an post customs charge?? wtf??

spacekiwi

My father sent me a watch from nz for my birthday, i got a missed package note from an post in mail today, and it says i owe a customs charge of 77 euros..
The watch my father sent, as a gift i may add..
Was 450 nzd...inc the 15% tax paid in nz..
Its roughly equal to 240 euros.
So why do customs want a third of that amount almost, its a personal gift..im not a trader or importer etc.....its not a particularly extravagant price...
An post will not release package until 77 is paid.

Can i claim back from customs that amount?
Or can i ask for it to be re accessed??
Looking at an post website it says custom charges apply to goods bought online from outside the e.u.
This was bought in a store in nz and then posted by a 82 yo man to his son as a gift...srely somethings wrong here..
Anyone know?? Thanks.

Tow

((Cost of Item + Cost of delivery) + Duty + Cost of collecting payment) + VAT = €77

This is the reality of importing an item from outside the EU.

BTW Gift threshold is about €45: https://www.revenue.ie/en/importing-vehicles-duty-free-allowances/buying-of-goods-online-for-personal-use/buying-goods-from-outside-the-eu.aspx

TheBoyConor

Could you tell them you don't want to pay and for them to return it to the sender.

ted1

spacekiwi wrote: »

My father sent me a watch from nz for my birthday, i got a missed package note from an post in mail today, and it says i owe a customs charge of 77 euros..
The watch my father sent, as a gift i may add..
Was 450 nzd...inc the 15% tax paid in nz..
Its roughly equal to 240 euros.
So why do customs want a third of that amount almost, its a personal gift..im not a trader or importer etc.....its not a particularly extravagant price...
An post will not release package until 77 is paid.

Can i claim back from customs that amount?
Or can i ask for it to be re accessed??
Looking at an post website it says custom charges apply to goods bought online from outside the e.u.
This was bought in a store in nz and then posted by a 82 yo man to his son as a gift...srely somethings wrong here..
Anyone know?? Thanks.

There’s a reason why Brexit is taking so long.
Importing goods into the EU involved taxes and duty. Otherwise people would just order stuff tax free from outside the EU.

spacekiwi

Well theres a lesson learned...
Next time i will advise anyone to not bother sending a gift...
Also i was not buying a item from outside the e.u. or importing a item..
This was a simple gift for personal use..

Never new there was a threshold of45 euros..

Will chalk it up to once bitten twice shy.

ArrBee

You can (in theory) get the GST refunded as it was purchased for export.

celtic_oz

how did customs know it was

"450 nzd...inc the 15% tax paid in nz.."

spacekiwi

My father put the reciept in box in case it needs to be returned under the 12 mth wtee..

This is the first item in 20 years i have been sent from nz...you can be sure its going to be the last.

dennyk

Gifts worth more than a certain amount from outside the EU/EEA are subject to customs duty and VAT because otherwise shady merchants would simply label their shipments to EU customers as "gifts" and thus bypass the duties and taxes entirely.

Customs duty is due to tariffs, which are in place to regulate trade, encourage companies to manufacturer certain products within the EU instead of overseas, offset the competitive advantage of cheaper manufacturing costs in other countries, and encourage EU consumers to purchase those EU products. It's better for the EU economy if you purchase a watch from an EU manufacturer rather than being gifted one from outside the EU.

VAT is charged on items shipped from outside the EU to offset the loss of tax revenue that would otherwise occur when consumers buy products from non-EU sources. Being gifted a watch that was sold outside the EU instead of purchasing one from within the EU means that the EU in general lost out on the tax revenue generated by the purchase of said watch, so they charge you VAT on the non-EU watch that you've received to correct that.

If your father wants to give you a gift without you having to pay anything, he could always order an item online from an EU merchant to be shipped to you, or he could send you the money to cover the import duties and taxes in addition to the gift itself.

babi-hrse

I get what your saying but a gift tends to be more personal imagine your father owned a business on the other side of the world and gifted his son something from the family business to remind him of his family and then customs put a tax on something that had no monetary cost to you. You'd be fit to be tied and saying you'd be perfectly happy to pay 23% or whatever the duty is respective to the cost of what it cost you which was 0

Donald Trump

What's the odds that there is some bitter rugby fan working for An Post sifting through all the packages from NZ exacting some revenge for the recent battering?

spacekiwi

Thanks all for responses..