Liverpool Lou

You can believe anything you like. I know the difference between duty, VAT and customs clearance/administration fees. The 7,000 was on top of the changes from Thai customs So, clarify, just so that we are talking about the same subject, this was on an item bought overseas and delivered to you by the seller using a courier company in Thailand? What was the item?

No it wasn't that law was bought in to stop people from drinking all day long , to stop people from having a beer in the morning /afternoon and then keep drinking all day If that's the case, how come it was a regulation that never applied to the places where most drinking took place, the bars, or are you saying that bars had to stop serving alcohol between 2pm and 5pm?

Perhaps you missed the post below that exactly paralleled the prior reports I had mentioned above Perhaps you didn't notice that the post you referred to was not the same situation of a courier company overcharging duty. His item was at Customs and FedEx advised him of it, he went and as a result he wasn't charged anything by Customs and had his item delivered. That is not exactly parallelling the case of refusing delivery because of duty being payable and then having the courier deliver it free of duty later. Duty payable items are not delivered anyway if you initially just refuse to pay legitimately assessed items.

I doubt that any courier company has charged you a B7,000 admin/distribution charge on an item ordered from overseas that they'd delivered to you. Duty and VAT are not couriers admin charges.

Not can’t, but won’t I wonder why?!

Those members reports of that nature are, of course, nonsense. If refusing delivery (due to duty being applied) means the duty and VAT is just cancelled and the item is then delivered anyway everyone would be doing it and there'd be no need for duty to be levied.

"You have to pay what the courier is asking for". No, you do not. The charges can be reviewed and adjudicated by Customs if you request it but couriers charge official Customs Dept rates and VAT, plus a small admin charge that they are permitted to charge for the service of collecting the duty/VAT on behalf of Customs.

I can and I have here in the past.... But I haven't used FedEx or DHL for package deliveries into Thailand for many years.... after having some packages delivered by those services where the total amount of duty and VAT they charged exceeded the real/actual value of the items being shipped. "I can..." You can? Go on then! My point is that so many posters claim to have been overcharged duty by couriers yet not one, not one single one, can post a receipt showing it. I'm ready to eat humble pie as soon as someone posts some evidence of a courier company's overcharging, as they're claiming.

In a vast number of packages I've sent to Thailand over the years, the normal charge for USPS/Thai Post delivered packages of personal electronics has been 7% VAT at most, and often no charge at all. In the rare case where any actual Customs duty has been charged, it's been a pittance to the amounts FedEx and DHL have wanted in the past. Thailand has a duty exemption for packages valued at 1500 baht or less ($45-50 US)... But just lately, I shipped a $125 mobile phone from the U.S. via USPS, valued it correctly in the customs declaration based on that market value purchase price, and it was delivered to my home by ThaiPost with zero added charges (no duty or VAT). I am commenting on the alleged, and so far, unconfirmed by anything empirical, overcharging of duty by courier companies, that's all. I'm aware that items sent in through regular Thailand Post frequently do not get charged as they cannot examine every item that is sent into the country. I have had many items with no duty charged through Thailand Post that would have been charged using a courier company.

That's just a comparison of US delivery charges comparing USPS 12-day delivery with couriers' 2-day delivery, that's all. My comments are relating to alleged incorrect import duty in Thailand, nothing else. By the way, couriers do not "charge higher import duties" than Customs allows them to charge. Official Customs Dept rates are charged whether by postal services or couriers, the rates are the same. Unless you can post a real world example of what I'm actually talking about, import duty.

No, I do not "stand corrected". The subject of my comments was personal items purchased online, or sent from overseas, such as a laptop, via a courier company, being incorrectly assessed for import duty. Your links do not relate to my comments.

Too many 1st person accounts to enumerate + personal experience. Tax, VAT, and huge clearance fees are all common from the 2 if you try to DIY. So many personal experiences but you can't post just one receipt for those "huge clearance fees" imposed on you when buying items online and having them delivered by a courier!

From the U.S., insured USPS Priority or Express Mail are absolutely better choices, and almost guaranteed to only be charged the 7% VAT amount on personal electronics, at most. That's the same charge as Customs official rates, i.e. 0% duty and 7% VAT for a laptop. "Personal electronics" are not zero-rated and, if Thailand Post pulls your item for inspection, import duty and VAT will be charged by them also.

Whether you like it or not, by law, duty and VAT is based on assessed value, not some "arbitrary price the market is bearing on a product"! Just because you may be able to buy a product for £100 when someone else can't buy it for less than £1000 doesn't mean that it's value for import duty assessment is £100!

How do you suggest a laptop should be sent to Thailand from overseas?

"...there's different customs codes that can be applied..." Import duty rates are established by Customs and are checkable. Re-assessments can be requested. "They're apparently under no obligation to base the customs value on what you actually paid or the item cost, but what they THINK its value should be". Of course, by law, duty and VAT is based on actual value, not price paid. It is applied on CIF valuations because that is the legitimate method to calculate charges.

"Customs and fedex are colluding to charge you whatever they can get away with..." You have some evidence of that defamatory accusation? "I heard a story..." doesn't count.

Customs will always charge import duty and VAT, as applicable, on items sent/purchased from overseas.

No import duty is due on a laptop. 7% VAT is and is calculated on the actual value plus insurance and shipping (CIF). Can you post that "B20,000, or so" advice here? FedEx used the term "or so" regarding the charges? They should be able to tell you specifically and they will break down all the charges, duty, VAT and their, usually small, admin charge. If import duty is being levied, challenge it. Was the value of the computer correctly declared? Under-valuing imports is an offence that has landed people with fines from Customs.

"Need to pay" how much, how and where? If there is anything to be paid there will be a notice detailing the charge(s) that FedEx can confirm to you (unless they're asking you to visit Customs first). They usually call ahead to ensure that there is someone there to pay any charges to avoid a redundant delivery. Phone them and ask them. Laptops are zero-rated for import duty, as Crossy has said, so it's likely that it's 7% VAT that is due.

It has been a recurring subject here, that's all, and so far, not one poster who has accused the courier companies of incorrect duties on items purchased/sent from overseas using couriers has been able to show anything empirical to back their accusations. As you "suspect it's a racket", is it safe to assume that you've got something to back up your suspicions?

Same place that they get the locks and barrels from!!

Gun dealers?

"Acceptable IDs are subject to the Banking laws and regulations of Thailand".

Yes, particularly as, from a previous poster's comment... "What documents can I use to pick up money in Thailand? You need to present any official government-issued ID or a valid International passport, Thai National ID card, Thai driver’s license, other Thai government issued ID, Civil Servant ID, Alien card to pick up money at a Western Union agent location. Acceptable IDs are subject to the Banking laws and regulations of Thailand".