EU customs charges from US

[Anonymous]

Today I had the opportunity to calculate what is the customs here for goods imported from US.
The goods I bought have value $49.80

The customs bill was 420.5% of the above figure.

This is worse than armed robbery to say the least.
They tell us we have the same customs rates etc with European Union.
I have never seen anyone else talking anywhere near these levels.

How much is it in UK? Anyone has a link where UK's customs give some guidance?

 

[Persimmon]

Today I had the opportunity to calculate what is the customs here for goods imported from US.
The goods I bought have value $49.80

The customs bill was 420.5% of the above figure.

This is worse than armed robbery to say the least.
They tell us we have the same customs rates etc with European Union.
I have never seen anyone else talking anywhere near these levels.

How much is it in UK? Anyone has a link where UK's customs give some guidance?

Platon,
It must have been very special to pay approx $260 dollars for the item all in all.
That does seem extortion by the customs boys or is the Goverment trying to get in any monies they can after the recent banking disaster/bail out ?

 

[Anonymous]

yes, a very special item.
12 yards of cotton fabric

 

[Rutger]

Today I had the opportunity to calculate what is the customs here for goods imported from US.
The goods I bought have value $49.80

The customs bill was 420.5% of the above figure.

This is worse than armed robbery to say the least.
They tell us we have the same customs rates etc with European Union.
I have never seen anyone else talking anywhere near these levels.

How much is it in UK? Anyone has a link where UK's customs give some guidance?

That's Greece customs?
VAT in Holland is 21% over (value of goods + shipping cost) + a fee of 12-17.5 euro for determining that figure.
If the net value is just at the minimum taxable figure of about 50 euro the charges amount to 23 euro which is almost 50%.

If I were you I'd ask for a specification of the amount, as 420% sounds like a mistake. With you having imported quite a few things I suppose you yourself should be able to determine a guess of the actual taxes due.

Good luck with the customs people.

 

[Anonymous]

look at the question of the guy here
http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/96378 ... excessive/
He complains for 12 pounds on $33 value item.


Rutger, no mistake. The bill I got from customs is as follows

VAT + duties : Eur 30
Rights to perform customs clearance works: Eur 2
Duty stamp: Eur 29.5
Agent-order issuance: Eur 30
Warehouse/workers dues: Eur 17
Custom officers pension Eur 6.15
Miscellaneous expenses Eur 17.75
Customs clearer's fee Eur 20
VAT for Customs clearer's fee Eur 4.6
Total Eur 157

Eur 157 = US$209.40 = 420.5% of $49.80

Can you beat that?
Can anyone in the world beat that?

 

[Falcon_52]

That is absolute insanity! My favorite has to be the 20 Euro charge for the customs clearer to basically perform the job that they should anyway - and then the VAT on that charge. What the...? :?

Noel

 

[John Lever]

I would challenge that and try to get some money back, it could be a mistake.

 

[RichardG]

Hello Platon

If you plan to have stuff sent from the US regularly, I would suggest that you get yourself an address in Germany, the Netherlands or any other EU-country or even the UK, have items sent there, pay customs and VAT there an then have the addressee in Germany forward it to you in Greece as an in-EU package which is not taxable any more once it is sent form another EU-country. FInd out where the service charges are most reasonable and go from there. Apparently the Greek government has to rob their citizens to recover some of the money that the banks lost...
Some shipping services charge more than others for customs clearance and they change it around all the time. Sometimes DHL is cheaper than UPS or FedEx, the next time you look the order is reversed. They are all playing games but your example definitely gets the maxxed-out trophy.

Regards from Switzerland where you would not have had to pay any customs or VAT or service charges for your package because the value is beneath the threshold of 62.50 CHF/5.00CHF VAT at 8% VAT. Only if more than 5.oo CHF is applicable will customs and VAT be charged here. Might consider moving

Richard

 

[John Lever]

I think the charges should be uniform across the EU.

 

[Rutger]

Duty stamp: Eur 29.5
Agent-order issuance: Eur 30
Warehouse/workers dues: Eur 17
Custom officers pension Eur 6.15
Miscellaneous expenses Eur 17.75
Customs clearer's fee Eur 20
VAT for Customs clearer's fee Eur 4.6


Eur 157 = US$209.40 = 420.5% of $49.80

Can you beat that?
Can anyone in the world beat that?

This is the most insane invoice I've ever seen. I'd expect that at some banana republic, not from an EU country. I gotta show this at work monday.

 

[a2jacketpatches]

Wow! I had no idea it was this bad. I'm always weary when a customer ( new one that is ) asks me to undervalue an item because you just never know how they'll turn if something goes wrong. But after seeing this, happy to do it. Just not fair and very unreasonable. I felt a little drop in sales once the USPS increased their International Flat Rate Envelope to 23.95, and was pretty pissed when they did it considering you can't even track the damn thing. Also, there's holes in the system to where it can still just disappear and a buyer can nail you through Ebay for something entirely out of a sellers control. But for a customer that will give a personal agreement to assume all risk for loss or stolen, I'll declare any patch at 5.00 USD and do it all the time.

Also funny how Ebay has a super automatic system that blocks any and all attempts to communicate outside of their watchful eyes in fear of traders cutting them out. They can even pick up coded email addresses these days. But I can change the value of an item in Ebay or Paypal shipping with a click of the mouse. Perhaps a way to encourage international sales????????????? I think so.

 

[Anonymous]

That is absolute insanity! My favorite has to be the 20 Euro charge for the customs clearer to basically perform the job that they should anyway - and then the VAT on that charge. What the...? :?

Noel

The customs clearer's fee used to be Eur 75 a couple of years ago.

I think the charges should be uniform across the EU.

I thought the same too.

Hello Platon

If you plan to have stuff sent from the US regularly, I would suggest that you get yourself an address in Germany, the Netherlands or any other EU-country or even the UK, have items sent there, pay customs and VAT there an then have the addressee in Germany forward it to you in Greece as an in-EU package which is not taxable any more once it is sent form another EU-country. FInd out where the service charges are most reasonable and go from there. Apparently the Greek government has to rob their citizens to recover some of the money that the banks lost...
Some shipping services charge more than others for customs clearance and they change it around all the time. Sometimes DHL is cheaper than UPS or FedEx, the next time you look the order is reversed. They are all playing games but your example definitely gets the maxxed-out trophy.

Regards from Switzerland where you would not have had to pay any customs or VAT or service charges for your package because the value is beneath the threshold of 62.50 CHF/5.00CHF VAT at 8% VAT. Only if more than 5.oo CHF is applicable will customs and VAT be charged here. Might consider moving

Richard

I 'd love to try that, and if anyone from Germany, Swiss, or Netherlands volunteers to be BK's proxy in this respect, BK will offer generous discounts on BK products, in return for the favor.


The Greek government used to rob its citizens long before the banks lost the money and the IMF came here. Unfortunately, the extent of corruption here is unimaginable and embezzlement it is the main reason why we got bankrupt.

I want to pay taxes and duties, but at these rates it's annihilation. No wonder why most factories in Greece closed down or moved to Bulgaria, Macedonia and elsewhere. No wonder they fired 1,500,000 people and we have 25%-30% unemployment. Luckily, we buy leathers from Italy (within EU) otherwise, I don't dare to think what the bill could if we imported from outside EU.

 

[Peter Graham]

Platon, I suggest that you get out on the street and protest against your corrupt government like thousands of your countrymen are. It's the only way forward.

 

[John Lever]

I still can't understand how the charges can be higher than the value of the goods. If you extend this model to very high rate earners they would pay more tax than they earn...illogical as the man from Vulcan would say.

 

[Anonymous]

Platon, I suggest that you get out on the street and protest against your corrupt government like thousands of your countrymen are. It's the only way forward.

Nothing can be done except a revolution. But how can make a revolution unarmed?
Greece from being a great nation in the ancient times, has become the worst country in the civilized world. If you see Economist's figures we are the worst of the worst. I don't want to talk politics but those guys kicked out our King in 1974 so that they can rob the public money undisturbed. In 1974 we hit the iceberg and began sinking in debt.

What happened with customs is just an example. We face similar situations every day, every time we have to deal with the government, either that is taxes or what have you. I am looking for a way out.

 

[RichardG]

Hi Platon

It won't work with someone from Switzerland because Switzerland is not an EU-country (Thank God!). Otherwise I would have gladly volunteered. You have to get your merchandise into ANY EU-country to be abler to have it sent to Greece without any customs process.
Do check out shipito.com They have an outlet in Austria.

Regards from Zurich

Richard

I 'd love to try that, and if anyone from Germany, Swiss, or Netherlands volunteers to be BK's proxy in this respect, BK will offer generous discounts on BK products, in return for the favor.


The Greek government used to rob its citizens long before the banks lost the money and the IMF came here. Unfortunately, the extent of corruption here is unimaginable and embezzlement it is the main reason why we got bankrupt.

I want to pay taxes and duties, but at these rates it's annihilation. No wonder why most factories in Greece closed down or moved to Bulgaria, Macedonia and elsewhere. No wonder they fired 1,500,000 people and we have 25%-30% unemployment. Luckily, we buy leathers from Italy (within EU) otherwise, I don't dare to think what the bill could if we imported from outside EU.