Today must be my lucky day. I ordered some fishing line from Ebay value 125 euros and it got taxed. The luck part was that they assessed it at 3000bt instead of 5000. So ok I had to pay tax 20% but it could have been worse.

Then while getting back on my trusty motorcycle from the post office they were stopping bikes and really stopping everyone. So i stopped but after they saw my handsome face they waved me through.

So the police and the customs office both did me a favor today. What are the chances of that happening at the same day.

I feel that i need to buy a lottery ticket.

You paid 125 euros + tax for fishing line, and thats lucky.

It is if the line is at least 8000 to 10000 bt here (and its not even available here)

Its 1000 meters of sinking braid. So far i have only ever seen non sinking braids here.

Well done, now sell it on and make a tidy profit.

Well done, now sell it on and make a tidy profit.

Sorry im an avid angler no need to make a profit here ill use it myself. Though it is a lot so it will last me a couple of years. The problem is just that many of the stuff that i like is not available here. I just found it funny that the customs who are renowned for overcharging did not take the real price that was given but instead went for a lower value.

@ transam, this supply will be good for a couple of years. And yes its a lot of money for fishing stuff. But it will last me for a long time. But the whole point was that the customs charged me less then they could have.

I have had a few things sent through the post from UK and never paid a penny in import tax. Any parcel just had gift written on it, even my truck tuning chip.

Things my folks send me usually get through without tax too. However this was a professional seller at ebay and he had to give up the value and send it by registered mail. Both of those attract attention. SO i was already sure i would get taxed.

But received other items by normal mail without tax.

You will also find that many online sellers refuse to mark any packages they send as "gift" or "samples" for the very reason that it is technically illegal to do so.

Having said that, so far I have been lucky and not been charged duty on anything I have bought online so far. I have been warned though not to buy anything online until the end of this month. I forget why but customs are being very strict at the moment.

You will also find that many online sellers refuse to mark any packages they send as "gift" or "samples" for the very reason that it is technically illegal to do so.

Having said that, so far I have been lucky and not been charged duty on anything I have bought online so far. I have been warned though not to buy anything online until the end of this month. I forget why but customs are being very strict at the moment.

To be honest of course i would have liked it if i did not have to pay taxes but im happy enough its less then i expected. But i think sellers cant give up a lower value if it gets lost they are not insured if its a gift ?. I am not 100% sure of it but that also might be an explanation.

Even so just was surprised that the real value on the papers was higher then the value the tax office taxed. That for me was a first.