I purchased some secondhand items from eBay UK. Cost me less than £50 in total ( incl shipping) but this morning I had to pay a customs charge of 24 chf to receive them??
Ok confused.... Firstly I thought secondhand items didn't count for custom charges? Also, the Zoll have valued the items at 104 chf, which they are not worth so can I challenge this?
Your sender has made an error. Not putting a customs declaration on the package means that customs has opened the package and looked at what the value of the items are. That's how they get to the value and tax amount.
Used items are still subjected to import duties. Had the package been marked correctly, you would have likely been under the threshold.
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Gifts sent by private persons resident abroad to private persons in Switzerland are tax free up to a value of SFr.100. Tobacco products and alcoholic beverages are not allowed. Goods bought at an internet auction are subject to tax in accordance with the general regulations.
Ok fair enough if I have bought new from a website. But these clothes are all secondhand not even worth their value. I have the ebay invoices to prove it. They haven't even opened the package.
Worried now as my sister will genuinely be sending her daughters old baby clothes to me. I don't want to pay tax on that. How can you prove it.
Know exactly how you feel. Last year advertised in a UK publication which is given away with a magazine. The publisher sent a few copies to me with an invoice clearly marked free samples, no net worth. Customs opened the box and decided that the publication could not be distributed for free, assessed a ridiculous price and charged accordingly.... tried contesting but no joy.
I don't understand the complaint. It's been shown above that 24Fr (thanks st2lemans) is the correct amount of tax/charges for £50 worth of stuff.
Had it been marked correctly (as something you bought from an internet site) the cost would have been the same. As also shown above (thanks jrspet) the "gift" gives you an exemption of just under £50 including postage whereas a truthfully marked package would be taxed with no exemption (as it's a business transaction).
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Does feel like a slight injustice though when you know the real value of something and they disproportionately gone way over.
Well, if the "real value" was less than GBP50, it was the fault of the sender for mis-stating the value on the CN22 customs declaration. It looks like you were charged the appropriate fee based on 8% VAT plus the standard adminstrative charge of CHF18-.
You can't possibly expect the Customs people to look at the package, look at the declared value, and then say "Nah, it can't possibly be worth GBP50, let's not charge her."
The fact that the goods were second-hand makes no difference at all. Second-hand goods get taxed based on their value (which may be less than new goods).
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I don't understand the complaint. It's been shown above that 24Fr (thanks st2lemans) is the correct amount of tax/charges for £50 worth of stuff.
Had it been marked correctly (as something you bought from an internet site) the cost would have been the same. As also shown above (thanks jrspet) the "gift" gives you an exemption of just under £50 including postage whereas a truthfully marked package would be taxed with no exemption (as it's a business transaction).
I guess no complaint now that I understand it. Which means I probably won't buy secondhand stuff from eBay again as its not worth it.
I thought tax was charged on new items only.
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I would buy, but ask the sender to send it as separate packages, ensuring each package is worth less than CHF65 including postage. That way, you would escape the duty charges ( postage and packing might cost more though ). Alternatively, if convenient, send it to a German address, and pick it up from there whilst shopping in Jestetten or Konstanz, DE.
Within Switzerland, this is true, i.e. if I sell someone something used, even a car, there is no VAT to pay provided that the buyer is in Switzerland as well.
But, once you start dealing in international trade, it's different.
Tom
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Annoyingly I've just checked the invoice and opened the package fully and the seller put £50 on the cn22 as already stated but they haven't included all the items I paid for. Only £8.40 worth. Which means they have separated the items but declared them as worth more.
Which probably means another toll charge for the remainder of the items to come :-(
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