Sorry for the rant, needing to vent and I'm sure no one is even going to listen!

I order 3 CD's from amazon.ca as I couldn't find them anywhere else. They came to a total of $CAD 25.97 (about CHF 26), and were delivered pretty swiftly about a month ago.

Today I've got home from work to find a letter from DHL asking for 34 CHF in taxes on them! Pardon! I look at the letter they've sent and despite on the package, marked on two stickers the total value, DHL have valued them at $CAD77.91 or CHF 79, so the bill states:

79 x 7.6% = 6,00
Vorlangeprov. 8.00
Admin kosten 20.00
TOTAL 34.00

What is that all about?

What is the Vorlangeprov. / Prov avance fonds / Prov. cauzionale?

They want more than the value of the 3 CDs! Can I just give them back and tell them to go screw them selves? Probably another 20 CHF admin fee for that.

Rant over, breath deep ...

Did Amazon fill in a customs form with invoice for the package? Sounds like they didn't and DHL or Swiss Customs had to open the package and evaluate the value. Hence the admin cost.

We get sent samples by post from companies in the UK and I have to tell them 10 times to fill in a customs declaration, otherwise we sometimes get charged similarly to you.

had similar issue with DHL but for a business package delivery:
basically they pay the VAT on your behalf, and then they request it from you. They bill for this process.... i call this rip off and then 20.chf for administrative costs....thiefs!

DHL/UPS/USPS/CH Post is obligated to charge you VAT. They are not obligated to spend time and research price of the goods for your benefit. Someone probably looked it up on the net and took a price they found on the net.

Do you have an invoice from amazon? If so, I would suggest you write a letter to the DHL complaints department at basel, include the invoice as the "Bill of Lading". The invoice clearly shows the value of the goods. Ask them to send you a corrected bill, based on the invoice. I am pretty sure they will do it. Letter in english will be fine.

Send the letter registered mail, and this will get their attention.

Cheers . . .

"Die Vorlageprovision" - the disbursement (?) fee is common with all freight forwarders. It's the fee for paying the VAT upfront and taking the risk that the customer won't pay it finally. Writing a complaint won't get you out of it. In fact, you're lucky you didn't have to pay for the logistics system - another CHF 10.00 that a lot of forwarders like to put on their bills. And CHF 20.00 is better than the Post offices CHF 35.00 or private forwarders who will at least charge CHF 50.00.

I very much doubt that someone just looked it up on the net. All forwarders have their prices and policies. If you want to get a deal, you have to contact them yourself before the goods are sent. Also, as recipient you have no say in the matter unless you initiated the shipment yourself.

FYI - I order a lot of stuff from Amazon.de - they have a huge selection of English books and free shipping to Switzerland. To date, I've never been knicked for taxes!

Just to get this right before you waste money on a registered letter.

You ordered goods from Canada using Amazon and the value was ca $26. How much was the freight? Because that is added to the value of the goods to calculate the landed value. And that probably takes you over the CHF66 threshold for VAT on goods entering Switzerland.

A tip for the future:

If you can, have your supplier (in this case amazon.ca) ship to a friend of yours in Canada or the US, then have
that friend repackage and forward it to you with the paperwork clearly showing the value.

Coming from an individual (rather than a company), it is less likely to attract the attention of the customs people.

You pay double freight so where is the advantage ? The risk is still not removed of getting hit for Swiss tax, reduced but not removed !

Thanks to all for the replies.

Thanks too Richard for the VAT threshold. I had roughly figured out it was around 50,- based on trial and error approaches. I had no idea that the shipping was also included in that.

In this case the box had two clear markings on it. One just below the address which stated:

DESC: audio cd
VALUE: 25.97 CAD

And a second commercial invoice sticker which listed the 3 items and a total value there of 25.97. A copy of these stickers has even been attached to the DHL invoice asking for the additional 34,-.

The packaging has no indication of the shipping costs, so I have had to hunt down the amazon email which said it was 18.46 so the total for the goods and shipping was 44.43 (roughly 45,- CHF) so below the value I should be charged tax on.

I'm guessing that this is a lost cause whatever way I look at it. If DHL admit they have made the mistake they will not wave the admin fees, as they have done some work now, and will most probably tell me that I need to contact the tax authorities to get my 6,- rebate!

I'd be inclined to fight every penny of this, if only on principle. This was well under the VAT limit, with a clear commerical invoice showing the costs. They should not have charged you admin or taxes for this.

An old thread but I'm ventng, I just got rogered by UPS for this 'Vorlageprovision' - 20 chuffs service fee so they could pay 9.75 import duty, I didn't even ask them to act as my agent they just took it upon themselves to do so.

Was there anyway I could have told them not to pay the vat on my behalf?

I notice the minimum fee for Europe is 10Eur, but in CH it's CHF 19.50 what a rip off.

You can employ a customs clearing agent, however it will cost way more than CHF 20!

It's not for paying the VAT, it's doing the paperwork for customs and VAT.

What do you expect them to do, phone you up and have you come to the customs clearance point and deal with it yourself?

Tom

What were the 3 CD's ??


cheers
SC

I expect it to be covered in the cost they were paid by the shipper to transport a declared item to an address in switzerland.

But yes an option would have been appreciated, even an automated email asking if I wanted to engage them as my agent for 20 chuffs or do it myself. I read here that there's nothing to it, and the depot is in Rumlang.

Well probably you agreed to it, have a look at the Terms & Conditions
Point No. 1: Customs, Exports and Imports
and
Point No. 5: Shipment Charges
http://www.dhl.ch/content/dam/downlo...f_carriage.pdf

Is that the right document? I wasn't the shipper, I was the recipient, I didn't make any prior agreement or contract with the transport company.

Most e-commerce websites (in their own general terms and conditions) make the purchaser liable for any import duty and the associated costs and that by entering into the purchase agreement, you essentially ask the e-commerce website to enter into the agreement with the transport company on your behalf (also accepting the transport company's terms and conditions)...