Q+A on Import Duty+Tax [Do Not Ask How to Avoid!]

Brian

I was looking at having a Google phone shipped to me from the USA. Am I likely to get stung for customs on it? I read that the UK don't have import duty for mobile phones and was wondering if Ireland had the same policy.

jor el

MrsBunnsy wrote: »

They also operated through an irish bank account because otherwise they wouldn't have been able to accept AIB laser payments.

Not true, their payment processor can accept Laser cards, they don't need an Irish bank to do this.

MrsBunnsy wrote: »

They arent replying to my emails so I called the NCA, see what they say...

Unlikely the NCA can do anything for you, as CDWow are not based here. They certainly will have no power over CDWow.

Baza210 wrote: »

I read that the UK don't have import duty for mobile phones and was wondering if Ireland had the same policy.

Not true. All EU countries charge VAT and possibly duty on imports, and phones are no exception. The UK definitely does. A $500 phone will attract a lot of attention.

Brian

http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageVAT_ShowContent&id=HMCE_PROD_009989&propertyType=document

^As per link, nil import duty on mobile phones. However, the Nx1 has GPS so probably falls outside that category anyway. VAT is another story altogether.

Any idea what sort of rate I'd be charged? Thanks.

jor el

When people ask about duty, I assume they mean VAT, since that's the one that's always charged. The duty limit is 150 euro, so often your purchase is exempt anyway. In Ireland, Duty is rarely applied on import purchases. They just go with the VAT, which is going to be the bulk of the charge anyway.

VAT will apply to your phone, and it will be 21%. Don't know if duty would be added too.

Brian

So it would probably be another hundred euro making it more like €500. Ouch. I shall explore alternatives. Thanks very much for the help.

jor el

Yep, plus the handling fee of €5-15 too.

new fang

hey, i have recently purchased a laptop from the states (worth ~650 usd + shipping). it was sent through usps (united states postal service). my question is this: will i get my laptop first then a bill for the vat/import duty, or the other way around, meaning they will hold the goods until i pay up? do usps shippings become delivered by an post once they enter the country?

also, what is this retarded "handling fee" and when does it become applicable?

thanks.

The Lovely Muffin

Has anyone purchased from http://www.abebooks.co.uk and had their stuff sent from the USA and had to pay duty/vat once your parcel got to Ireland/Irish Customs?

As I was thinking a book from them but the seller is in the USA and the total for the book incl shipping is around €28 euros.

I presume if I did order the book I'd have to pay Irish customs, but I want to be sure first.

Thanks.

jor el

new fang wrote: »

my question is this: will i get my laptop first then a bill for the vat/import duty, or the other way around, meaning they will hold the goods until i pay up?

Depends, sometimes it's collect on delivery, other times you're billed first. There's no hard and fast rule.

new fang wrote: »

do usps shippings become delivered by an post once they enter the country?

An Post, yes.

new fang wrote: »

also, what is this retarded "handling fee" and when does it become applicable?

A fee charged by the carrier (An Post or courier) for collecting the VAT on behalf of Revenue. It can be up to €15.

-Orlaith- wrote: »

As I was thinking a book from them but the seller is in the USA and the total for the book incl shipping is around €28 euros.

I presume if I did order the book I'd have to pay Irish customs, but I want to be sure first.

There is no VAT on books.

The Lovely Muffin

jor el wrote: »

There is no VAT on books.

Thank you.

kumate_champ07

email I received from the revenue today

"your package will be released free of charge today
*
*******"

not even a 'sorry for the inconvenience'

they sent me a letter saying my package was being held in customs and they wanted me to send them invoices which I did, so that they could work out how much money to squeeze out of me. I'm sure my sender put the cost on the package.

Im just a little shocked that theres not even a hint of an apology, I did nothing wrong and they tried to catch me out but I was legit

Is this the norm?

ronaneire

kumate_champ07 wrote: »

Is this the norm?

It is the revenue commissioners!

byte

Yeah, I got the same before from a DX order.

But, after emailing them a scan of the receipts, it was released. No big problem really.

I guess they just don't believe the values put on the customs declarations.

PCPhoto

byte wrote: »

Yeah, I got the same before from a DX order.

But, after emailing them a scan of the receipts, it was released. No big problem really.

I guess they just don't believe the values put on the customs declarations.

probably due to the high number of people trying to avoid import duty and vat.

kumate_champ07

they should still apologise for delaying my package, I did nothing wrong, I'm lucky it wasnt something I needed urgently but I dont know how long theyve had it for, It was sent 4 weeks ago

jor el

kumate_champ07 wrote: »

I did nothing wrong,

Neither did they. Why would they apologise for doing their job?

Redsoxfan

So I received a notice from the Revenue last week informing me that a laptop battery is being held (I ordered it from UK Battery Locator but it was dispatched from Hong Kong-surprise surprise!).

Anyway, I don't have a receipt or invoice from the seller stating how much I paid (there is a link to view a receipt online but this only works if you created an account when ordering, which I didn't). I have e-mailed them explaining that if I don't get an invoice Revenue won't release the package and it will be returned to sender and I will be looking for a refund, but no response yet.

Would Revenue accept a copy of my credit card bill as evidence of payment?

blackest

perhaps you could email a link to the page where you ordered the battery and say what you paid. As long as your being straight with them and the price is reasonable I don't see why the revenue would want to spend any extra time on this. The duty cant be that high on a laptop battery.

Rockshamrover

Hi folks,

I hope you can help with the following. I bought a product from the US.

The company I bought it from said they would pay the shipping on the parcel.

Fedex are asking me to pay VAT on the delivery cost even though I didn't pay for delivery.

Can this be correct?

Thanks

jos22

Rockshamrover wrote: »

Hi folks,

I hope you can help with the following. I bought a product from the US.

The company I bought it from said they would pay the shipping on the parcel.

Fedex are asking me to pay VAT on the delivery cost even though I didn't pay for delivery.

Can this be correct?

Thanks

was there a shipping cost marked on the invoice or was shipping on the invoice marked as free.

usually it value declared on the customs docket they charge vat on. are you sure its shipping cost and not the handing charge.
UPS charged me the vat on a parcel from Amazon.com and also charged me vat on the handling fee for them to pay the vat on my behalf.

Rockshamrover

jos22 wrote: »

was there a shipping cost marked on the invoice or was shipping on the invoice marked as free.

usually it value declared on the customs docket they charge vat on. are you sure its shipping cost and not the handing charge.
UPS charged me the vat on a parcel from Amazon.com and also charged me vat on the handling fee for them to pay the vat on my behalf.

Hi Jos,

Thanks for the quick reply. They are charging for "freight". They are saying that the "shipper did not state on the paperwork that the freight was free of charge".

I have told them that I have an e mail from the company confirming that they would pay the shipping so as to get my business. It wasn't a standard free shipping deal.

Thanks.

jos22

Rockshamrover wrote: »

Hi Jos,

Thanks for the quick reply. They are charging for "freight". They are saying that the "shipper did not state on the paperwork that the freight was free of charge".

I have told them that I have an e mail from the company confirming that they would pay the shipping so as to get my business. It wasn't a standard free shipping deal.

Thanks.

So that prob means that a shipping value was declared on the invoice when they received it. so they just billed you as required by customs import law.
any time I had the free shipping the invoice always marked it as 0.00.

you should ask them if you provide them with proof that you didn't pay the shipping cost will it be refunded usualy an invoice from the company you bought from.

Rockshamrover

jos22 wrote: »

So that prob means that a shipping value was declared on the invoice when they received it. so they just billed you as required by customs import law.
any time I had the free shipping the invoice always marked it as 0.00.

you should ask them if you provide them with proof that you didn't pay the shipping cost will it be refunded usualy an invoice from the company you bought from.

Thanks Jos, I'll give that a shot. Can't do any harm:)

Redsoxfan

blackest wrote: »

perhaps you could email a link to the page where you ordered the battery and say what you paid. As long as your being straight with them and the price is reasonable I don't see why the revenue would want to spend any extra time on this. The duty cant be that high on a laptop battery.

Seller actually sent me an invoice yesterday and aslo told me that if the taxes were less then £5 they would re-imburse me, and it worked out more than that, I would have the goods sent back to them, which seems reasonable on their part.

cassiha

Hello Everyone,

I just wanted to see if anyone out there could tell me what the taxes due would be on a parcel valued 158 euros, shipped from USA to Ireland? I have already been totally screwed by the company who quoted a price of 158 euros, then a week later took a further 90euros off my credit card without permission for shipping! Then I get landed with a bill from UPS stating that I owe them almost 78euros in tax. When I rang UPS all they kept saying was there was a 13.5% tax on goods from the USA. But by my calculations that should be a bill of 31.33 euros. Since the bill I received is almost 50euros more than that Im confused. Does anyone know what exactly I'm been charged for?
Thanks for the help :-)

-=al=-

whatever the value is marked as on the parcel.. like 25% shud be added or so... ive no idea but something like that shud happen

jor el

Ask them to detail the bill. VAT will be 21% on the majority of goods, postage is included, and a fee of up to €15 applies on top.

jackbauer

Sorry if this has been asked before. I purchased an item from the states in november and with fedex delivery came to about 62 euro total inc shipping. Received a bill from fedex for 25 euro and change on friday. 15 for vat and 10 admin fee. No problem paying but i thought these was a change in the import/vat rules recently that exempted anything under 150 euro? Again sorry if its been asked before.

chalkitdown

jackbauer wrote: »

Sorry if this has been asked before. I purchased an item from the states in november and with fedex delivery came to about 62 euro total inc shipping. Received a bill from fedex for 25 euro and change on friday. 15 for vat and 10 admin fee. No problem paying but i thought these was a change in the import/vat rules recently that exempted anything under 150 euro? Again sorry if its been asked before.

I think that's only for goods that you are bringing into the country in person, the rate for goods shipped from outside the EU is much lower, around 25 Euro.

jor el

150 is the duty limit. VAT is applied at 22 euro.

iamskippy

Is there a custom fee* on laptop battery being sent from Singapore?
*Not sure of correct term

ozikool

Hello, I am new to the site, but I need to ask something: ON a site called lokerz I will be getting an item shipped from America and the shipping is free, but I wonder is how much will I have to pay for duties and tariffs. I am getting a PSP3000 bundle. Thank you.

rubadub

It seems strange that you would get free shipping from the US to here (presuming you are getting it to Ireland). Duty is liable if it is over €150 worth, VAT is over €22 (over €45 if it is a gift).

I would be more worried the site itself though, I did a search and found this.
http://lockerz-scam.com/

http://www.kongregate.com/forums/2/topics/52873?page=1

EDIT:corrected €22 for normal purchases.

flazio

How is the charge for "Post Office Clearance" determined? On my BBC DVD from play.com valued @€;35.49 I got charged €7.45 in VAT and €8 in a P.O.C. fee.
Is there anywhere that explains how the latter is determined?

ozikool

My friend got something from that site and I seen screenshots. So you are telling me I will have to pay like €195? Or is it something that I don't understand ?

The maximum I would pay is €50, So it is a bad idea right? Taking away the fact it might be a scam.

jor el

No, duty and VAT are applied once you go over those amounts, and it's really over €22 for VAT, €45 is the limit for a gift. It's all in the import duty thread, where this post will now be.

What exactly is Lockerz? If it looks too good to be true, then it isn't true.

jor el

flazio wrote: »

Is there anywhere that explains how the latter is determined?

It's probably on the Revenue website, but they can charge anything up to €15.

ozikool

So is it a good idea, because I shall only pay max of around 50

flazio

jor el wrote: »

It's probably on the Revenue website, but they can charge anything up to €15.

That site would explain the €7.45 I put in Brian Lenihan's coffers but the €8 that I put in An Post's account is what I would like to know about, you'd expect a Post Office Clearence charge to be a percentage of the VAT added on top, you know 10% of the VAT charged etc, not to be more then the VAT itself.

jor el

Actually, I'd expect a handling fee to be fixed, which it is, as it costs no more to calculate and collect the money on a high value item than it does on a low value item. If it were a percentage, then something attracting a lot of VAT would have a very high fee too.

For low valued items, the surcharge can often be as much as the VAT, or even more.

greenie

A friend of mine bought a second hand iphone online and the customs charge was ridiculous ( I thought! ). It came to about e150 (no euro symbol!) which is pretty much what she paid for the phone.
Firstly they treated it as a new phone, unfortunately for her it was in good condition. Secondly, tax was applied twice. When she rang to enquire they told her that this was done because the iphone is also an ipod so additional charges apply. I was really shocked but I guess these are the rules. I guess if you prefer to buy a second hand product abroad rather than pay triple the price for it here, you're going to pay in other ways!
Its cheaper these days to fly to another country and buy the product you want!:D

meme 1981

Hi everyone... I am brand new to here so pls be nice ,i sensitive
I am seriously looking into purchasing a ring online from the US (NY), purchase price approx €1500.00. How much do you think i will end up paying on VAT, Duty & excise when it is delivered to Ireland.? I am heading to Florida in May and was thinking would it be a good option to have it delivered to the hotel and that way avoid all charges???
Anyone got any experience or advice on this? Thanks

jor el

Since it's your first day, I'll be nice and move your post to an appropriate location. Dragging up an old thread is a no no, so have a look around before posting in future.

With regard to your question, if you get the ring imported you'll pay VAT at 21%, and possibly duty too. Duty rates can be found on the Revenue website, but are not always applied.

Getting it delivered to a hotel in the US may not be an option. A lot of sites will not ship to an alternate address from the credit card address, even more so if it's to a different country. If you're going to the US, then buying a ring in a shop will be the best option.

brumindub

Hi,

I was just wondering how long it takes for Customs to take money out of your account if you bought something from the States? I received my package over two weeks ago but no money taken out yet. I do realise that I might get away with not having to pay.

greenie

brumindub wrote: »

Hi,

I was just wondering how long it takes for Customs to take money out of your account if you bought something from the States? I received my package over two weeks ago but no money taken out yet. I do realise that I might get away with not having to pay.

As far as I know Customs don't take money out of your account. You usually pay on delivery.:)

rubadub

brumindub wrote: »

how long it takes for Customs to take money out of your account .

What do you mean by "account". If you get stuff from couriers (e.g. fedex) they can often send you a bill a month or so later.

brumindub

Well, I received a package from UPS and haven't been charged extra for VAT etc. I was just charged delivery fees by the company I bought some items from. So, I guess like you said, I just have to wait and see if I get a a UPS bill.

Thank you very much for your help.

Antigone05

Hope you guys can help.

Bought a pair of shoes (nothing nice in this country in 14s) from a US site based in NY.

Had a voicemail on my phone today to say from DHL that there is a customs charge of 47euro!

heres the breakdown :

$188.00 for the shoes including all p&p.

im adding the highest amount of 15% of customs duty as im not sure what % they chose.
= $135.70

the taking for the 21% VAT = $28.50

so that and the difference of the customs duty ($17.70) is $46.20

translate that to euro and its €33.79

Where did DHL get €47.14 from?
Am i missing something?

rubadub

Antigone05 wrote: »

$188.00 for the shoes including all p&p.

im adding the highest amount of 15% of customs duty as im not sure what % they chose.
= $135.70

the taking for the 21% VAT = $28.50

$188*21%=$39.48 I don't there should be any duty on it since it would be under €150.

DHL will also add on a handling fee, I think this can be around €15

EDIT I see now you added the duty on already, and your 21% is from the 135.70 -so I am not sure what is happening, I think you should get a detailed list from them. VAT is charged on the full shipping & handling fees.

jor el

Antigone05 wrote: »

Am i missing something?

Probably the handling fee. They may also be using a very poor exchange rate, but remember you'll never get the rates quoted on Internet conversion sites like xe.com. It'll always be a few percent off that anyway.

At a rough guess, I'd say they charge of €47 is about right.