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

Right ive just got a call from ups telling me i have to pay charges of 35 euro on a product from Hong Kong which only cost 20 euro, is this legit anyone know if they charging me to much as this is a lot more than the vat on it! Thanks, Mick

rubadub wrote: »

What was the item and did this €20 include postage?

In theory a pencil costing 1cent but with €22 postage is liable for VAT on €22.01. Currently the limit is actually about €26 before VAT kicks in at the usual 23%, since they do not collect below a certain amount.

Chinese sellers often put prices like $10 on packages, customs may not believe it and estimate a price according to typical prices for similar items here, so if you got a really cheap item they could have valued it higher.

Cheers for that, shower of chancers i tell thee

Customs will probably ask you to produce a Paypal invoice showing how much you paid for item .

Customs will ask you to pay VAT on this value .

You will pay 23 % VAT of the value of Paypal invoice .

Ring Jewellery has an import duty rate of 2.5% and VAT rate of 23%.

Duty for your item is nil because the total amount of duty payable for this item is less than €10.00.

Just remember ,that if you are buying an item valued at $10000 for $500 , it sounds to good to be true ..............................

Anybody have any info regarding the import situation with Turkey? I want to buy a good quality rosewater from a Turkish site but considering the limbo situation regarding accession to EU, I really don't know what the craic is regarding the duty/customs incurred. Any info would be helpful? Thanks.:)

Maragenie wrote: »

A quick question to anyone that might know the answer. I'm looking at buying a used motherboard on ebay.com for under €150 (including postage), now the item is coming from America and I'm just worried I'll get ripped off by the time it gets to my front door.

Does anyone know how much I should expect to pay for it when it arrives? I got burnt before for €50 on some old toys that only cost me $50 to begin with!!!

Thanks

Dont know , but I recently bought a camera in New York , for €80 and it arrived quickly with no extra to pay on arrival.

You could try this calculator , it may help :

http://www.dutycalculator.com/new-import-cost-calculation-for-ebay-item/

Does anyone know if Fedex can/do still levy their bull**** "Admin fee" even if the item is duty/vat exempt e.g. if I purchase a book from the US and its shipped via Fedex am I liable for any extra charges/admin fees?

Just aquick question. I went to buy an item the other day on ebay.ie the item appeared in the list of Irish sellers but turned out that it was coming from the US. Am I going to be hit by duty on this or is it ok as I bought of the Irish ebay and paid vat here on the item. Its also being shipped by surface mail not a courier.

Ok so basically if its worth more than 150 im looking at duty. This is actually less than that so should be ok.

panama wrote: »

Do customs estimate the retail value and charge duty based on that

Yes, they can do this if they wish. They can also ask for proof of cost or paypal receipts if there is no cost mentioned at all.

Many sites might just put $10 down as the value, they are not idiots, however they might not know the price of some things, e.g. high end weird brand earphones.

I am not sure what happens in the case of say a legitimate ebay auction where you won something at a really low price.

Duty is the higher limit, you realise VAT is applicable at lower prices. For an item with 23% vat the limit is currently €26.08 before it gets applied.

tuborg_man wrote: »

Have a question about import vat. I have just payed 24 euro for an item that was valued at 40 euro, because there was no shipping price revenue has estimated the shipping at 68 euro, is there any point in querying the charge or will they just say that it was a fair estimate.
thanks

Hi Tuborg,

if you can proof what you paid for the shipment, i.e. a credit transfer, credit card transfer, paypal receipt etc, you have a case to be made for a refund.

Cheers,
Rudolf289

Mousewar wrote: »

Hi, would appreciate any comments on the below.

So I ordered some goods from China. They're research materials basically. It cost $660 plus $200 Shipping and handling to Dublin. I just got an email from the Dublin freight company who have the goods. Apart from all the forms they want, they sent me an invoice for €363.80. That breaks down as:
Terminal Hndl. Charge €28
Terminal Hndl. Charge €65
Documentation €85
Port Security €10
Bunker Adj. Factor €17
Customs Clearance €85
Delivery Charge €60
Plus VAT at 23%

They say once that's paid and they get the documents they'll then calculate the duty & vat payable, which I will have to pay directly to the Revenue.

Does this sound legitmate? As stated I already paid $200 dollars to the company in China and now I'm getting a bill from this shipping crowd in Ireland for about two-thirds the value of the goods. And that before they tell me how much I have to pay the Revenue...I was expecting a customs charge and a handling fee but this seems insane.

Hello Mousewar,

I empathise with your situation. Unfortunately, having left the shipping arrangements to your supplier, there is little or nothing that can be done to influence the outcome and avoid the daylight robbery perpetrated on you.

If you search the term : "China Import Service Fee" on Boards.ie you unfortunately will come across similar horror stories.

If you PM me the details of the agent concerned, I will see if I have a contact that I may be able to talk to on your behalf and see if we can persuade them to reduce some of the fees. Just be aware this is driven by the forwarder in China who has "bought" the shipment. Chinese Forwarders love these kind of shipments because they know they have you over a barrell. At this stage you have two options ; Walking away from the shipment (and wave bye bye to Us$ 860) or grin and bear it.

I wouldlodge a strong complaint with your supplier about the extravagant and in my view spurrious level of charges. That doesn't generally get you a result but it may be worth a try.

The only other thing I can do is offer to do the customs clearance for a once off 35 Euro fee. However, we are likely to have to move fast as otherwise they hit you with storage on top of everything else.

Can I suggest to you and all the members on boards.ie that are contemplating buying in China. Check the shipping cost, ask your supplier for the details of the Irish / UK / European agent that will be handling the shipment on arrival and get their charges too. Also check with Irish forwarders on this end for a rate ex China and compare the total costs. I will give you very short odds that the overall rate will be cheaper through an Irish forwarder.

Feel free to PM me with further details

Regards,
Rudolf289

Contact your seller and inform them you never received your package. It should normally take a maximum of 35 days to receive your package even from china - just marked it on ebay you never received your package.

terryduff12 wrote: »

Hi looking for some information regarding buying a notebook off ebay from someone in the us. On the page bid is $150 postages is $52.14 import charges $55.03, it says on the page
No additional import charges on delivery!
This item will be sent through the Global Postage Programme and includes international tracking, so do i take from that i won`t have to pay any customs if i buy it. thanks for any help

I don't know the answer , but would love to know .

This global postage programme talks about certain fees such as export classification, importation risk premium, and variance fees , but nowhere does it mention VAT .

So I would of the opinion that you will have to pay 23% vat at point of entry .

Hopefully someone that has used the service can advise

Just reading the terms and conditions again , it looks like VAT is included in this programme

allthedoyles wrote: »

I don't know the answer , but would love to know .

This global postage programme talks about certain fees such as export classification, importation risk premium, and variance fees , but nowhere does it mention VAT .

So I would of the opinion that you will have to pay 23% vat at point of entry .

Hopefully someone that has used the service can advise

Just reading the terms and conditions again , it looks like VAT is included in this programme

Just to follow up on this, the import VAT seems to be included in this "global postage programme" but any idea if as a UK VAT registered buyer can i reclaim back this VAT? i'm not sure i can as i will have already paid it to the US shippers, any help appreciated

Quick question that doesn't appear to be covered:

VAT/Duty will be calculated and collected by the postal carrier/courier. They will apply a handling fee for this, which can be between €5 and €15.

But how do you actually pay the amount due? Last time I had this happen to me, the delivery guy (An Post) would only accept exact cash (exact, fair enough, cash, not so much), and when I couldn't find the exact change, took my package away.

I know that a UPS guy will arrive at my door any day now with his hand out, so does anyone know if they'll accept a cheque or even a credit card. I contacted UPS customer services and got a quite confusing answer, so I'd appreciate any personal experiences.