Today I had to receive a package with some whistles. The total value of the package was almost u$s 195 (there is a bill inside the box). When the mailman came told me that I had to pay u$s 110 of customs taxes. My face was something like: and then .
Obviously, I REJECTED to pay that (that’s about 55% of taxes, are they kidding me?), and told him that I CAN’T PAY THAT. The thing is that in the next few days I’ll receive a note to go to retire it directly from Customs (at the Central Post Office).
The mailman told me that everyone argue about taxes, and when you go to Customs they let you pay less (I think MUCH less) than what they asked in a first instance. I believe that if you offer the Customs-man about 10% he will save that money in his pocket and let you go (things work that way in this swindler country).
This country is really a sh*t, everyone, from bureaucracy to common people are thieves. Fortunately, I’ll leave this country in a few months. This su**s. I’m really infuriated.
When someone wants to receive a package marked as a gift it never arrives because it’s stolen. When someone wants to receive a package with a marked value, you have to pay 50% of it. I think this is a joke.
When I receive the note I’ll go and I’ll argue to death to pay a maximum of 15%-25%, but I’ll try to get it ‘for free’.
Just wondering… how much do you have to pay when you receive a package with whistles?
I’ve bought stuff shipped from France, UK, and Canada, and never paid extra
customs taxes on it… though maybe that was hidden in the original shipping
costs? I really didn’t know about Custom taxes until I started sending stuff
overseas.
I’ve never paid before, but last time I received a package valued on about u$s 100 and it was reteined randomly in Customs. I went there to retire it and told me that I had to pay I don’t remember how much, but it was a ridiculous amount as well. I told the man that I couldn’t pay that and let me go without putting 1 cent, lol. This is just to piss off people.
I sold a used flute to a fellow in England (I’m in the US) for $850. We couldn’t believe how much he had to play. The last I heard from him the duty, etc was $110! Used was clearly marked on the custom slip. I know that taxes were high in the UK, but $110 seems a liitle much.
ooh, Bothrops that’s really is an awful thing to experience esp. if there’s whistles on it. I just received a package today too, and luckily on my part, it’s waaaay too better. we actually don’t receive the package itself, instead we are given a notice slip which has to be taken to the post office for us to be able to get the package. Part of the postal security and pretty wise i thought so there’d be no stealing of goods. And the other good thing is, we don’t pay any taxes, just have to pay the storage fee ('coz they have to store the stuff until u pick it up - 1 month max), that’s the only downside but not a total downside at all 'coz the fee amounts to USD equivalent of only $0.85…
Customs tax is around 20% in Ireland for stuff from outside the EU worth over €40. Until very recently I seemed to get away with quite a lot without charge but over the past three months I have had to pay up on stuff (expensive camera lenses) bought on Ebay a few times. The post-office adds around a fiver for collecting the customs fee (but then again, the postman lent me the 30 euro on the last package and didn’t collect it for several weeks).
I do generally avoid buying from sellers who insist on shipping with Fedex or UPS and the like, these always charge you through the teeth on delivery, even in cases where customs wouldn’t have bothered.
In conclusion, people, it’s like I thought. In USA, Europe and other ‘advanced’ countries, the custom taxes are a maximum of 20% or 30% in the worst cases.
Paying 50%-55% is really a robbery. I hope to be able to retire this package paying much less than that, and after that I don’t think I’ll buy another stuff from internet (not until I moved to Israel, in a few months)
This is how this fu**ing country works. If you bring a parcel with commercial purposes you have to pay 50% of taxes. If you bring a personal parcel, it doesn’t matter, you have to pay 50% taxes!
Oh, but it’s not all that bad, I can bring a u$s 25 dollars package for free! (what can I bring for u$s 25?!?)
I wasn’t just expressing anguish only about your country but also all the other countries, including 1st world countries who charge customs tax on personal packages.
It sounds to me like piracy governance or institutionalised extortion.
Maybe you should go and live in India for a few months to get Argentina into perspective.
I’ve not experienced any customs issues selling or buying from any EU address. I have received a refund of the VAT when returning home from Ireland though. Is that a customs tax?
Laban, you need to brush up your Shakespeare old boy. America as well as many other countries are specifically targeted for customs duties. To err is human; to parse, divine. Cheers.
Value added taxes is what a private person or company have to pay for any goods or services produced inside their country. If you live in the EU, you pay the VAT in the country the product is bought from and no further taxes or fees when you get it in your country. If you sell from inside the EU to outside the EU as a VAT registered company you do not charge VAT to these customers, so if they receive their goods in their country i.e. US they may have to pay the local VAT when they import. Same for an EU citicen who buys from outside the EU, usually there should be no VAT or taxes included in their price and when they receive their product their custom fees/VAT get charged hence make sure you are not paying VAT accidentally twice. Getting VAT back on a new bought product when you leave a country is possible hence you see these VAT offices at airports etc. where you can claim it back and I would do so as you may find yourself having to pay another VAT charge when entering your country again.
As I just have been yesterday at customs to pick up a lens and a whistle for Colin I learned that there is penalty taxes again activated for goods from the USA for Germany which is an additional 15%!!! i.e. on textiles, shoes and about 32 other items that can be looked up. It seems to be an EU wide as well as a Canada, Mexico and Japan thing. Basically it is a revenge on penalty taxes for EU steel and other goods when imported into the US. The penalty taxes in Germany have to do with the “Byrd Amendment” which is seen as a hidden and unfair subvention of US companies outside the US and a market protection tool from the US government. Did you know that the penalty import taxes in the US do not go into the “petty cash” but go straight to companies who can apply for support when they feel damaged by imports from outside US countries.
Have to be careful here not to turn it into a political thread
Brigitte
P.S. receiving goods from private people of course you have no VAT included as this is only a business item; still when you receive these private goods you most likely have to expect incoming VAT charges. To down-value is often mentioned to save on these charges, the draw back is that if the parcel gets damaged or lost, you loose out. Sometimes it may make sense to calculate and then “use the import tax money” to buy a ticket instead and pick the item up in person to bring it back home, this can work fine I think as long as it is not obviously a brand new high tech photostudio equipment, they check here on these items when you pass customs control.
I could retire the package paying about 80-85 u$s. It’s much less than those u$s 110 that they asked me, but it’s a robbery anyways, whatever. This country is cr*p
and then 
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