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

rubadub

jheneaiko wrote: »

Will I be charged customs fees for an item I bought for 22 euro (including delivery) from America?

If the item is 23% vat and they have declared the postage properly then you should not be charged. The effective limit is €26. A guy in another thread said he declared his as just over €27 and was still not charged.

PrincipessaBox

Hi, couldn't find info regarding ordering food supplements for dogs (and people) from Iherb (US) on previous pages,so I will try here; so subtotal without postage is €90, and with shipping is €93. I am pretty sure there is no way I could avoid paying customs and VAT, but just not sure how could I calculate it for import from US if its declared as dog supplement ( and as well human food supplements like herbal and vitamins pills etc..? Thanks!

ohnonotgmail

PrincipessaBox wrote: »

Hi, couldn't find info regarding ordering food supplements for dogs (and people) from Iherb (US) on previous pages,so I will try here; so subtotal without postage is €90, and with shipping is €93. I am pretty sure there is no way I could avoid paying customs and VAT, but just not sure how could I calculate it for import from US if its declared as dog supplement ( and as well human food supplements like herbal and vitamins pills etc..? Thanks!

Are you saying that the shipping is €3 or €93?

sandjbushe

Hi

I am looking at importing plastic raincoats from China, but the onloy Taric I see as valid would be 61019080, but this references materials like dog fr? Doesnt mention plastic?

Also, sorry for being stupid, but what does 12% p/st stand for.. 12% of value?

Thanks for your patience

J

ohnonotgmail

sandjbushe wrote: »

Hi

I am looking at importing plastic raincoats from China, but the onloy Taric I see as valid would be 61019080, but this references materials like dog fr? Doesnt mention plastic?

Also, sorry for being stupid, but what does 12% p/st stand for.. 12% of value?

Thanks for your patience

J

It mentions dog fur because there are specific regulations for animal products. that does look like the correct taric code and the 12% is 12% of the CIF value.

sandjbushe

Thanks for the prompt reply.
So basically the cost of goods plus shipping x 12%?

ohnonotgmail

sandjbushe wrote: »

Thanks for the prompt reply.
So basically the cost of goods plus shipping x 12%?

12% of the landed cost to you. + customs clearance fee + VAT

sandjbushe

ok, so VAT on the total plus duty or total less duty?

whiterebel

sandjbushe wrote: »

ok, so VAT on the total plus duty or total less duty?

Cost+
Insurance+
Freight+

---

Total x 12% Duty

Total+
Duty
x 23% VAT
+ Customs clearance Fee.

sandjbushe

Thats brilliant
Thank yo very much to both @whiterebel and @ohnonotgmail

rubadub

sandjbushe wrote: »

I am looking at importing plastic raincoats from China, but the onloy Taric I see as valid would be 61019080, but this references materials like dog fr? Doesnt mention plastic?

duty kicks in over 150, I hope you have got samples etc. And hope you are aware of all the terminology, like if they are only going to "deliver" to a port in china. The entrepreneur forum might have other potential charges listed or things to watch for.

carolinej

hi, I've found online a part for my car I need for $140 + $30 P&P. It's €340 + VAT through the main dealer here. My query is as it's outside the EU it's liable for customs so how much would it be. If it's starts adding up I'd buy it locally instead. thanks all.

whiterebel

carolinej wrote: »

hi, I've found online a part for my car I need for $140 + $30 P&P. It's €340 + VAT the main dealer here. My query is as it's outside the EU it's liable for customs so how much would it be. If it's starts adding up I'd buy it locally instead. thanks all.

Importing thread.

Taric section gives you duty rate.

carolinej

whiterebel wrote: »

Importing thread.

Taric section gives you duty rate.

looked at this. I haven't a clue what I'm supposed to be looking for...

nava

MOD: Merged with sticky thread for Import and Duty questions

jheneaiko

www.dutycalculator.com is very helpful but you only get a few free lookups then you have to pay.

Solo89

Hi all, a question - does anyone know whether it is customs team or the actual conpany delivering the goods ( ie an post, fedex etc) eho check and declare customs duty and vat ? Going by previoua pages, i have gleaned the following: 1. it is the delivering company who check and declare customs 2. Because of this, fedex etc more likely to check and declare as higher handling charge ( 13e compared to an post 7e) 3. therefore better to use an post where possible.

Just looking to check im accurate in the above.

whiterebel

Solo89 wrote: »

Hi all, a question - does anyone know whether it is customs team or the actual conpany delivering the goods ( ie an post, fedex etc) eho check and declare customs duty and vat ? Going by previoua pages, i have gleaned the following: 1. it is the delivering company who check and declare customs 2. Because of this, fedex etc more likely to check and declare as higher handling charge ( 13e compared to an post 7e) 3. therefore better to use an post where possible.

Just looking to check im accurate in the above.

The courier companies such as UPS, Fedex, DHL, and TNT have their own Customs Clearance department, as do An Post. Postal services will be generally lower value, and the postage will be be considerably lower than a shipment sent by a courier. This means that a lot of the parcels going through An Post are borderline for VAT/Duty collection. The transport cost alone for the couriers would normally be enough to make a big increase in VAT/Duty payments.

The 4 courier companies are private companies and are entitled to charge what they like for paying out the VAT/Duty on your behalf, as well as paying someone to sit down and do customs entries, sending the entry electronically, storing the paperwork, invoicing it etc. When I worked in that business years ago, we charged £30punts per entry and a fee for paying out the VAT/Duty.

An Post charge €7 which looks great until you see the price of stamps going up with monotonous regularity, when they should put a realistic charge on customs clearance. Theoretically the couriers and An Post should do things exactly the same, but AP seem very lax seeing as they are all answerable to customs for their imports.


People seem to have this notion that Customs are there to make life more difficult for them to import cheap stuff from outside the EU. That is EXACTLY why they are there, to stop the flood of cheap imports, among their other functions.

sephir0th

I mailed a used iPhone from the US back home. Sent via USPS and marked as a gift. Item arrived and the postman told my mother that she had to pay 50EUR to receive the item. I have a copy of my USPS customs declaration note in front of me and I've clearly checked 'Gift'.
How can I dispute this?

nava

sephir0th wrote: »

I mailed a used iPhone from the US back home. Sent via USPS and marked as a gift. Item arrived and the postman told my mother that she had to pay 50EUR to receive the item. I have a copy of my USPS customs declaration note in front of me and I've clearly checked 'Gift'.
How can I dispute this?

They don't look if items is marked as gift, if they allowed all gifts items into the country they wouldn't collect any money.

The charge is calculated from the price of the item + postage after they also add €7 for their service. I think €50 charge is even less than what they should be charging. What was the declared value?

sephir0th

nava wrote: »

They don't look if items is marked as gift, if they allowed all gifts items into the country they wouldn't collect any money.

The charge is calculated from the price of the item + postage after they also add 7 for their service. I think 50 charge is even less than what they should be charging. What was the declared value?

The postman told her that I should have marked it as a gift to avoid the customs.

http://www.revenue.ie/en/customs/leaflets/pn1179.html#paragraph3

I marked the value as $200 since it was insured. So if I had marked it as $150, I would have avoided the charge? WTF.
It was also used and several years old.

whiterebel

sephir0th wrote: »

The postman told her that I should have marked it as a gift to avoid the customs.

http://www.revenue.ie/en/customs/leaflets/pn1179.html#paragraph3

I marked the value as $200 since it was insured. So if I had marked it as $150, I would have avoided the charge? WTF.
It was also used and several years old.

It has to be less than €45, I'd say you're looking at section 3, not section 4 which relates to gifts.

Discodog

I have found something for sale that ships from Singapore - it's a hand made lamp. Total cost including shipping is €74. What's the worst that I could be hit for if it gets stopped ?

Collibosher

Discodog wrote: »

I have found something for sale that ships from Singapore - it's a hand made lamp. Total cost including shipping is €74. What's the worst that I could be hit for if it gets stopped ?

There's a duty/vat calculator in the first post of this thread, that'll give you some idea.

rubadub

Discodog wrote: »

I have found something for sale that ships from Singapore - it's a hand made lamp. Total cost including shipping is €74. What's the worst that I could be hit for if it gets stopped ?

with an post it should be €7 handling fee and 23% of €74. If it goes by DHL and psotage is not clear they could estimate it €85 or so, charge 23% vat on that as well as on the €74, and fees could be about €15.

cpslane

My son is on Job Seekers Allowance and trying to set up his own business. After spending months sourcing out a supplier for the items he would need to make his product, he saved his €100 a week and borrowed the rest to buy in some samples. between the items cost and shipping it came to $1074 of which $544 was for shipping. UPS arrived this morning and wouldn't release the items until he handed over €483 for VAT and Duty.
He didn't have any money so they took the delivery back.
The items are samples he hopes to make into something else that he hopes to use to raise funds by way of a grant, and as such have no commercial value as they stand.
Their is no way he can come up with the money. which means if they are sent back the supplier won't deal with him again.
UPS have said they will reduce the amount to €433. which is of no help to him.
So for all his hard work and effort trying to get off the dole it's a slap in the face for him.
In the end the Revenue won't get money from him that he hasn't got, and he won't be able to start up his business. so back on the dole costing the Revenue money.
he has already contacted some potential customers and had over 70 expressions of interest. he just needed to get in the samples to make his product then approach both the bank and microfinance to try get a grant. then he had a good chance of having a successful business.
What has he got to do to get a chance in this country.

rubadub

cpslane wrote: »

In the end the Revenue won't get money from him that he hasn't got.

have you contacted revenue?

this might have some info
http://www.revenue.ie/en/customs/leaflets/pn83.html

there is also an entrepreneur forum which may be of help
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=106

Marking things as samples is a common scam so UPS might not believe him.

cpslane

Ups just contacted me asking if he could pay in installments. he gets €100 a week which he is using to pay back what he borrowed.
I don,t blame them as they have been very nice about it. Its just disheartening after all the work he has put in to get off the dole only to be stopped by Revenue.
I understand they don't know if someone is trying to pull a fast one or not. But it does him no good

ED E

cpslane wrote: »

What has he got to do to get a chance in this country.

Not to be curt, but do his homework. rubadub's link above details the procedure he should have followed. Being a SW claimant nor ignorance excuse you from the law.

Pretty much every listing on Alibaba/Aliexpress etc have big customs and tax disclaimers on them, its no secret.

cpslane

Its nothing to do with ignorance, two things that he wasn't expecting. 1 was having to pay so much vat on samples. 2 the vat working out at more then he paid for the items not counting the shipping.
He hasn't even seen the items yet other then pictures.