I need to send something out of Thailand for repair & I’ll be using DHL. How can I avoid being charged duty & Vat on it’s purchase value when it comes back? Is there some kind of exemption document from Thai customs? Or is it sufficient for the repairer to declare it as a repair & not a purchase?

There should be a customs process.

 

Elsewhere its doable with a documented outbound declaration

 

As you are inflicting DHL on yourself why not seek their esteemed expertise (they are after all experts in extracting by proxy every possible penny of tax/duties on behalf of customs agencies worldwide)

First thing never have anything sent to Thailand by DHL or other couriers,

you are 100 % sure to be charged tax, vat, and their extra charges.

 

I get all kinds of things sent by Mail , just registered and tracked, only

if its an expensive item, otherwise ordinary airmail is OK, never had a

problem, couple of times someone has sent something by Courier, one

parcel I just abandoned ,they wanted me to get an agent to clear a KG.

of fish food, then came back the next day and said you need to get a

250 Gram, Packet of toffees cleared too, ....about 30 quid worth of stuff,

not worth bothering with, and by the time I found an agent to clear the

stuff , they would have been charging me storage costs.  Mail never a

problem.

regards Worgeordie

 

Make sure the return journey is by post.

IF the parcel is intercepted by customes, you will be presented with a form at the PO to complete, attach evidence (receipt from dhl and correspondence for repair etc to prove you sent it out). Submit that with the form. You can then wait (upto 2 weeks) for the clearance, OR pay it, get your item, then claim it back.

 

If you courier it back you will get hammered and have to just accept it.

Speaking as somone who has been running a tech business here for twelve years:

 

Absolute agreement with the above comments; DHL, TNT etc are all 100% committed to extracting as much money as possible. They could decide any rate of tax and will not be negotiated with, regardless of any proof you might offer that the rate is not correct. I have had first hand experience of this.

I don't know where you're based, but they could decide that you need to fly to Bangkok to show your passport in person before releasing your goods - this happened to a friend of mine from whom they were demanding 4,000 Baht for a parcel containing two candles. True story.

 

I always use the Thai postal service for international parcels, they have always 'played fair' with me. 

Just send using the regular postal service in the country of origin. Tracking / signing on receipt options are usually available.

21 hours ago, Regyai said:

There should be a customs process.

 

Elsewhere its doable with a documented outbound declaration

 

As you are inflicting DHL on yourself why not seek their esteemed expertise (they are after all experts in extracting by proxy every possible penny of tax/duties on behalf of customs agencies worldwide)

This is just SO right on the money.

Agree with posts above ... Thai Post I’ve never had a problem and was provided tracking information. 

 

Not Thailand but another big populated country shipped brochures for a trade show and a box of new golf balls on sale for $13.95 with original receipt/ sales price on the box unopened. Customs said no fees for 

brochures but $100 USD for the golf balls... I told them keep the golf balls and enjoy... and they wonder why

people get angry... 

 

Thai Post is a good choice......

3 hours ago, Davedub said:

DHL, TNT etc are all 100% committed to extracting as much money as possible. They could decide any rate of tax

Yes, of course, they do that because they have contracts with the government to collect the duty on it's behalf but no more than the import tax that applies to the particular item.   Import duty, VAT and their disbursements are detailed on their invoices, if the import duty rate charged is incorrect it can be queried.   Courier companies cannot "charge any rate of tax that they want", that's just garbage.

3 hours ago, Davedub said:

I always use the Thai postal service for international parcels, they have always 'played fair' with me. 

Just send using the regular postal service in the country of origin. Tracking / signing on receipt options are usually available.

You're right with that but using normal postal services does not mean that items from overseas won't be intercepted.     It's the luck of the draw, some of my overseas deliveries have come through unnoticed, some have been examined and charges levied.   The delivering post office in Thailand then send the recipient a notice of the duty due.

17 minutes ago, DJ54 said:

...shipped brochures for a trade show and a box of new golf balls on sale for $13.95 with original receipt/ sales price on the box unopened. Customs said no fees for 

brochures but $100 USD for the golf balls...

Duty is due on some items, not on others, that's usual.   Duty that is due is paid on the value of the items, the "sale price" that you may have paid, opened or unopened, is irrelevant.  

Oh my. The usual urban myths.

 

I received a small JD labs atom headphone amp from the states via USPS - I paid the duty on arrival, no more than 1000B. I ordered the US version, because I wanted a US plug, and the thing went bang - it was 110v but it didn’t say that in the spec.

 

They are only a small company, and the MD got back to me, apologized, told me to recycle the power brick and they would repair the amp and send a euro brick. I was given clear instructions to send the thing, labelled, for repair, so they wouldn’t get stung, I included all the original paperwork and the tax receipt.

 

Couple of weeks later it was sent back, via FedEx, USPS or UPS and the company had sorted it that there was no additional duty to be paid. 
 

Speak to your the manufacturer or repair company, they can speak to the carriers who have experience in these matters.

41 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Duty is due on some items, not on others, that's usual.   Duty that is due is paid on the value of the items, the "sale price" that you may have paid, opened or unopened, is irrelevant.  

I have paid duty on a few things via DHL, FedEx, USPS, etc .. for example, hifi components from Schiit audio - even with duty it still worked out cheaper than buying from some crook retailer in BKK.

 

I don’t understand the issues, I wanted these items, they aren’t available here, I ordered them - I paid a small duty - sometimes things come through without it. 
 

if you wanna dance, you gotta pay the band.

It get really frustrating. You’re not gonna get past it if you have enough shipped. 
 

I had them classify obvious sporting goods as fashion/clothes and it was a huge % markup. Of course if you contest it, it’s impossible, even when it is obviously total bs. 
 

What is really screwed is you pay customs and it basically makes you have to accept the item from the seller… unless you want to send it back and be stuck with customs fees and no product. 
 

Just do it all here or expect to pay almost double for everything.

2 hours ago, DJ54 said:

Agree with posts above ... Thai Post I’ve never had a problem and was provided tracking information. 

 

Not Thailand but another big populated country shipped brochures for a trade show and a box of new golf balls on sale for $13.95 with original receipt/ sales price on the box unopened. Customs said no fees for 

brochures but $100 USD for the golf balls... I told them keep the golf balls and enjoy... and they wonder why

people get angry... 

 

Thai Post is a good choice......

I bet they had a great time inserting those golfballs! Was Vaseline in your order?

2 hours ago, DJ54 said:

Agree with posts above ... Thai Post I’ve never had a problem and was provided tracking information. 

 

Not Thailand but another big populated country shipped brochures for a trade show and a box of new golf balls on sale for $13.95 with original receipt/ sales price on the box unopened. Customs said no fees for 

brochures but $100 USD for the golf balls... I told them keep the golf balls and enjoy... and they wonder why

people get angry... 

 

Thai Post is a good choice......

I bet they had a great time inserting those golfballs! Was Vaseline in your order?

Regular US postal service seems to get past customs most of the time.  I just had a new watch sent from the USA, no problems.  6,000 baht cheaper than buying it here.

 

DHL has always been a problem.  I always tell senders to not use DHL even if another option costs more.

keep dreaming...