Import expenses
I don't know if the rules have changed, but I remembered there being an exemption on the taxable value. Or at least in previous purchases (usually USA or Japan) under €20 I never paid any fee.
Today I see that to buy a vintage action figure from the UK (value £4.7 + shipping £12) eBay adds almost £6 in import charges
4 comments
marioelegio
·2 years agoThe law has changed, as of July 1, 2021 the exemption threshold no longer exists.
On 4.7+12 you pay VAT at 22% (3.6 euros) and 2 euros in postal fees. You were also lucky, because they chose the courier with the lowest customs clearance costs overall.
hi
mario
maurizio8837
OP2 years agothank you very much!
Obviously I didn't go through with the purchase and stopped as soon as I read the import fees item.
maurizio8837
OP2 years agoI think I’ve figured out the mystery of why I’ve never had this problem with oversea purchases, even when they were made after 2021.
I ran a simulation of a purchase from an Australian seller and no line item appears for the advance payment of customs clearance/import costs
Of course, you might then receive a notice before home delivery saying “customs clearance has to be paid on receipt,” although that doesn’t always happen.
Which makes me think this procedure is applied automatically to goods from the UK (maybe because of EU/UK agreements).
sika700
·2 years agoThe import charges clearly described indicate the seller's use of the GSP service (Global Shipping Program), reserved for sellers in the USA and UK.
For the rest of the world, there is the “surprise” upon delivery... which then isn’t really such a surprise if you’re aware that you’ve imported a certain item.
Kind regards.