Ups import charges rip off?

epicmoe

I Recently bought a pair of boots online from the states (€305). I wear through boots real quick so I wanted to get a top pair, and see if they lasted longer.
Well, when the parcel came, I wasn't home, so my sister, who lives next door, accepted the parcel, there was a C.O.D. charge for import duties (€31.29), grand, not a problem.

That was a week or so ago. Today an invoice arrived in the post from UPS for, I sit you not, €166.02, minus the 30 quid cash on delivery.

WHAT?
surely that can't be right? that's nearly 2/3 the value of the original package.
WTF?

Hector Savage

Wouldn't surprise me.
The govt have little slavering reptiles with dead eyes just working to invent made up bull**** taxes to ROB you.
They did something similar to me years ago back in Ireland with a tennis racket I got from the states.

Robbing *****, I should have just taken it from the delivery guy and refused to pay...

Badly Drunk Boy

Surely after charging the import duties COD and being paid, that would have been the end of the transaction? If more money was due, they shouldn't have handed over the package.

In relation to what is charged, they seem to make up random amounts. In work, I've ordered stuff from America costing maybe $200 and the import charges might be €40. Ordering the exact same thing 2 months later, and the charges are €132.

Midnight_EG

Fedex tried the same with me 5 years ago, I've not heard from them in 3 years or so so I presume it's over :P

epicmoe

Midnight_EG wrote: »

Fedex tried the same with me 5 years ago, I've not heard from them in 3 years or so so I presume it's over :P

In that case, if I just ignore it, can I get away with still adding the invoice to my accounts and write it off on my tax? :pac::pac::pac::pac::pac:

Hector Savage

Definetely made up, the govt. are a legal mafia.
Criminal scum going around robbing people ..

deandean

For this very reason it is generally not worth your while getting anything shipped from the US.

Hector Savage

deandean wrote: »

For this very reason it is generally not worth your while getting anything shipped from the US.

Books are exempt from this nonsense aren't they ?

epicmoe

Hector Savage wrote: »

Books are exempt from this nonsense aren't they ?

I would imagine so, I've brought books from all over the world and never had an issue like this before.

Lau2976

iirc UPS have a myriad of additional charges like admin fees and entry fees. They don’t invoice these at the door but rather wait and send you one.

jim salter

Ignore it.

I had the same with FedEx a number of years back and ignored the letter, heard nothing thereafter.

epicmoe

Lau2976 wrote: »

iirc UPS have a myriad of additional charges like admin fees and entry fees. They don’t invoice these at the door but rather wait and send you one.

it's
Disbursement 15.00
Import Duties 54.91
Import Vat. 96.11
Total. 166.02

But according to the Invoice I have already paid (through the C.O.D.)
Disbursement 15.00
Import Duties. 4.94
Import VAT. 11.35
Total. 31.29

Hector Savage

epicmoe wrote: »

I would imagine so, I've brought books from all over the world and never had an issue like this before.

Yeah, I think I remember reading somewhere that they are classed as an educational tool and exempt from it.

No doubt some beady eyed possum working in the civil service after crawling out of a dead cows asshole will think of some scheme to tax them too.

Jurgen The German

I used parcel wizard from an post recently, item was worth about €70 and I didn't get charged anything extra for import duty yet when I have ordered from amazon us I've gotten stung for items worth €30, by an post.

Infini

Something's not right there, if you paid Import charges on the package or were charged import fee's when you bought the package then UPS has no buisness adding these. On top of that the import charges are usually the VAT value if the item was bought here aka instead of being charged taxes at the point of origin your item is sold tax free and then the import charges are like 21% of the value of the item as if you bought it here. No way should these charges be like half the value of the item.

Allinall

Rough calculations:

Boots cost $302 @ .9 = €272
Freight Charges €50

---

Landed Cost €322

Duty @ 17% €54

---

€376

VAT @ 23% €86

Duly is paid on the landed cost, and VAT is paid on everything.

UPS figures don't look too far off.

One should research these things before pulling the trigger on an order.

Duty rate taken here
https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/dds2/taric/measures.jsp?Lang=en&SimDate=20190820&Area=US&MeasType=&StartPub=&EndPub=&MeasText=&GoodsText=&op=&Taric=6404&search_text=goods&textSearch=&LangDescr=en&OrderNum=&Regulation=&measStartDat=&measEndDat=

epicmoe

Allinall wrote: »

Rough calculations:

Boots cost $302 @ .9 = €272
Freight Charges €50

---

Landed Cost €322

Duty @ 17% €54

---

€376

VAT @ 23% €86

Duly is paid on the landed cost, and VAT is paid on everything.

UPS figures don't look too far off.

One should research these things before pulling the trigger on an order.

Duty rate taken here
https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/dds2/taric/measures.jsp?Lang=en&SimDate=20190820&Area=US&MeasType=&StartPub=&EndPub=&MeasText=&GoodsText=&op=&Taric=6404&search_text=goods&textSearch=&LangDescr=en&OrderNum=&Regulation=&measStartDat=&measEndDat=

Freight charges? I should mention that company already charged me for shipping etc €39.95

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

The charge should be something like 17% on the cost of goods and delivery, plus VAT on the cost of the goods, plus €25 to €30 fees - on work boots from the USA.

Allinall

epicmoe wrote: »

Freight charges? I should mention that company already charged me for shipping etc €39.95

Yes. And this needs to be added on to the cost of the boots before calculating the duty and VAT.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

epicmoe wrote: »

Freight charges? I should mention that company already charged me for shipping etc €39.95

Yes and you have to pay import duty and VAT on that.

The initial payment seems to be the UPS admin and handling charges - which is about the norm for all couriers collecting import costs. This is the real cost of buying outside the EU. All fairly standard stuff.

gazzaman22

Got a call from a UPS driver today telling me he had a parcel for my son(his godmother sent it from Oz) we weren't at home and he is looking 55 euro in fees, I bet what's in the package is hardly worth the 55 euro, I think the driver said its classed as clothes. Do I have to pay Import charges on something that was sent to me? This seems mad, hes coming back tomorrow

ElNino

gazzaman22 wrote: »

Got a call from a UPS driver today telling me he had a parcel for my son(his godmother sent it from Oz) we weren't at home and he is looking 55 euro in fees, I bet what's in the package is hardly worth the 55 euro, I think the driver said its classed as clothes. Do I have to pay Import charges on something that was sent to me? This seems mad, hes coming back tomorrow

Gifts up to the value of €45 are exempt from customs duty and VAT.

Strumms

Infini wrote: »

Something's not right there, if you paid Import charges on the package or were charged import fee's when you bought the package then UPS has no buisness adding these. On top of that the import charges are usually the VAT value if the item was bought here aka instead of being charged taxes at the point of origin your item is sold tax free and then the import charges are like 21% of the value of the item as if you bought it here. No way should these charges be like half the value of the item.

You can’t pay import charges when you bought the items as customs here are the ones who set and implement the charges. They are only aware of what they need to charge and who when the customs paperwork is sent to Irish Customs by the shipper... usually through whatever courier company.

The shipper on their paperwork would have selected the the duties and or taxes were liable to be paid by the recipient. The person who orders the package containing whatever contents...

You as the recipient are physically importing, regardless if it’s a gift. Therefore you are liable for whatever import duty and indeed courier admin / handling fees too.

If I order 500 euros worth of clothing from Germany, I’m not having to pay a cent, it’s an intra EU transaction. I don’t have to liaise with the customs clearance departments in those courier companies etc.. something coming from the US I do... you’ll be charged an admin fee for them clearing your goods... alternatively you can nominate your own clearance broker which would be quite more hassle and maybe expense.

gazzaman22

ElNino wrote: »

Gifts up to the value of €45 are exempt from customs duty and VAT.

So how do I know what the value of the gift I've been sent? And if I can prove it's less than 45 do I have to pay, or can I claim back?

Vic_08

gazzaman22 wrote: »

So how do I know what the value of the gift I've been sent? And if I can prove it's less than 45 do I have to pay, or can I claim back?

Seeing as you know the person who sent it, can you not ask them? Remember to include the shipping cost.

It will be the declared value unless it has been flagged as under declared and re-valued.

You may still have to pay the admin fee from the couriers, depending on their T&C.

Alternative is to refuse delivery and return to sender.

gazzaman22

Hi guys, got the parcel this morn,
Got a load of rubbish really in a shoe box, 3 kids t shirts and sweets, a hat,
It had a declared value of 50 aus dollers.

How do I dispute the tax charge, of 35.33 euro
And is there any recourse on the ups fee of 18.45 euro

Strumms

gazzaman22 wrote: »

Hi guys, got the parcel this morn,
Got a load of rubbish really in a shoe box, 3 kids t shirts and sweets, a hat,
It had a declared value of 50 aus dollers.

How do I dispute the tax charge, of 35.33 euro
And is there any recourse on the ups fee of 18.45 euro

I doubt there would be any way to get reimbursed on the UPS fee. UPS have acted as the customs clearance broker on your behalf as you are importing the goods from outside the EU. You ‘could’ have nominated your own clearance broker/agent but I can tell you that you’d end up paying a lot more most likely. They are now charging you for this service. They look at the situation as they are charging the shipper to send the package door to door, if they need to do anything extra such as acting as clearance agent, they want payment. The team of agents say there might be 20 as in my experience working elsewhere are all earning 45-50 grand a year, it’s a specialist and responsible position.

I Am Nobody

Try ordering a Paughco frame for a 45'.And paying the duty and vat,only to have the customer change his mind.It's heartbreaking.

gazzaman22

Strumms wrote: »

I doubt there would be any way to get reimbursed on the UPS fee. UPS have acted as the customs clearance broker on your behalf as you are importing the goods from outside the EU. You ‘could’ have nominated your own clearance broker/agent but I can tell you that you’d end up paying a lot more most likely. They are now charging you for this service. They look at the situation as they are charging the shipper to send the package door to door, if they need to do anything extra such as acting as clearance agent, they want payment. The team of agents say there might be 20 as in my experience working elsewhere are all earning 45-50 grand a year, it’s a specialist and responsible position.

It was an unexpected present sent from oz to my son, I didn't order anything.
Any way to counter the value they have put on the parcel, cos it's worth jack sugar