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@fredtc
yes, you're right. but in declaring a lower value for imports you also recieve a lower VAT bill. So it comes to the same thing, and I really have a problem with it. very few bike imports are essential, on the whole they're luxury goods, so imo the taxes and duties shouldn't be avoided. I am fully aware it goes towards funding some horiffic things (nuclear weapons, prisons, Boris Johnson's salary for example) BUT it does fund some good, and a welfare state can't exist without it. on a forum that so readily sings the praises and necessity of services provided by the state, that tax avoidance is so readily discussed and encouraged I find shameful.
if you really can't afford to pay it, or really hate the state then that's your call and what you do with your money is your call. and yeah, the fifty quid you might pay importing a frame from the US isn't going to pay off the national debt. but at least the two things should be connected so you can make that decision yourself.
(obviously the 'you' is a general 'you', not directed at anyone in particular)