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hong kong custom duties
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I know this topic has been covered in other threads to a certain extent, but I cannot find a detailed answer regarding the amount of money I would have to pay to import an item from Hong Kong. I’ve also looked on both the Irish revenue site and the EU customs website, but before I read all the hundreds of pages there, I though I could give it a shot and ask you guys.
I’d like to buy an item from a Hong Kong seller on ebay for 350 euros, including shipping . The seller is a trusted ebay power seller, with 1200 feedbacks, 99% positive, so that’s not an issue. I know I’d pay 21% VAT on that amount after adding the custom duty fee, but how do I calculate that? Is it a fixed fee or is a percentage of the value of the item?
How long does it usually take for customs to “clear” the item? (i’m asking this because back in Italy an item could be stuck at customs for weeks).
Thank youF.
The customs is a percent on top. The courier will actually ask you to pay the amount owed
before they will deliver the item. This has been the way when I import the PI straps anyhow.Can’t recall the % but for the straps it was < 5% Hope that helps a bit :)
Mark wrote:
The customs is a percent on top. The courier will actually ask you to pay the amount owed
before they will deliver the item. This has been the way when I import the PI straps anyhow.Can’t recall the % but for the straps it was < 5% Hope that helps a bit :)
Thanks, Mark. So it’d be 350€ + 5% + 21%, about 430€. Not bad, considering the items would cost me around 700€ here in Europe.
I think this website might be able to tell you the import duty rates for various items….. Never used it myself though and it seems quite complex…..
Aedan
http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/dds/cgi-bin/tarquer?Lang=EN
AedanC wrote:
I think this website might be able to tell you the import duty rates for various items….. Never used it myself though and it seems quite complex…..
yes, Aedan, that’s the site I was referring to and that’s why I posted the question here: that website is quite complex indeed! :)
However, I searched for “photographic equipment”, after a few clicks I think I found what I was looking for (section XVIII, chapter 90, TARIC code 9033), and the duty from Hong Kong should be 3.70%
So unless there are other hidden duties somewhere, the estimated price should be less than 430€ I wrote earlier.I thought the import duty was charged based on the item not on the source country? I was looking to import a bike from the US about 5 years back and with import duty, VAT & customs it came to about 42% on top of the listed price that I would have had to pay. It depends on the duty rate for the item you’re importing.
Still, on €350 there wouldn’t be too much on top of that…certainly no where near the €700 quoted in Europe.Alan
irishwonkafan wrote:
I thought the import duty was charged based on the item not on the source country?
Alan, from what I can see in the EU documents, that is indeed the case, although I haven’t read them all (thousands of pages).
I’m pretty sure the gear I’m going to buy is listed as generic photographic equipment, since there’s no specific category for camera/flash radio transmitters, and the import duty should be 3.70%.
To be sure I would have to find someone who has gone through all of this with the same equipment, but I’m pretty confident I’d save a reasonable amount of money anyway.Still, on €350 there wouldn’t be too much on top of that…certainly no where near the €700 quoted in Europe.
Exactly. In order to match the European price, the import duty would have to be close to 50%.
Value of Purchase + Shipping Costs = Total Value
Total Value * Exchange Rate = Total Value (EUR)
Total Value (EUR) x Customs Rate Applicable = Value with Customs
Value with Customs x VAT Rate = Value with Customs & VAT
Value with Customs & VAT + Carriers Handling Charge for Fronting the Money to the Revenue = Total Amount Payable
Few things to note
If you buy in a currency other than Euro then they will use an exchange rate that is favourable to them when doing the calculations.
The cost of shipping is factored into the overall value of the item.
Customs Duty may be 0 for many photography related items.
The Carrier’s handling charge can vary. The lowest I paid was €6 to An Post and I can recall some other crowd once looking for €15.
nfl-fan wrote:
Customs Duty may be 0 for many photography related items.
it’d be good if it was 0€, but I know that’s a small chance :) . Besides, 3.7% on top of the everything (price for the item+shipping) is not that much, what really makes it more expensive is the 21% VAT, but I knew about that and I know there’s no way to avoid it. Even if I was saving half of what I’m going to keep in my pockets, it’d be worth it.
The Carrier’s handling charge can vary. The lowest I paid was €6 to An Post and I can recall some other crowd once looking for €15.
thank you, nfl-fan
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