay Customs Duty on goods with a value that exceeds £120
* will have to pay Import VAT on goods with a value that exceeds £18

Note that on all goods from outside the EU, Customs Duty is waived if the amount of duty calculated is £7 or under.

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All packages that exceed £18 are taxed, and as soon as they are taxed, they receive at least a £8 handling fee from Royal Mail (or UPS).

It's basically frucking useless.

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Who pays the tax and/or duty and when

Excise Duty

If you're ordering or buying alcohol and/or tobacco from an EU country, Excise Duty must have been paid by the seller or sender before the goods are sent otherwise they can be seized by customs on arrival in the UK. Payment is made using the 'distance selling' procedures - see link at the end of the guide.

If you're ordering or buying alcohol and/or tobacco from a non-EU country, Excise Duty must be paid by the recipient once the goods have arrived in the UK but before the goods are delivered.

Customs Duty

If you're ordering or buying goods from outside the EU, any Customs Duty must be paid by the recipient once the goods have arrived in the UK but before the goods are delivered.

Import VAT

If you're ordering or buying goods from outside the EU, Import VAT must be paid by the recipient once the goods have arrived in the UK but before the goods are delivered.

In addition, there may be a handling fee to pay to the carrier. Follow the link below to find out more.

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Getting more help and advice

If you need more information about ordering or buying goods abroad to post to the UK, you can contact the VAT, Customs and Excise Helpline on Tel 0845 010 9000. Lines are open from 8.00 am to 8.00 pm, Monday to Friday except bank holidays.

I have spent too long trying to figure out which one to get.

Does anyone have a large plasma TV? Does it have whirring fans in it?

The possibility of noisy cooling fans is the only thing putting me off a plasma at the moment as I think it might drive me insane.

If anyone knows anything about this stuff, help me out.

Panasonic Plasma

LCD

I checked out the new LED screen, and they are ubersexy, but they are still a bit overpriced at the moment. The only ones in my price range were the edge-lit LED screens and I want a backlit LED screen.

I'm hoping this all makes sense to someone. One of you had to work at Dixons.

Mezo

?

;'(

It's just dawned on me today after several weeks of listening that the excellent Muse album The Resistance (clue is in the title I guess) seems to be a warning about a authoritarian dystopia with particularly big nods towards 1984.



Anyone else worried about the the possibility of a one-world government?

Tony Blair is going to made the unelected President of the European Union, ffs! Appointed for services to the illuminati?

That forged WMD dossier was embarrassing at the time, but it seems to have paid off for him now.

Also - Obama signing the climate change treaty. How do you feel about that? Is climate change even real?

Who are the Rothschilds? And why do they want to implant a chip in me?