Whats the story with customs if a family member is mailing u a laptop from the US?

oxygen_old

Hi

Whats the story with customs if a family member is mailing u a laptop from the US?

My sister is living in the US and she wont be back until September. I saw a dell refurb laptop for just over €500 or there abouts,its works out at about €400.

I have heard of people who had items shipped to Ireland after they bought it online but this would be from a family member.

Couldn't it be classed as a gift or something?

Any help on this would be greatly appreciated

cgarvey

You are liable for VAT @21% and maybe customs duty @ 3.5%. Check out http://www.revenue.ie/pdf/pn_1179.pdf.

Basically if she sends it as a gift valued at < 45 euro, then you should get away with it (but that's not guaranteed), as long as you don't make it look brand new (like include installation CDs and manuals, etc.). However you're taking the risk of the packet being lost in transit and, therefore, it being grossly underinsured.

The other risk is just sending it (at full value) as a high-priced gift and just hoping that the inbound carrier couldn't be arsed following it up. Again, if you pack it in such a way that it doesn't look new, you might be able to swing it that it was an over-valued declaration "and look, it's only a crappy second hand laptop".

If you are posting it, ways to make it look 2nd hand by mailing the battery separately, and the manuals/CDs separately.

Whatever you do, if you do post it, factor in the risk of being charged (at least) 21% VAT, into the bargain .. usually it's still worth it (i.e. the saving is higher than 21% in the first place).

Also make sure the laptop has a dual voltage power supply, and be aware that the keyboard will be slightly different (@ and " are swapped, etc.) and software versions (which may include dictionaries) will be US versions.

Good luck!
.cg

milltown

I'm glad I'm not in Cgarvey's family! I can picture the joy on the family's faces as they stand around the christmas tree exchanging their second hand gifts!

I kid, I kid. Seriously though, how about claiming that she's moving home shortly and sent it on ahead? Ownership hasn't changed so no transaction has taken place. Unless customs say ok, we'll mind it for her until she gets home.

In summary, I dunno.

center15

If you get them to mark the item as a gift you should have no bother with import duties as gifts are tax free. Wrap it in wrappping paper and put a card in it in case customs open it.

Brando_ie

I shipped my PC from Oz to Athlone by DHL a few years back and in researching what, if any duty, I would have to pay It conspired that once the equiptment was only 6 months old or older it was classed as second hand and not liable for any taxes. My PC was over six months so I was safe enough and included the receipt and didn't get hit for tax. On a footnote though, the box was opened, I assume by customs. Also DHL they must have kicked the thing over here as even the CPU fan had been ripped off and trashed everything internally in the PC!! (I then wished I hadn't decided to avoid the insurance to 'save' a few dollers for my jaunt around Oz!! :mad: )...... bravo DHL.

cgarvey

Brando_ie, do you have any written source for that? If true, I'd suspect, it's because they couldn't be arsed dedicating the rsources to find out how old something is, etc. I've never heard of old items being exempt, and know I get charged (as a company though, not as an individual.. which may be a clue) for lots of old / 2nd hand goods imported from the US. You can get temporary exemption if you indend on re-exporting the goods again, but I can't find any reference to any 2nd hand goods or goods over a certain age being exempt.

center15, the article I linked to clearly states that gifts are not exempt (only those under a small defined value are, which, obviosuly, isn't the case here).

milltown, you still need to pay import duty even if it is yours and you're moving home. Otherwise we could all fly to the US and stock up on our iPods, Mac Minis, and clothes, and say we're just moving home.

.cg

rubadub

What happens if you mark it as a repaired item?
We use expensive tools in work from the US and if they break it would be cheaper to send it off for repair to the states, surely repair/warranty work is exempt

I would mark the laptop as a gift and stick a letter in saying "hope you enjoyed your stay etc etc heres the laptop you left behind,
love

blah blah

cgarvey

Yup there are all sorts of ways to get around it using "stories", and that's a good one. Commercial Sample is used alot too. There's still a risk associated with that though (albeit a lesser one). Say she sends the laptop marked as "you left this behind", as a customs officer, I'd be entitiled to ask for proof of purchase, because I notice the laptop is in immaculate conditiion and has a US keyboard.. and is a model out only in the last few months... however is that really likely to happen? Still a risk though! It's all about weighing up the risk versus the savings .. and sometimes (a lot?) it's still definately worth it.

Repair warranty work would still be liable for VAT on the services rendered, if any charge. So another way around it would be to get her to ship using a false company name "super duper specialized laptop repairs" and include an invoice for $12 on a headed paper (legal size, not A4!!).. and send it CoD.. I'll be darned if any customs officer would chase that up (but they could!!)!!

.cg

okidoki987

Well if you get it shipped over and get hit for VAT, Duty etc at least we will then know the Customs and Excise are members of boards!

oxygen_old

I was pricing a $800 dell US outlet laptop. Which is about €613. Would VAT and Duty on that be %21? So that would be €129 adding up all together to €742.

cgarvey wrote:

Say she sends the laptop marked as "you left this behind"

Yea, an idea would be to send send her my current laptop bag, and have her send it back over in that bag marked as left behind, would look a bit more second hand. What would be the story if they copped on to it tho, am I able to say
"hands up,I was caught trying to defraud the government"?

The possibilities are

a) I get away with it and save €129
(sweet but I dont think its really likely)

b) I get caught with it in the bag and they confiscate it
(they confiscated my ruler back in me school days for fireing paper missiles, would they confiscate a laptop for trying to cod the international community from €129?)

c) They file a report and I go to the Joy, and I share a cell with a fella called Mutha F*&ka and have to become his b*tch

cgarvey

Correct .. the VAT would be 21% (if caught). Like I say, I'm not 100% sure if you can be charged (up to) 3.5% customs duty, and I've certainly never been charged (or heard of anyone ever been charged) this on computers.

If they copped it .. worst case scenario would be pay the VAT.. Bubba keeps his clean for more serious offenders.

.cg

oxygen_old

CG I think I speak for all of us trying to get American dell outlet laptop delivered from sisters in the US with minimum charge.
You’re like an illumination peering into the foggy murkiness’ haze of apprehensive hesitation of intercontinental taxation.

One more question, do u know who much DHL’ing a laptop would cost, I had a look at the website but couldn’t figure it out, (the boss is always peering over me shoulder) Just a ballpark guess, would it be closer to €20 or €200

cgarvey

Heh, just keep in mind, I'm no solicitor, or accountant

I don't know about shipping costs .. but it'll probably be closer to 100 than 20 quid (insurance and the extra packing you'll need to protect it, as it will have a rough ride back). Best option, by far, is if you know someone flying back from that neck of the woods. Or what I've done before is have it shipped to a hotel where I'm staying (while I'm staying there, obviously!) and take it back myself.. much cheaper.

.cg

Capt'n Midnight

oxygen wrote:

would they confiscate a laptop for trying to cod the international community from €129?

AFIAK If they catch you with marine or agricultrual diesel in your tank they can keep the car. There is the thing about customs not needing a warrant to search your home, when joe public evades tax it seems to be a worse crime than most.

Maybe mail each bit seperatley , HDD, CD , Ram , PSU , Lead , CD's manual etc and then rest of it. If there were someone technically savy it might be possible to hamstring it and call it "spare parts" - many Dells have a BIOS chip that if removed would stop them booting, of course the risk is that it might never boot again and the ploy might only work if you were there to explain to customs that you bought it as water damaged (ie beyond economic repair) to try to fix one you had at home or for the plastics..

It's a lot of work for €129 - have you priced the warranty options to make sure it is covered in Europe ?

lomb

ive looked at dells us website (quite a bit cheaper )and indeed the warranty does not cover the machine in europe. waste of time really consider a healthy proportion of laptops need repairing within 3 years. it only hassle. buy urself a nice acer laptop in the uk with 3 year warranty. they have anice selection of amd64 machines and centrinos for reasonable money and they have a repair facility in dublin. best bet in my opinion.

Block (8

How do customs ascertain the value of what is being sent?
I'm planning to get a helmet sent and it's pretty big which I expect will be caught for tax. Do they usually get the value right or can you print your own invoice and throw it in with what is being sent?