Sudden Demand For Import Duty, 2 Years After The Event!

[jkinbkk]

We imported some products into Thailand from the USA in March 2008.

At the time the import tariff was 'zero'.

Today we received a call from someone claiming to be from the 'Custom Dept'? stating that they made a mistake 2 years ago and we now owe them 10% import duty on the goods?

Is this legal or is it some kind of pathetic scam?

Advice please?

[Mario2008]

Legal or not, without proper paperwork I would pay nothing.

[Soutpeel]

Legal or not, without proper paperwork I would pay nothing.

Agreed....tell them to p*ss off....

[gotlost]

It looks like you are being busted by the scam police. if you were to ask for official verification a government office and contact 10 to 1 they well bolt.

[ATO1994]

Did you engage the services of freight forwarding agent?

If yes - give them a call.

You still have the Customs Declaration Form (No Import Duty)?

[eljeque]

They should send you a letter on Customs Department letterhead.

Then, you can go to the Customs Dept. and see who signed the letter, if it is real.

And, I must agree with the above, once they release it and accept your papers, it is completed.

Best of luck

[Jonathanpattaya]

Sounds fishy to me!

[raro]

The customs department has the right to check 10 years back your import records. YOU as the importer are responsible for the correct import duties, not the customs officer and for sure not the forwarder or customs agent.

If the customs officers have made a mistake upon imposing the duties, you are liable. That's why YOU sign off the import entry form for correctness.

[ralfbkk]

While RaRo is correct, please also note that the Royal Customs Department would hardly make any phone calls advising / asking you that you declared something wrong.They sent you a nice letter (they are really good with it and very detailed) explaining the situation and that you need to pay like, tomorrow. If they call again, ask them to sent you an official letter.

This advise comes from some one who is working for a Freight Forwarder and Customs Broker.

[raro]

that is also correct, they would send you a letter. They might also show up at your office asking for sifting through your paperwork.

Heard this from a sizable company in Bangkok. They got caught with some "wrong declared" items dating back several years and booked for significant penalties with the offer to donate still significant but smaller amounts to the custom's widows and orphans fund instead.

The company's head office agreed to pay for the official fines (compliance, compliance....) and survived it as they are a multinational with otherwise healthy entities.

[jkinbkk]

Thank you all for your insight.

We have contacted our forwarder and they are looking into it?

Yes, an official letter will be our request if they call again.

Lets see what transpires?

[CWMcMurray]

Post audit by customs is in fact real and completely legal. Get your paperwork toether and see if you can provide proof to prove it was orginally declared correctly. If not, then you are liable for and additional duties owed.

If found that the goods were declared incorrectly, they may also ask you to draft a letter explaining why the goods were misdeclared and if they find that the goods were misdeclared with the intent of defrauding customs, then you could face customs penalties as well.

[Zen]

I received a letter from the customs asking for many many informations, some of which I think are too much. For example, they're asking me how much I sell wholesale, what is the wholesale discount structure, how much I sell at retail etc. And they want copies of invoices that i issued to my Customers!

I thought customs should be asking only for the import price, import items etc? Do the customs spot check like this often? Some people tell me "once in every 5 years" and some tell me that I won't get it unless my shipping agent did something wrong or didn't give enough coffee!

Edited July 21, 2010 by Zen

[12DrinkMore]

I received a letter from the customs asking for many many informations, some of which I think are too much. For example, they're asking me how much I sell wholesale, what is the wholesale discount structure, how much I sell at retail etc. And they want copies of invoices that i issued to my Customers!

I thought customs should be asking only for the import price, import items etc? Do the customs spot check like this often? Some people tell me "once in every 5 years" and some tell me that I won't get it unless my shipping agent did something wrong or didn't give enough coffee!

The Thais are improving slowly but surely. Which I find positive. What went by in the past is no guarantee it will go through in the future. It is, IME, now more difficult to bribe things through with a bit of tea money.

In your case I suspect that they think you are under-declaring the value of the imported goods, and so avoiding import tax.

Governments the world over are looking for sources of tax revenue to fund their deficit budgets. Computers and the internet are working to make it much easier to check and control.

Stand by for the "Brave New World",

[Zen]

sigh!

Edited July 22, 2010 by Zen

[manarak]

I received a letter from the customs asking for many many informations, some of which I think are too much. For example, they're asking me how much I sell wholesale, what is the wholesale discount structure, how much I sell at retail etc. And they want copies of invoices that i issued to my Customers!

I thought customs should be asking only for the import price, import items etc? Do the customs spot check like this often? Some people tell me "once in every 5 years" and some tell me that I won't get it unless my shipping agent did something wrong or didn't give enough coffee!

The Thais are improving slowly but surely. Which I find positive. What went by in the past is no guarantee it will go through in the future. It is, IME, now more difficult to bribe things through with a bit of tea money.

In your case I suspect that they think you are under-declaring the value of the imported goods, and so avoiding import tax.

Governments the world over are looking for sources of tax revenue to fund their deficit budgets. Computers and the internet are working to make it much easier to check and control.

Stand by for the "Brave New World",

funny... in my country, import duties are calculated on the imported quantity, not on its value.

for example, the tax would be 0.5 USD per imported liter of pure alcohol or 15 USD per Kg of fresh beef meat, etc.

[12DrinkMore]

funny... in my country, import duties are calculated on the imported quantity, not on its value.

for example, the tax would be 0.5 USD per imported liter of pure alcohol or 15 USD per Kg of fresh beef meat, etc.

How does that work with cars or lcd TV's?

Taxed per kilo of steel or plastic?

[MrE]

Just to give you an idea of how much power the Customs officials have, we imported some equipment from the US for our business. Included in the paperwork was the invoice which included some food products, but which were not in the shipment or listed on the Bill of Lading. Even with an "experienced" broker doing the importation, all of it was confiscated because we did not have FDA approval to import the food which wasn't there. We lost it all. Ignoring what they tell you or worse telling them to p**s off can not only have them at your door with a truck, it can land you in prison. If you want to fight it you will need a lawyer conversant with import law.

[Zen]

it's ironic to know that while the customs are catching honest incorporated companies who pay taxes, there're many many individuals smuggling or under declaring things like computer parts or some other accessories and selling them openly either in the malls or on the internet and the customs do nothing about them!