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Feb 27th, '14, 14:58
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Customs Duties?

by AdamMY » Feb 27th, '14, 14:58

For those that may have been following along in the side chat for the past two weeks may know I was in the middle of some rather unusual EMS service. While it wasn't EMS or really even USPS, it took a week to clear Customs and now I know why. I got a nice notice on my package that I owe Customs Duties. Now just from googling I can not quite get a straight answer on whether or not I should protest the charges.

But sadly the publications they refer me to read before actually protesting are not easily found in the cbp.gov website. It does sound like I may technically actually owe duties but rather shocked that we have not heard about this more often on this forum in the US, as the limit for goods being imported for personal use each day is $200. Which sadly this package was above.

*edited to remove the fuzzy math. Apparently my migraine removed my ability to do math.*

The fee thankfully is not that high, I guess I was just shocked to see the note. Though even more frustrating is the post office worker did not collect upon delivery, and now I am completely unsure of how I go about paying the duty without traveling to a post office myself.

This situation is just making my migraine worse. Has anyone had any experience with any of this before?
Last edited by AdamMY on Feb 27th, '14, 15:18, edited 1 time in total.

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Feb 27th, '14, 15:09
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Re: Customs Duties?

by wyardley » Feb 27th, '14, 15:09

I think lying about the value is probably what most people do, whether or not it's the most ethical. In many cases, the senders already do this, and in some cases, the recipient might ask them to do so.

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Feb 27th, '14, 15:35
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Re: Customs Duties?

by Drax » Feb 27th, '14, 15:35

I used to have this problem when ordering chainmaille supplies (chainmaille as in armor -- lots of metal wire, rings, etc) from a supplier in Canada. When the order got above $200, there was usually a waiting period and an extra fee with a clearing house.

I haven't had the problem with tea, even when I've ordered well over $200. I wish I could tell you what the difference was. The vendor may be able to price things at list value, vice what you paid for it, but that's all a dangerous game.

Bottom line is - I can't tell you for sure why I haven't had the problem with tea (bought from China, Japan, and UK).

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Feb 27th, '14, 15:43
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Re: Customs Duties?

by Chip » Feb 27th, '14, 15:43

Really? Seriously? Did I just do a time transport to another time?

Hmm, I never heard of this duty being charged. Never heard specific mention of the dollar limit applied for personal use. Perhaps customs has been reading TeaChat and realized they have been missing out on boku revenue. :mrgreen:

I have had numerous >$200 packages (tea and teaware) arrive from Japan (as was Adam's) without ever being charged. And generally Japanese sellers will not alter dollar value ... nor would I ask them to. As Drax mentions it is a dangerous game ... and would be asking them to be dishonorable.

I am mystified, befuddled ... and am now running from the US Customs ... I will be back in the TeaCave atop Mt. Fuji and hopefully out of their reach. :twisted:

Clueless, I am!!!

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Feb 27th, '14, 16:41
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Re: Customs Duties?

by Drax » Feb 27th, '14, 16:41

It may be as random as when customs decides to rip open my packages and defile my tea (which has only seemed to happen with orders from EoT in the UK)?

I swear in the chainmaille case, it pretty much seemed like the organization was actually an unnecessary middle man, rather than a legitimate customs agent. Hard to say.

I'm sure our friends in the UK could chime in with stories about imports that hit the VAT -- I was just reading about a guy in the UK who ordered a watch from a Kickstarter in the US... the UK Post slapped on the VAT and basically held the watch until he paid it. Seems the norm there, but the application of import fees here in the US has always seemed.... capricious.

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Feb 27th, '14, 16:45
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Re: Customs Duties?

by Alex » Feb 27th, '14, 16:45

We get taxed on everything over £15 in the UK now. You then have to pay VAT (20%) but also a "Handling fee" from the courier which is £8-£13

So if I order something for like $23 from the US I then have to pay around $25 in fees as well. The handing fee is what annoys me. VAT I'm happy to pay but give me the option of paying it myself rather then having another company charge me £13 for paying it on my behalf.

Tea is exempt in the UK and maybe it is in the US as well Drax?

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Feb 27th, '14, 17:21
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Re: Customs Duties?

by 茶藝-TeaArt08 » Feb 27th, '14, 17:21

Adam,

Sincere thanks for sharing this here. I'm sorry to hear about your migraine and hope it gets better soon.

In December I received an order from Rikyucha.com with the content value of the purchase being $485. Ordering tea and teaware, I have yet to have any holds or duties assessed. Though my orders are most often under the $200 limit...luckily for me, because, until your posting, I've never heard of that number and made assumptions that I would not be assessed any duty charges.

It's curious to me that I received this package from Rikyucha.com on 12/22/2013 and did not incur any duty charges or a hold on the product. In fact I got the box in 5 days from Japan. I wonder if there are certain products that are more readily held. I wonder too if products from differing locations are scrutinized in differing degrees. My shipping manifest was listed on the top of the box in Japanese Yen as:
Tripod 3,000
Kettle 40,000
Ash 5,000
Spoon 1,500

Thus, I would think, with the limit you proposed that I would have had some trouble. Like many other TeaChaters I am receiving tea and teaware on a more or less regular basis and have been wondering when I would have a problem (I had my first broken piece recently) or have my tea held. I recall others have at times had their tea held too. Is this correct?
I have had numerous >$200 packages (tea and teaware) arrive from Japan (as was Adam's) without ever being charged. And generally Japanese sellers will not alter dollar value ... nor would I ask them to. As Drax mentions it is a dangerous game ... and would be asking them to be dishonorable.
In January I had a second order come from Jauce.com in Japan. Almost every seller mentions that they will not alter package descriptions to reduce the risk of incurring duty fees. This second package was for $269.00 and included a fan for coals, a tetsubin, and kamashiki. This package arrived to California in about five days, was not held, and was over the $200 limit.

So, I am bit perplexed. I wonder if is as Drax said, that the U.S. customs incursions into packages and assessing of fees is "capricious" and inconsistent. Reading this reminds me to be more mindful and do some more research. Thank you again Adam for the share of information.

Blessings!

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Feb 27th, '14, 17:26
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Re: Customs Duties?

by AdamMY » Feb 27th, '14, 17:26

Well the notice to the addresse was a bit weird mostly containing information on how to protest if I wanted to. Though the very top statement was along the lines of: "New or used items that are handmade are subject to duty upon import."

Alex, yes it also is the fee's that make this rather annoying. Roughly half the charge on this duty are for handling fees on their end that they are now charging me because my package got flagged for duty.

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Feb 27th, '14, 23:55
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Re: Customs Duties?

by jayinhk » Feb 27th, '14, 23:55

This has been happening for years, but taxation is sporadic and more common with services like FedEx/DHL/UPS IMO. Adam is right, there is a daily limit for personal imports, and anything in excess of the limit is indeed subject to duty.

As for EoT, there is a good reason why they are inspecting packages from the UK--there are products available over there that are in high demand in the US, but are not legal in the US. I'll leave it at that. ;)

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Feb 28th, '14, 02:36
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Re: Customs Duties?

by MarshalN » Feb 28th, '14, 02:36

The duties is a bit random, when I lived in Ohio packages that came through Chicago were more likely to be assessed duty than those that came through JFK. It's just the way it is.

I seem to remember green tea is not dutiable in the US. You might want to check.

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Re: Customs Duties?

by Alex » Feb 28th, '14, 02:58

For UK everything that comes via EMS from JPN or US is taxed. But for economy about 75% gets through without tax....they just hold back about 25% of everything to tax and let the rest go.

The "handling fee" in the UK is not actually something you legally have to pay as UK postal laws state that you can't hold on to post because of depts due. But good luck finding anyone down the chain in the business that knows this....its almost as if no one has told them ;P.

Its weird to have to pay for something when you've not entered in to a contract with the courier. Again I don't understand why I can't pay my own bill on my behalf. And there's simply no way that it cost the courier company £13 in admin fees to pay it. If it goes through royal mail its only £8 but that's still too much IMO. Couple of months back I bought something from the US ebay site and was given the option to pay customs fees up front! I did and it sailed through without any silly fees.....I hope this becomes common place for larger vendors.

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Feb 28th, '14, 06:25
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Re: Customs Duties?

by jayinhk » Feb 28th, '14, 06:25

MarshalN wrote:The duties is a bit random, when I lived in Ohio packages that came through Chicago were more likely to be assessed duty than those that came through JFK. It's just the way it is.

I seem to remember green tea is not dutiable in the US. You might want to check.
Enforcement through the Chicago hub has long been the most stringent in the US, but that gap is slowly narrowing; now you may have issues at any port of entry.

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Re: Customs Duties?

by woozl » Feb 28th, '14, 18:22

I think it is random. Maybe they check every 500 th box.
I have only one $200 plus shipment from japan, I was warnrd by the seller they're might be a hold, but it squeeked past. :mrgreen:

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Re: Customs Duties?

by Tead Off » Feb 28th, '14, 23:49

From what I remember when living in the USA, any handmade arts and crafts items were not subject to duty or tax no matter how much they were declared for. Has this changed? I don't know about teas.

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Re: Customs Duties?

by betta » Mar 1st, '14, 03:07

Alex wrote:For UK everything that comes via EMS from JPN or US is taxed. But for economy about 75% gets through without tax....they just hold back about 25% of everything to tax and let the rest go.

The "handling fee" in the UK is not actually something you legally have to pay as UK postal laws state that you can't hold on to post because of depts due. But good luck finding anyone down the chain in the business that knows this....its almost as if no one has told them ;P.

Its weird to have to pay for something when you've not entered in to a contract with the courier. Again I don't understand why I can't pay my own bill on my behalf. And there's simply no way that it cost the courier company £13 in admin fees to pay it. If it goes through royal mail its only £8 but that's still too much IMO. Couple of months back I bought something from the US ebay site and was given the option to pay customs fees up front! I did and it sailed through without any silly fees.....I hope this becomes common place for larger vendors.
You need to pay VAT when the item comes from any countries out of EU.
Dependent on the agreement with these countries, you might or might not have to pay additional custom fee. Under several circumstances, you don't need to pay anything. I would suggest you to go through the online custom website to find out the exact regulation in your country.

I've mentioned in another post about the malicious practice of the partner contractor of chinese ems in the destination country. Here they collect a "storage fee" following custom inspection. In the past it has never been the case.
There're numerous cases where the receivers clarified directly with the custom office and they found out that the custom did scan the package but did not retain it. The parcel passed through like any other parcels without having to be treated differently.

Furthermore, the storage fee should be collected ONLY by the custom office, in case someone doesn't clear his item within a certain periode of time or sort of. The warehouse belongs to the custom office, not to these subcontractors.

When confronted, these contractors apologize for the misunderstanding.

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