Import Tax from Japan

eskerman

Just wondering if there is any advice on approx % import tax on an item from Japan to Ireland

its a secondhand camera lens - price on eBay is circa €400 plus €40 for postage with Fedex - I tried get some information from Fedex and it was practically impossible - taking so some A1 engine Bot

I am keen to buy this lens so all in €450 delivered to Ireland -- but I need to have some idea on import tax...vat its applicable on a used item

Thanks is advance

Paul

DaireQuinlan

You'll pay duty and VAT and then get stung for a handling fee from whatever carrier is used.

Duty I can't remember, but somewhere around 12% , then VAT at 23% this is €450 -> €504 -> ~ €620

Then Either anPost will slap on another €10 or if you're fedex or ups they'll stick on €20 or €25 or something, can't remember, all for the privilege of handling your customs fee, and DESPITE the fact that they've already been paid to carry your package... but I digress.

Anyhow, somewhere between €630 and €650 all in.

DaireQuinlan

As an aside, I always find it hilarious that the customer facing page on revenue.ie cheerfully points you off to the 'taric database' to look for specific customs duties, which is the most opaque database lookup I've ever come across https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/dds2/taric/taric_consultation.jsp?Lang=en&Expand=true&SimDate=20240306

Gregor Samsa

The TARIC database is a total minefield, very user-unfriendly.

Here's the page for camera lenses with Japan entered as the origin country.

https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/dds2/taric/measures.jsp?Lang=en&SimDate=20240306&Area=JP&MeasType=&StartPub=&EndPub=&MeasText=&GoodsText=&op=&Taric=9002000000&AdditionalCode=&search_text=goods&textSearch=&LangDescr=en&OrderNum=&Regulation=&measStartDat=&measEndDat=&DatePicker=06-03-2024

There's different categories for lenses with different specifications (based on such things as weight, size, focal length and field of view)

The Third Country duty rate for all of them seems to be 6.70% BUT there's a specific duty rate of 0% for imports from Japan.

(click on the blue links to revel the duty rate for the particular classification that best matches your specific lens).

Obviously as Daire says above, VAT still applies at 23% on the goods + shipping cost combined, and then there's the mysterious handling fees.