Duties, Tax, Customs, Other Fees

[ForresterModern]

One problem is the US Customs code being extremely confusing and confounding to begin with. When I got ready to order my original kilt and kit a friend in the legal area with some customs experience sent me a PDF of the customs duties for imported goods--literally hundreds of pages of definitions with each item having its own percentage of value duty attached to a long line of exceptions and exemptions and specifications and referrals to other pages and listings. Confusing and befudling would be understatements.

From my friend I learned that each US citizen is allowed to bring into the country duty free (someone more knowledgeable correct me if I am misspeaking) about $200US in any given day and the excess, depending on its classification, is subject to duty at various rates depending on whether it is raw material, finished goods of fabric or leather or fur, ets.... Fedex just is more compulsive about doing the classifications and identifications and charging what they THINK the duty is supposed to be (their best guess) then adding their handling fees on top. The low cost of small items and thier particular material of manufacture can make the difference between getting through without duty and getting stuck with a larger fee on something like a kilt and kilt jacket at a higher overall cost, more likely to raise an eyebrow on somebody's customs radar. Hence the reason to try to order in smaller total value batches and to try to send the orders via a shipper who has less investment in both getting into your wallet and in maintaining their own international viability in the shipping business.

So, from my limited experience and knowledge, keeping your shipment values around $2-300 US or less by breaking up larger orders into several smaller ones, and having them sent Royal Mail or Parcel Force (from the UK at least) seems to allow them to get through without getting nailed with duties or the added handling charges. I don't think as consumers we are doing anything illegal in trying to minimize our costs due to import duties, as it is the governments responsibility to enforce the rules and impose those duties where appropriate. But we can make the smartest use of the system within those rules to get the best overall value out of any overseas ordering experience.

[Dianne B]

Over the years I have received many many shipments from all over the world (to Canada) via all the major carriers and most impose "additional shipping & handling" fees above and beyond what is paid for customs and duties in the receiving country. Up here FedEx and UPS are among the worst. I have had "additional fees" applied that exceeded $70 on a $150 shipment (excluding duties and taxes). It is so bad that I deal ONLY with the Post Office unless the item is required urgently. If a company will NOT use the post office, I take my business elsewhere. The Post Office charges only $5.00 for brokerage plus the actual tax and duty required.

[flairball]

I've had this problem in the past. My thoughts recently have been; if I am responsible for the tax, duties, etc, than rather than waiting for an inflated bill from the carrier, I'll go to the customs office myself and pay what's correct. Then when I recieve the bill from the carrier I'll provide tham with a copy of the receipt. They can then fight with the government to get their money back.

[fluter]

No. They have to comply with the law, same as everybody else. Their fees cover not only the cost of doing the paperwork, but also the cost of the duty WHICH THEY PAY ON YOUR BEHALF, and for which they expect to be reimbursed when they deliver the package to your door.

Including, as in the OP, dunning you for duty (and their fee) on an order that should be exempt! Are we having fun yet?

I agree that we should pay what's proper. However, having read through some of those customs documents, I see that it's not necessarily easy to determine what's proper.

So far, all my UK orders have been well under $200, and the post has been amazingly quick to get them here. Besides tartans, my weakness is books (Reg Frary, anyone?), so amazon.ca is also my friend (un-bowdlerized Harry Potter, yes!).

If I were ordering a tank from Scotweb or Geoffrey, I'd probably be willing to pony up for the reassurance of package tracking.

[raibeart_dubh]

What I don't understand is that if you order something from another country you pay customs fees no matter what. But if you travel to another country you are allowed to bring back a pretty hefty dollar amount of goods duty free. When my wife and I were flying back from Scotland we were instructed by the flight attendants that we could bring back something like $800 worth of stuff duty free. And that was $800 a piece so we had a joint exemption of $1600.


Can someone fill me in on the legalese of this disparity?

[mccollougha]

I received a bill from FedEx for Customs and Duty tax of $120.(for a Kilt outfit) It is now 30days old as I was out of town. They delivered the goods and did not say anything about owing any money. I paid for the items before they were even made along with the delivery fee.
Customs held up the package to be checked and after faxing them what the items were they released them, since they were personal items. No mention of fees owed?????
Normally personal items are exempt up to $800 if brought into the USA. So why am I being asked to pay this big fee?

[ziggy]

Frankly, even items I've brought in from the US with the postal service, if it's of significant value, I always end up paying tax on it. I fully expect to pay it on my kilt from scotland too.

If the quality is there, I am sure it'll be worth it, I am getting such a comparatively good deal on the kilt anyways.