I have had various items from the US and Canada but have never been hit by taxes for anything kilt related (and that includes a kilt). The only time I was hit was when I imported a DVD set that could not be obtained over here.

The Post office charged me VAT based on the declared value and a handling charge for the Customs work involved - that was a flat fee of £4 which they informed me was the same irrespective of the value of the item.

Yet a second DVD set came through without any charges whatsoever and it was a higher value than the first.

All were originated through the postal services.