CUSTOMS fees and limits in our different countries, please add yours

[Former_Member]

Buyers sometimes don't realise they are liable to pay import duties, so if you know the limit and fees (maybe an official link?) for your country, please add them here. It'll help us all be prepared! And of course - add to your policies if you haven't, that it is the buyer's responsibility.

[Former_Member · Accepted solution]

In the UK the lower limit at which we start paying fees is a very low £15 , currently under $23

because we pay the duty to the post office (along with a hefty £8 handling fee) buyers sometimes wrongly think it is underpaid shipping and become angry....

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/customs/tax-and-duty.htm

[ElectronicGirl]

+1
and this link has the USA customs info:
http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/trade/basic_trade/internet_purchases.xml

i'm not sure about exact dollar amounts.

[badgebliss]

We're lucky in Australia - we don't pay any custom fees as long as value of goods is under $1000.00. Great when I was sewing and buying all my fabric from etsy!

[Former_Member]

thank you - anyone else?

[Former_Member]

Officially, in Canada, anything over $20 is subject to Canadian sales tax. In fact, it it's Canada Post, it's hardly ever collected.
But if something is sent via a courier, they invent reasons to collect tax so they can charge a "processing fee." UPS once called a vintage waffle iron I ordered "antique auto parts" so they could charge us. I never ever order from companies the use couriers for this reason.

[Former_Member]

that's outrageous Sedna! I've heard of individuals obscuring what an item actually is to try to evade charges, but hadn't thought a courier would do it for the reverse reason!

[Former_Member]

This is fees for Aust Post (increase in Price on the 8th of April)

http://auspost.com.au/parcels-mail/new-prices.html?cmpid=sm-fb-newprices-1304

[Former_Member]

that's postage though, isn't it? I was asking about import duty.

[TigersandDragons · Accepted solution]

"Officially, in Canada, anything over $20 is subject to Canadian sales tax. In fact, it it's Canada Post, it's hardly ever collected.
But if something is sent via a courier, they invent reasons to collect tax so they can charge a "processing fee." UPS once called a vintage waffle iron I ordered "antique auto parts" so they could charge us. I never ever order from companies the use couriers for this reason. "

^THIS IS INACCURATE.

Canada Post WILL do customs brokering, they do charge parcels, it's just that in the last few years, they often don't bother on most lower value packages (I suspect it's because of trying to get through the high volume of parcels) but I've had packages valued $75 and up charged...years ago I had parcels valued $21 charged. Their customs brokering fee is only $8.50.
The Canada Post brokering is usually simple and lazy, they rarely bother to charge more than sales tax....though I have been charged Excise tax for importing silver.

Courier companies follow proper Canadian Customs laws, and do charge on any merchandise valued over $20. They usually charge very high customs brokering fees for the job of doing the customs paperwork. They go through the invoice line by line, and if there are different categories of items, which should be charged duties or excise tax, those fees are charged.
Sedna, even though UPS brokers didn't use the correct category, you still
would of been charged their brokering fee (criminal, I know), and taxes. If you had called UPS and said you wanted to broker your own parcel, then there are government Customs office where you go and fill out the customs paperwork yourself...pay only taxes and applicable duties, and not have to pay the brokering fee.

Customs laws are very intricate in most countries, there are huge books listing the categories of items, and what duties are applicable for each one.
I brokered my own jewellery supplies shipment once... my shipment was a lot of work....there's a reason that the customs brokering service costs money, and that's separate from taxes and duties that are paid to the government for importing.

[TigersandDragons]

Canada Customs - Importing by Mail
http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/import/postal-postale/menu-eng.html
http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/trade-commerce/tariff-tarif/
North American Free Trade Agreement: http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/trade-commerce/ta-ac-eng.html

RE: Courier Customs Brokering Fees.
We received a parcel by DHL last week, they have a flat rate brokering fee of $10...so pretty reasonable compared to fees from Fedex and UPS (on their cheapest service. We also had to pay GST tax and Duty on our parcel.

[Former_Member]

anyone else? what do you know about the rules in YOUR country?

[silentmagician]

In the Netherlands, items under €45 are exempt. Goods valued over €45 which are from outside the EU are charged 2.5%.

Here is the page about calculating customs for import from private individuals if you are in the Netherlands: http://www.belastingdienst.nl/wps/wcm/connect/bldcontenten/belastingdienst/individuals/abroad_and_cu...

[LaughLand]

Most Australians probably don't know what import duty is, or who collects it, because the limit is currently $1000. Far more than most customers pay in one transaction.

There has been some discussion in the Australian media about the fact that we pay sales tax (GST) on domestic purchases but not on international purchases. Local retailers would like to see GST levied on international sales as well as local, but politicians on both sides seem to to think it would cost more to collect the revenue than the value of the revenue itself. Perhaps the same applies to import duty.

[Former_Member]

wow - and here's us in UK with £15 limit. It does seem daft though if you want to encourage local businesses in Australia that you can import more cheaply than buying home grown.

[LaughLand]

Heather, I have just randomly read some feedback that was left for another seller. Unfortunately, it was bad feedback and I think completely misdirected. The buyer basically said that she would never buy from Australians again because the import duty was so high, she had not even collected the item from the post office. I don't know what country the buyer was in. But it was clearly not the fault of the seller.

I know that import duty is charged by the country where the buyer lives, not the country where the item originates. I don't have any items in my shop that cost over 15 pounds, but I hope to soon. In view of the 15 pound limit in the UK, do you recommend that I let all potential customers know that they may be subject to import duty and this is their responsibility? If so, where should write this? In my policies (where they probably won't read it), or in each listing that costs more than 15 pounds? What do other sellers do?

Australians are very unfamiliar with import duty and this has just crossed my mind after reading this post again.

[sockysocks]

Anne, I have this in my policies in the shipping section - Buyers are responsible for any and all duties and customs charges that may be incurred.

That or something like it would do.

[TigersandDragons]

Information about is on our checkout message, that way it is on their screen when purchasing and printed on their copy of the invoice. Of course it is also on the policy page but you never know how many people read those.

[sockysocks]

Tigers, how do you set up a message at checkout? I didn't know you could do this and can't find a help page.

[TigersandDragons]

Click on Info and Appearance.
Under "Shop Announcement" section
is a different section called "Message to Buyers"
That's what they see when they go through checkout, and it will be on the invoice as well.

[Former_Member]

Anne that was really unjust feedback! Trouble is, we can leave reminders absolutely everywhere in our listings/shops but it doesn't guarantee anyone will read it - but I think tigers has a good idea. I have a note in message to buyers reminding them I'm in the UK, too, and that shipping time is as long as a piece of string.

[sockysocks]

Tigers, D'oh. I should have known that! Thanks!

[TigersandDragons]

I read feedback on another Canadian seller the other day, it wasn't a neg. because the UK buyer loved their item, but they complained that they had to pay tax and questioned why the seller HAD to put the invoice on the outside of the envelope???
Hello! It's a customs form, we all have to fill them out for exports.

Also the limit in Germany is 25 Euros including the shipping fee charged. I know shipping is included in value in France too, is this normal for EU countries? Shipping is not part of value for US and Canada customs.

I had a German customer and warned him about it. He told me I had the wrong info. that the limit is 100 Euros...and that he got packages from around the world all the time. Well, low and behold I was right, and his order was charged because it was over the limit by 2 Euros, at least he wasn't mad at me about it..

[LaughLand]

Thanks everyone. I will amend my shipping info and the message sent to buyers to explain about import duty being the buyers responsibility. This is a useful thread because I would never have thought of it otherwise.

[sockysocks · Accepted solution]

This is a useful website -
http://www.dutycalculator.com/help_center/Import-duty-taxes-when-importing-into-Canada/

It has a list of countries down the left hand side.