New Import Duty/VAT Thread. Read Post #1 for Rules

michiamo · 25-05-2011 1:32pm

Hi,

Just wondering if I am being charged twice for the same thing...

I have order online from Nordstrom in the US and charged for Duty and Vat at the time of checkout due to the destination country listed (Ireland).

This is the final checkout details;
Total Product:
EUR 242.16
Total Discounts:
EUR -0.00
Duty & VAT:
EUR 66.12
Shipping & Handling:
EUR 45.01
Order Total:
EUR 353.29

After delivery was made via DHL is asked for a further Duty and Vat payment of €93.70. I have not made payment on this yet as they have not left me an invoice for the payment and left me the package despite the outstanding balance.

Am I being charged at the point of sale and the point of delivery for the same thing?

Thanks.

obi604 · 25-05-2011 4:27pm

Hello there

Yet again, im resorting to the informed and helpful people on boards.ie for my query : )

I bought 10 X 350ml Shower gels from the US last week.

I paid 60 dollars for the 10 shower gels and 40 dollars for the shipping of them

I then check my postbox this morning and I have a letter from an post saying I need to pay 99 feckin EURO in customs fees !!

I have ordered similiar stuff in the past and never had to pay any customs duties

Q1 > Does the above amount of 99 Euro ( 140 dollars ) seem excessive for customs seeing that the value of the products altogether is only 60 dollars ?

Q2 > Anyone know how these customs fee calculations are made ?

Q3 > If it is really 99 Euro for customs, I think im going to just leave it and not pay it, any issues with that ? would the products be then sent back to the seller ?

Sorry for all the q's

tallaghtoutlaws · 25-05-2011 7:37pm

obi604 wrote: »

Hello there

Yet again, im resorting to the informed and helpful people on boards.ie for my query : )

I bought 10 X 350ml Shower gels from the US last week.

I paid 60 dollars for the 10 shower gels and 40 dollars for the shipping of them

I then check my postbox this morning and I have a letter from an post saying I need to pay 99 feckin EURO in customs fees !!

I have ordered similiar stuff in the past and never had to pay any customs duties

Q1 > Does the above amount of 99 Euro ( 140 dollars ) seem excessive for customs seeing that the value of the products altogether is only 60 dollars ?

Q2 > Anyone know how these customs fee calculations are made ?

Q3 > If it is really 99 Euro for customs, I think im going to just leave it and not pay it, any issues with that ? would the products be then sent back to the seller ?

Sorry for all the q's

According to the Import Tax Calculator your customs charge seems right.

http://www.dutycalculator.com/new-import-duty-and-tax-calculation/saved_calculations/view_details/308745/

pleasant Co. · 25-05-2011 8:07pm

tallaghtoutlaws wrote: »

According to the Import Tax Calculator your customs charge seems right.

http://www.dutycalculator.com/new-import-duty-and-tax-calculation/saved_calculations/view_details/308745/

Your link says the charges should be 14.93 euro.

The figure of 86 euro is the total cost of the goods+shipping+customs charges.

obi604 · 25-05-2011 8:40pm

Mactard wrote: »

Your link says the charges should be 14.93 euro.

The figure of 86 euro is the total cost of the goods+shipping+customs charges.

good catch Mactard, I think this crowd are tryin to ride me with their 99 euro !!

jor el · 25-05-2011 10:04pm

If there was no value declared on the package, then they have to put a value on it based on the Irish retail price. That could account for it.

obi604 · 25-05-2011 10:17pm

jor el wrote: »

If there was no value declared on the package, then they have to put a value on it based on the Irish retail price. That could account for it.

Well its only shower gel and not available in Ireland and even if it was, wud roughly be the same price. So About 5 euro well say per shower gel.

Do they use and specific calculation for customs fees or any formula or do they just pull the fee out of leftfield ??

tallaghtoutlaws · 25-05-2011 10:17pm

Mactard wrote: »

Your link says the charges should be 14.93 euro.

The figure of 86 euro is the total cost of the goods+shipping+customs charges.

Apparently I cant read

Good spot.

revileandy · 26-05-2011 3:00pm

I have an item sitting in the Crumlin Sorting office that came in from Hong Kong.

The status on the track & trace says Item Sent To Customs

What happens at this point? the item was under €150 so I'm happy enough to pay the vat but can I just go over and collect it? the an post website doesn't seem to have any info

jor el · 26-05-2011 5:49pm

You wait for delivery. You can't collect it until a delivery attempt is made.

obi604 · 01-06-2011 7:46pm

So just on this whole topic and having to pay import vat/duty, so fair enough paying this fee on the actual value of the product, but they also seem to calculate this fee based on the postage aswell

e.g. I buy products from the US for 60 dollars and postage costs 40 dollars, they seem to charge the import vat/duty fee on the 100 dollar amount ( goods + postage fee ) and not on 60 dollars ( actual value of goods )

seems a bit ridiculous that you are charged on the value of goods and the postage cost !! but maybe thats just me that thinks that

Pacing Mule · 01-06-2011 9:02pm

obi604 wrote: »

So just on this whole topic and having to pay import vat/duty, so fair enough paying this fee on the actual value of the product, but they also seem to calculate this fee based on the postage aswell

e.g. I buy products from the US for 60 dollars and postage costs 40 dollars, they seem to charge the import vat/duty fee on the 100 dollar amount ( goods + postage fee ) and not on 60 dollars ( actual value of goods )

seems a bit ridiculous that you are charged on the value of goods and the postage cost !! but maybe thats just me that thinks that

The logic is that the end price of goods sold here in Ireland includes the cost of shipping / delivery be that to your house or to the store itself and that sale price includes VAT on those costs.

Of course there is an argument that the shipping costs per unit are a lot higher in the case of one single shipment but that's not something the revenue are too worried about.

musicformedia · 02-06-2011 11:16am

Could someone confirm for me - I'm importing software from the US (Music software) at $1500. The dutycalculator.com says its €1089 so total import cost will be €228 - does that seem about right to everyone?

pnag · 02-06-2011 3:20pm

Okay, sounds a bit weird but have to ask and think this is the best place?

Had an Amazon order recently that needed payment, popped down to the business campus here in Maynooth to pay it and the amount seemed fine. What was odd was that the folk in the office said they'd no longer be accepting cash payments soon (!) and that they wouldn't be taking credit cards or laser either!!!

Surely that's not legal?!?

tallaghtoutlaws · 03-06-2011 12:33am

pnag wrote: »

Okay, sounds a bit weird but have to ask and think this is the best place?

Had an Amazon order recently that needed payment, popped down to the business campus here in Maynooth to pay it and the amount seemed fine. What was odd was that the folk in the office said they'd no longer be accepting cash payments soon (!) and that they wouldn't be taking credit cards or laser either!!!

Surely that's not legal?!?

So no cash or Credit cards or Debit cards? How on earth do you pay them?

nlgbbbblth · 03-06-2011 9:33am

tallaghtoutlaws wrote: »

So no cash or Credit cards or Debit cards? How on earth do you pay them?

I usually pay with a cheque. They should be ok with that.

tallaghtoutlaws · 03-06-2011 5:06pm

nlgbbbblth wrote: »

I usually pay with a cheque. They should be ok with that.

Not everyone has a cheque book. Seems daft that AnPost would go down that route in this day and age.

pnag · 07-06-2011 3:37pm

Yeah, the postman asked if I could give him a cheque. In this day and age? Yikes.

I've heard they want to go that way at the pick-up points too. What on earth will we do then?!?

jor el · 07-06-2011 4:25pm

pnag wrote: »

Yeah, the postman asked if I could give him a cheque. In this day and age? Yikes.

Postmen shouldn't be asked to carry cash on them, it makes them a target if they do. At the delivery office, they will only take correct change, or failing that, they won't give you any change as they don't have money there either. A cheque is better for them to deal with.

pnag wrote: »

I've heard they want to go that way at the pick-up points too. What on earth will we do then?!?

You'll be asked to buy a postal order or bank draft, and pay with that.

purerandom · 10-06-2011 11:22am

hi guys,
i am getting a pair of earrings from a US jeweller.
they are costing 200 dollars. is it possible that i may have to pay customs duty on them? if so how does it work and how will i get caught for the charge?

nicol · 10-06-2011 11:24am

http://www.dutycalculator.com/ will tell you how much you can expect to pay.

Adventure Pout · 10-06-2011 11:27am

Definately you will have to pay for customs..unless the seller does put the duty declaration as "Gift" and value less than US$20.
If you paid your earing at 200USD, your duty will be quite high.
Now customs, just catch everything that is coming from outside europe..That sucks!!:mad:

Mr. Presentable · 10-06-2011 11:29am

Duty, VAT and a handling charge. Hope they're worth it!

stephendevlin · 10-06-2011 11:32am

Mr. Presentable wrote: »

Duty, VAT and a handling charge. Hope they're worth it!

*** Duty, VAT and a handling charge on €200 plus postage

cormie · 10-06-2011 11:43am

Tried to use that site to compare to a shipment I received this week.

It was sports jerseys from the US.

The total I paid was $101 and this included free shipping after a bit of haggling.

Total customs value: €69.11
Import duty: €0.00
Import VAT: €14.51
Total import duty & VAT due: €14.51
Total landed cost: €83.63 at USD/EUR exchange rate of 0.6843

That's what I got from the duty calculator, but I actually had to pay €39 to UPS as opposed to the €14.51 it states there

purerandom · 10-06-2011 11:44am

disaster. i will have to resort to plan B, if only i knew what that was!
thanks for your help folks.

jor el · 10-06-2011 12:02pm

cormie wrote: »

That's what I got from the duty calculator, but I actually had to pay €39 to UPS as opposed to the €14.51 it states there

You'll need to ask UPS for a breakdown of the charges. The courier handling fee is not included by the calculator, as it varies from courier to courier. It should be no more than €15 + VAT though, as this is the maximum allowed by Revenue.

cormie · 10-06-2011 9:33pm

Thanks jor el! I doubt they did anything they shouldn't have so probably not worth my time investigating, got a good bit discounted off the order anyway so not so upset

cormie · 10-06-2011 11:16pm

Actually, does anyone know the situation with buying food? The duty calculator site doesn't explain too much and the categories aren't very explanatory. It says it can range from 0% to 20% I think.

I'm mostly interested in buying products off the following page so not sure what rate these would be at: http://www.gnosischocolate.com/bulk-superfoods/

Could anyone hinder a guess?

pnag · 14-06-2011 12:12pm

jor el wrote: »

Postmen shouldn't be asked to carry cash on them, it makes them a target if they do. At the delivery office, they will only take correct change, or failing that, they won't give you any change as they don't have money there either. A cheque is better for them to deal with.

You'll be asked to buy a postal order or bank draft, and pay with that.

I'd never ask a postie to carry cash for that very reason, but a public facing office? It's a joke, especially in the day and age of electronic transactions. Asked to buy a postal order? Seriously? So we can be charged extra on that too?

It stinks, IMHO.

New Import Duty/VAT Thread. Read Post #1 for Rules

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