Royal Mail under fire for wrongly charging British customers £150 ‘Brexit tax’

Royal Mail is under fire from angry Brits for reportedly charging incorrect Brexit import fees on deliveries from the European Union.

The mail giant wrongly slapped fees on items customers already own.

One man was charged around £200 for a pair of glasses to be sent back from a hotel in Spain, according to a report in The Telegraph. Hotel staff had posted the glasses which, upon, arrival turned out to cost £170 in import VAT, £17 in customs fees and a £12 admin fee.

The paper also singled out the case of a Valenica-based writer, who said his daughter was charged close to £150 after she was sent a reconditioned laptop from Spain.

The charges come despite the items being exempt.

Since January of last year, when post-Brexit rules came into force, any goods with an estimated value of £135 or more that are sent from the European Union are subject to customs and import fees.

Any items that have an estimated value of less than £40 are exempt, such as postcards, documents, letters and other light files.

Royal Mail and its partners are reportedly obliged to offer any items to HMRC and other relevant authorities for inspection.