Thai Customs - Import Duty

[jimflan]

i live in Thailand, and I am having some lost property (a laptop and an ipad that I left at Bali airport last week) returned to me from Bali.

Will the Thai customs charge me import duty on my returned goods ? Is there a way of flagging to them that are pretty old existing property of mine, that I bought in Thailand, and are lost property being returned, not a purchase of any kind.  

[blackcab]

1 hour ago, jimflan said:

Will the Thai customs charge me import duty on my returned goods?

 

They shouldn't, because both of your items are exempted from import duty. You will, however, have to pay VAT and processing fees. Sometimes shipments are assessed. Other times there is no assessment. It's random and is probably something to do with if they have enough staff or not.

 

1 hour ago, jimflan said:

Is there a way of flagging to them that are pretty old existing property of mine

 

You can have the items declared as used, however all goods have a value, otherwise you would not have paid for them to be shipped to you.

 

1 hour ago, jimflan said:

that I bought in Thailand, and are lost property being returned, not a purchase of any kind.

 

Sorry, but that probably won't work. If it did everyone would say the same thing and nobody works pay anything to customs.

[Mark1066]

1 hour ago, blackcab said:

 

They shouldn't, because both of your items are exempted from import duty. You will, however, have to pay VAT and processing fees. Sometimes shipments are assessed. Other times there is no assessment. It's random and is probably something to do with if they have enough staff or not.

 

 

You can have the items declared as used, however all goods have a value, otherwise you would not have paid for them to be shipped to you.

 

 

Sorry, but that probably won't work. If it did everyone would say the same thing and nobody works pay anything to customs.

If he has a receipt it could possibly work but I think it needs to be arranged in advance. 

[Lacessit]

Thai Customs official make their own rules on assessment of duty. It's either pay up, or forfeit the goods.

IME items worth less than 1000 baht are released without any duty being assessed. I have been stung 3000 baht for a secondhand set of golf clubs.

In the OP's case, it depends on what Customs think the laptop and iPad are worth. I am not sure the lost property factor will be accepted. Good luck.

[Mark1066]

3 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Thai Customs official make their own rules on assessment of duty. It's either pay up, or forfeit the goods.

IME items worth less than 1000 baht are released without any duty being assessed. I have been stung 3000 baht for a secondhand set of golf clubs.

In the OP's case, it depends on what Customs think the laptop and iPad are worth. I am not sure the lost property factor will be accepted. Good luck.

I believe the threshold is 1,500 Baht, not 1,000. My experience with Thai Customs differs markedly from yours though. I've only ever once been overcharged for something I imported and it was a trivial amount. All of the many other packages I've received have been assessed using the correct HTS codes, with duty calculated on the cost that was noted on the invoices.

 

Whether you were 'stung' or not depends on the value of the clubs you imported and how much it cost you to have them shipped here.

[Skeptic7]

Chances are you'll be paying out the ying-yang. Thai import duty is a ripoff. In 2020, sent a box of odds & ends and some clothes from the USA. FedEx put a default value of $100 for insurance purposes. Had to pay B3000 to Customs to take delivery of the parcel. The contents was all old stuff and no electronics. Total ripoff and would never do it again.

 

Pls followup and let us know how much they ding you for. 

[Mark1066]

15 minutes ago, Skeptic7 said:

Chances are you'll be paying out the ying-yang. Thai import duty is a ripoff. In 2020, sent a box of odds & ends and some clothes from the USA. FedEx put a default value of $100 for insurance purposes. Had to pay B3000 to Customs to take delivery of the parcel. The contents was all old stuff and no electronics. Total ripoff and would never do it again.

 

Pls followup and let us know how much they ding you for. 

The fact there were no electronics in the package is irrelevant. There is no duty to pay on laptops for instance and only 10% on most electrical/electronic equipment. On the other hand, the duty applied to clothing can be as high as 60%, depending on what type of clothing it is. The amount you were charged sounds like it was correct, maybe even generous. You must have paid at least another $50 to send it by FedEx, which needs to be included in the assessment.

 

So many people on this forum screaming ripoff and scam when the only real issue is they are too lazy to check the applicable rate of duty before they get something sent over here.

[Srikcir]

6 minutes ago, Skeptic7 said:

Chances are you'll be paying out the ying-yang. Thai import duty is a ripoff. In 2020, sent a box of odds & ends and some clothes from the USA. FedEx put a default value of $100 for insurance purposes. Had to pay B3000 to Customs to take delivery of the parcel. The contents was all old stuff and no electronics. Total ripoff and would never do it again.

 

Pls followup and let us know how much they ding you for. 

Customs Act of 2017

Chapter II Part 1

Section 16

• There are six methods determine Customs value. Custom valuations for purpose of import duty collection. One can be "a deductive value." 

There is no mention of any hierarchy for which method applies.

Section 17

• Customs value for importation shall include cost of insurance, cost of transportation, loading and unloading of goods (ie., for Customs inspection)

No comment.

Section 18

• An advanced ruling can be obtained and "shall exclusively bind the Customs Department and the requester for a period of time specified by the Director-General."

This might help in making personal property import decisions.

Note: I have no personal experience as such.

 

[Liverpool Lou]

47 minutes ago, Skeptic7 said:

Chances are you'll be paying out the ying-yang. Thai import duty is a ripoff. In 2020, sent a box of odds & ends and some clothes from the USA. FedEx put a default value of $100 for insurance purposes. Had to pay B3000 to Customs to take delivery of the parcel.

Laptops are zero-rated for import duty.  You were not importing a laptop.

[Liverpool Lou]

28 minutes ago, Mark1066 said:

So many people on this forum screaming ripoff and scam when the only real issue is they are too lazy to check the applicable rate of duty before they get something sent over here.

Well said.

[richard_smith237]

It seems hit n miss to me. 
 

I had one cheap parcel (pajamas - £15  from Next online) - we were charged about 800 baht tax !!!!

It didn’t make sense at all but there is no point fighting it. They applied whatever ‘additions’ they wanted to take the value over the taxable threshold.
 

I guessed once they look at an item, that’s it. Fortunately customs are lazy and a lot gets through (medication / football boots / clothes etc). 
… the key is to have a family member repackage and send as a personal parcel. 

[Skeptic7]

6 hours ago, Mark1066 said:

paid at least another $50 to send it by FedEx, which needs to be included in the assessment.

 

If correct, that is not only a ripoff, but blatantly greedy ripoff. 

[William C F Pierce]

It is not the Thai Customs you need to worry about. It is the corrupt courier companies who say the Customs are making the charges.

My own experience of DHL is they charged me 3700 Baht on behalf of Thai Customs. In the post I received a receipt for 200 Baht from Thai Customs. Where did the other 3500 Baht go??? DHL. Which meant DHL were paid twice for the consignment via corrupt Thai Employees, performing on their behalf.

[fdsa]

I share my experience here: https://aseannow.com/topic/1224885-ordering-a-lenovo-thinkpad-4-weeks/page/3/

 

in short, @blackcab is right - the import duty is random here, most likely you will be required to pay VAT 7%, and less probably but still possible you will be required to pay extra 10% import tax for "electronics". If you are lucky you will pay nothing.

[Liverpool Lou]

On 10/19/2022 at 1:55 PM, fdsa said:

the import duty is random here, most likely you will be required to pay VAT 7%, and less probably but still possible you will be required to pay extra 10% import tax for "electronics".

Import duty rates are not random, they are specified.

Laptops are zero-rated for import duty, they have no liability to "an extra 10% import duty charge".

Zero-rated goods may still be charged VAT on the CIF cost.

[Mark1066]

On 10/18/2022 at 6:03 PM, Skeptic7 said:

If correct, that is not only a ripoff, but blatantly greedy ripoff. 

What, $50 to send a package by FedEx from the USA to Thailand is a rip-off? I'd be surprised if it was less. I think I paid around that amount to send a straight razor to California a few years ago and it costs more than that to send a small package by USPS Priority Mail International these days.

[3STTW]

The other arbitrary factor is that you get to pay tax and handling charges not just on the value of the goods but the on cost of shipping as well.

 

You can actually end up paying twice the value of the goods if they are weighty and expensive to ship. This is a <deleted> outrage and should be outlawed under some kind of UN Charter.

[Chelseafan]

7 minutes ago, 3STTW said:

The other arbitrary factor is that you get to pay tax and handling charges not just on the value of the goods but the on cost of shipping as well.

Sadly, this applies to a lot of countries, including the UK/EU

[3STTW]

18 minutes ago, Chelseafan said:

Sadly, this applies to a lot of countries, including the UK/EU

True, and it arose because of the way the EU recovered VAT from couriers, effectively taxing transactions outside their domain.  And many other countries said "Ooh, what a great idea!".