Customs question about having a used hard drive containing business data shipped to me from abroad

[WaveHunter]

Just trying to figure out if I should expect Customs to charge me when I ship some 4tB har drives from the US to Thailand.  They are 8 year old backup hard drives of some of my media files that I need for a project.  They could hardly be considered a new purchase since they have thousands of hours of run time on them and the cases have older stickers and labels all over them,

 

So is there any way to document this to Customs so I don't get charged Duty and VAT on the shipment?

 

It's not so much about the money since these drives are pretty cheap brand new, but the closest post office that handles duty-payable items is an hour's drive from where I live so if any Customs payment is due, it just a waste of the better part of a day which is why I want them to come in duty free / VAT free, so they will just be delivered to my doorstep.

 

Worst case scenario, if I do get charged, it would only be for VAT, correct?  Am I correct that computer stuff is exempt from customs duty?

 

Edited November 10, 2022 by WaveHunter

[fdsa]

4 hours ago, WaveHunter said:

Worst case scenario, if I do get charged, it would only be for VAT, correct?

Once I've got charged 10% extra for used hard drives (17% tax total), and once was not charged even the VAT for a new expensive SSDs, so it is random.

 

4 hours ago, WaveHunter said:

Am I correct that computer stuff is exempt from customs duty?

 

the duty varies from 0% to 10% (plus 7% VAT so it's from 0% to 17%)

Edited November 10, 2022 by fdsa

[WaveHunter]

14 hours ago, fdsa said:

Once I've got charged 10% extra for used hard drives (17% tax total), and once was not charged even the VAT for a new expensive SSDs, so it is random.

 

the duty varies from 0% to 10% (plus 7% VAT so it's from 0% to 17%)

So, laptops ALWAYS are duty-free (VAT payable), but peripheral stuff is taxed?

 

Like I said before, it's not so much the money since these old sata drives are dirt cheap right now, but having to drive an hour to the nearest post office that handles Customs-payable items is such a pain in the butt!

Edited November 11, 2022 by WaveHunter

[fdsa]

7 hours ago, WaveHunter said:

So, laptops ALWAYS are duty-free (VAT payable), but peripheral stuff is taxed?

as I've answered in your other topic already - the import tax is random here, including laptops.

 

you could read this thread, I share my experience there https://aseannow.com/topic/1224885-ordering-a-lenovo-thinkpad-4-weeks/page/3/

not everything though

[WaveHunter]

21 hours ago, fdsa said:

as I've answered in your other topic already - the import tax is random here, including laptops.

 

you could read this thread, I share my experience there https://aseannow.com/topic/1224885-ordering-a-lenovo-thinkpad-4-weeks/page/3/

not everything though

Thanks for your link but all I was asking is what is the official government policy on import tax for peripherals; is it supposed to be taxable or is it like laptops which are duty free and VAT only?

[Onerak]

37 minutes ago, WaveHunter said:

Thanks for your link but all I was asking is what is the official government policy on import tax for peripherals; is it supposed to be taxable or is it like laptops which are duty free and VAT only?

The best is to ask for a link to government tax policies so that you can read it yourself and interpret it. Another easy way is to see how much Amazon US is charging custom for a similar product to ship to a Thai address. People here post their experiences and everybody's experiences vary as with everything in Thailand. 

Edited November 12, 2022 by Onerak

[HappyExpat57]

44 minutes ago, WaveHunter said:

Thanks for your link but all I was asking is what is the official government policy on import tax for peripherals; is it supposed to be taxable or is it like laptops which are duty free and VAT only?

The official policy is whatever they feel like at that time.

 

Plenty of fast cloud options, 4tb is free on many. Can you get someone back in the states to upload?

[WaveHunter]

31 minutes ago, HappyExpat57 said:

The official policy is whatever they feel like at that time.

 

Plenty of fast cloud options, 4tb is free on many. Can you get someone back in the states to upload?

Thanks for the reply but it's not helpful at all.  I am certain that there is a written official policy on what is and is not taxable and I just want to know what it is.  I don't read Thai and most of that data is not available in English.

 

As for cloud options, I already explored them and they are not viable from the source location or I would have taken that course of action.

 

I know that many people assume cloud transfers will work for any size of datasets, but actually try to accomplish that when the data sets are in the terabytes sizes and you'll find it is not as easy as you might assume.

 

If anybody has ACTUALLY succeeded in somehow transferring 4tB sized drives via a cloud service, I'm all ears ????. Send me a link to such a service.

 

Edited November 12, 2022 by WaveHunter

[mikebike]

12 minutes ago, WaveHunter said:

am certain that there is a written official policy on what is and is not taxable and I just want to know what it is.

Ya must be a newbie... knowing the written policy has nothing to do with what will actually happen. Others forgot to mention that it is up to them how they value the drives to begin with before any duties or taxes are applied. They could well believe there is value in the data on the drives and add that to the pre duty/tax evaluation.

 

Roll the dice or not, up to you.

[WaveHunter]

42 minutes ago, Onerak said:

The best is to ask for a link to government tax policies so that you can read it yourself and interpret it. Another easy way is to see how much Amazon US is charging custom for a similar product to ship to a Thai address. People here post their experiences and everybody's experiences vary as with everything in Thailand. 

You're right but I just figured that somebody must know the official tax rate. 

 

Truth is, I just don't trust Customs to be fair at all.  I have been burned by them numerous times, and each time it seemed fairly obvious to me there was some corruption involved. 

 

I mean, Customs officials are no different than policemen here in the Magic Kingdom who pull you over on a motorbike for something silly.  It's just a way for them to add to their retirement account I suppose.

[Onerak]

3 minutes ago, WaveHunter said:

I mean, Customs officials are no different than policemen here in the Magic Kingdom who pull you over on a motorbike for something silly.  It's just a way for them to add to their retirement account I suppose.

Hope you were aware of corruption in Thailand before moving here for whatever reason.

[WaveHunter]

6 minutes ago, mikebike said:

Ya must be a newbie... knowing the written policy has nothing to do with what will actually happen. Others forgot to mention that it is up to them how they value the drives to begin with before any duties or taxes are applied. They could well believe there is value in the data on the drives and add that to the pre duty/tax evaluation.

 

Roll the dice or not, up to you.

It always amuses me on this forum that it take at least a dozen replies that are more or less nonsense before you get a simple one-liner that has the answer.

 

I only want to know what the official written tax rate is, not all the possible things that might happen to affect that rate.  Do I expect to be treated fairly by Customs?  No!  I just want to know what the published rate is...that's all.  Very simple question, really.

[WaveHunter]

Just now, Onerak said:

Hope you were aware of corruption in Thailand before moving here for whatever reason.

I have lived here for 5 years.  I am well aware of the special brand of corruption that exists here.  That's no secret.  It would just be nice to know the published rate so that I know how much I am being ripped off for when it happens.  Just an academic question really ????

 

[HappyExpat57]

54 minutes ago, WaveHunter said:

Thanks for the reply but it's not helpful at all.  I am certain that there is a written official policy on what is and is not taxable and I just want to know what it is.  I don't read Thai and most of that data is not available in English.

 

As for cloud options, I already explored them and they are not viable from the source location or I would have taken that course of action.

 

I know that many people assume cloud transfers will work for any size of datasets, but actually try to accomplish that when the data sets are in the terabytes sizes and you'll find it is not as easy as you might assume.

 

If anybody has ACTUALLY succeeded in somehow transferring 4tB sized drives via a cloud service, I'm all ears ????. Send me a link to such a service.

 

One more time - there is no official policy other than what the inspecting official feels like at the time. There is no continuity between immigration offices, between police offices, there is no official policy that you can put a pin in.

[WaveHunter]

20 minutes ago, HappyExpat57 said:

One more time - there is no official policy other than what the inspecting official feels like at the time. There is no continuity between immigration offices, between police offices, there is no official policy that you can put a pin in.

Not true at all!  Of course there is a published tax rate.  Have you never heard of HS codes?  International trade could not exists without them.  I just do not know which code pertains to 3.5" internal hard drives.

 

To avoid all of thIs nonsense I guess I should have just posted:

 

DOES ANYBODY KNOW THE HS CODE (Harmonized System classification) FOR 3.5 INCH INTERNAL HARD DRIVES, AND WHAT THE PUBLISHED TAX RATE IS FOR THAILAND?

 

I have looked at the code table for Thailand and it is indecipherable to a lay person so I'm looking for someone who understands import/export HS codes.

Edited November 12, 2022 by WaveHunter

[Laphroaig27]

Whatever it is no doubt you'll be taxed at the correct rate. What will probably be random is the valuation. You can't win outright, you may take the gamble though ????????

[HappyExpat57]

29 minutes ago, WaveHunter said:

Not true at all!  Of course there is a published tax rate.  Have you never heard of HS codes?  International trade could not exists without them.  I just do not know which code pertains to 3.5" internal hard drives.

 

To avoid all of thIs nonsense I guess I should have just posted:

 

DOES ANYBODY KNOW THE HS CODE (Harmonized System classification) FOR 3.5 INCH INTERNAL HARD DRIVES, AND WHAT THE PUBLISHED TAX RATE IS FOR THAILAND?

 

I have looked at the code table for Thailand and it is indecipherable to a lay person so I'm looking for someone who understands import/export HS codes.

Quote all the rules and regs you want, they cherry pick what they want to use and ignore the rest.

 

And why all this fuss over a 4tb hd tax? You're whingeing about a 300-600 baht tariff.

[WaveHunter]

On 11/12/2022 at 8:24 PM, HappyExpat57 said:

Quote all the rules and regs you want, they cherry pick what they want to use and ignore the rest.

 

And why all this fuss over a 4tb hd tax? You're whingeing about a 300-600 baht tariff.

Because it is not just one hard drive