How do I pay customs?

Quackles

Please note this is certainly not a thread on how to avoid customs - I have no issue at all with paying tax on something if that is what I'm supposed to do. My problem is I don't know how it works! I bought something on ebay from an American seller, he's shipped the item, the USPS tracking service says it is with "foreign customs". Do I contact them, or will they contact me regarding payment? Is there any way to guesstimate what the tax will be? Thanks!

Update: Also, if they contact me, how long does it usually take to hear from them? Thanks again

Beano

if it was shipped by USPS it will be delivered by An Post. They will expect cash on delivery. Depending on the goods there may be import duty to pay. On top of that it will cost you 21% vat based on the cost of the goods + shipping charges + import duty. An Post will then add a €9 handling charge on top of that. There is no need to contact them. It should be out of customs in a day or so.

majiktripp

You still might not get charged anything,just means your package is going through customs,doesnt mean they have a bill waiting with it...keep thinking positive!

Quackles

Beano wrote:

if it was shipped by USPS it will be delivered by An Post. They will expect cash on delivery. Depending on the goods there may be import duty to pay. On top of that it will cost you 21% vat based on the cost of the goods + shipping charges + import duty. An Post will then add a €9 handling charge on top of that. There is no need to contact them. It should be out of customs in a day or so.

Good to know - I'm having it delivered to my little brother, he'd probably have soiled himself if they turned around and asked him for money Thank you!

Ruu_Old

When an item of mine was shipped via regular USPS airmail from US to Ireland, a courier delivered it and I had to pay the customs to him.

fillmore jive

ask the sender to mark the parcel as 'gift' on the USPS label, and there will be no problem at all getting through customs.

Ruu_Old

fillmore jive wrote:

ask the sender to mark the parcel as 'gift' on the USPS label, and there will be no problem at all getting through customs.

Uh, read here. The OP had no problem paying customs.

Beano

Ruu wrote:

When an item of mine was shipped via regular USPS airmail from US to Ireland, a courier delivered it and I had to pay the customs to him.

when was that? Up until christmas 2004 the USPS contract for europe was handled by a courier called GLS. It switched back to the post office after that.

edited to change the year from 2005 to 2004

Ruu_Old

Beano wrote:

when was that? Up until christmas 2004 the USPS contract for europe was handled by a courier called GLS. It switched back to the post office after that.

edited to change the year from 2005 to 2004

Ah it was a long time ago, 2002 I think. No particular courier company, just a chap in big red van and he had these documents and my parcel (in fact he forgot all about it but came back 1hr later. Ugghhh GLS.

majiktripp

FYI making something as "gift" doesn't mean a thing, you can still get charged customs on the value of the item so the higher the price the higher the duty,its a relative to the price not what its labelled as......

#Smokey#

Quackles wrote:

Please note this is certainly not a thread on how to avoid customs - I have no issue at all with paying tax on something if that is what I'm supposed to do. My problem is I don't know how it works! I bought something on ebay from an American seller, he's shipped the item, the USPS tracking service says it is with "foreign customs". Do I contact them, or will they contact me regarding payment? Is there any way to guesstimate what the tax will be? Thanks!

Update: Also, if they contact me, how long does it usually take to hear from them? Thanks again

pay em with a big fat brown envelope

po0k

http://www.revenue.ie/faqs/faq_cat5.htm

TheTaxMan wrote:

IMPORT

On importation of goods into Ireland from countries outside the European Union, customs entry formalities must be completed by the importer or his/her agent. The appropriate customs entry form is the Single Administrative Document (S.A.D.). The completed S.A.D. must be presented to Customs and charges (e.g. customs duty, VAT), if any, paid by means of a bank draft, money order, postal order, bank-guaranteed cheque or cash to effect release of the goods by Customs. A trader may also be approved to use Deferred Payment arrangements. All necessary documents required to clear the goods through Customs must accompany the S.A.D. declaration form (i.e. invoices, certificates of origin, etc. as appropriate).

Import declarations may also be made electronically by approved traders under the system known as Paperless Declaration (see leaflet C&E 7).

tallaghtoutlaws

Friend of mine works in customs and the first packages they go through are the ones marked gift. All packages to Ireland from an Non Eu country especially North central and South American Packages. whether big or small they get stopped. It is up to the customs officer to determine whether the item will see a charge. He follows a charter. Its hit or miss unfortunately annoying yes but it is a law so us good folk gotta pay

-oRnein9-

I am thinking of ordering some powertools from the us to the value of $800 even if import duties were applied would €800 cover it??? never ordered anything from the us before so a little help would be much appreciated.