Thai Wife Getting Hit With Import Tax 30% For House Hold Goods

[coobah666]

recently moved to thailand from Aust and had all our house hold goods shipped here. the wife also has a Aust passport and there saying that because of that she has to pay the import tax on everything is this right they also said the cheaper method was a non reciept method (tea money)

any advise would be good thanks

[slapout]

She still holds a Thai passport, corrtect. She needs to send copy of same with exit from and entry back into Thailand (more than 18 month) and there should be no duty on import of misc. household goods. Not sure how or why her having a Aussie pasport entered into it.

there are a couple charges for shipment/movement of same but not excessive if memory serves correctly.

[lovetotravel]

Unfortunately, you are dealing with probably the second most corrupt organization in Thailand. Right behind the police. Thai Visa is full of stories like this. They get you any way they can. Right or wrong. Though I have heard of a few who got away with paying very little in fees. It is rare.

[rijb]

Be sure you're dealing with Customs. And not the shipping company trying to pull a fast one. They're the real crooks.

[samran]

Your wife will have needed to have entered Thailand on her Thai passport and there will need to have been a full 12 months between entries into Thailand for her to qualify for the duty free import.

Otherwise, they are trying it on.

[Dekchaimong]

If your wife is Thai, and she has a Thai passport, and she has been out of the country for more than 12 months then you should not have to pay tax.

We were in the same boat when we moved here from China - your freight company will need your wifes passport and stamps etc. to prove she is A) Thai and non resident for at least 12 months - then you don't need to pay tax!

Good luck.

[Dekchaimong]

Your wife will have needed to have entered Thailand on her Thai passport and there will need to have been a full 12 months between entries into Thailand for her to qualify for the duty free import.

Otherwise, they are trying it on.

No they do not need a full 12 months out of the country - they can have entry stamps as if coming back to visit relatives or whatever, they need to make sure that they are out of the country for more than 6 months in 1 year. A bit like the UK Tax thing. If the OP is using a decent shipping company HA HA like DHL....Ha Ha they should sort it out for him.

We used a decent company that ships world wide and had no problem, they did everything for us, no tax paid!

Edited April 11, 2012 by Dekchaimong

[necronx99]

As long as the goods are used and in reasonable quantaties It's a tea money put up job.

See here http://www.customs.go.th/wps/wcm/connect/custen/individuals/importing+used+or+secondhand+household+effects/importingusedsecondhandhouseholdeffects

[coobah666]

the shipping company is Hong Kong Transpack Co., Ltd. and dont know how they got invovled because I used Chess Removalists in Australia,so whats my next step, have allready sent wifes thai passport to them,shippment due in BKK on the 10th april and waiting to hear back from them soon ,so do I have to get some legal advice on this or what can I do any sugestions

[ang]

What kind of household. For example if there is more than an 1 electrical item of same or new household items then duties has to be paid. Returning Thai citizen or not. Again if you had a decent company, then they would have taken care of everything, if paper and the item issue was ok. I know the thai custom and in my eyes they are the most corrupt in Thailand.

[thenervoussurgeon]

I have posted this before ,my wife lived in the UK for seven years ,when we retired to Thailand ,we sent our belongings to her sisters in BKK my wife used her THai maiden name and i as a foreigner did and had nothing to do with it ,when the goods arrived my wife and her sister arranged everything ,we were asked for and payed nothing ,except by the shippers for about 2000 baht if we wanted our goods delivered to Pattaya instead of bangkok

[samran]

Your wife will have needed to have entered Thailand on her Thai passport and there will need to have been a full 12 months between entries into Thailand for her to qualify for the duty free import.

Otherwise, they are trying it on.

No they do not need a full 12 months out of the country - they can have entry stamps as if coming back to visit relatives or whatever, they need to make sure that they are out of the country for more than 6 months in 1 year. A bit like the UK Tax thing. If the OP is using a decent shipping company HA HA like DHL....Ha Ha they should sort it out for him.

We used a decent company that ships world wide and had no problem, they did everything for us, no tax paid!

Though I am glad it worked for you, I'm wary of this advice for two reasons:

The customs website clearly states: "Returning Thai residents who have been abroad for one year or longer, for the purposes other than touring are eligible to bring in household effects acquired abroad free of taxes and duties."

http://www.customs.go.th/wps/wcm/connect/custen/individuals/importing+used+or+secondhand+household+effects/importingusedsecondhandhouseholdeffects

I've also been through the process myself, and have dug out the old email which the shipping company (Allied Pickfords) sent to me:

Regarding to your sea shipment from the UK to Thailand, please note that for a returning Thai for exemption taxes & duties, must be staying in the UK for over 1 year CONTINUOUSLY (no traveling back and forth to Thailand during the past year). Otherwise full duty applies. FYI.

(Customs can check the period of time you stay by checking from the immigration stamp that shown on your passport).

Edited April 11, 2012 by samran

[slapout]

One thing that I did not mention, If your wife is on the shipping documents as Sender and Receiver, and fits the time out of country requirement, then someone is trying to get to you. If shipping to another Thai, then you have created a real rats nest. Can be worked around for a bit of tea money, maybe. Good luck

[RudieTheFoodie]

Can anyone on this thread confirm the REAL (i.e none of the fake add ons) list of costs for a company importing machinery?

Import Tax is 1% - Already discussed this with the Customs Dept.

What other costs are there (genuinely) after the box (1 cubic meter and 50kg) arrives at the port?

Cheers.

[RudieTheFoodie]

The machine was sent from the UK. On the Bil of Laden it gave the name of the "Agent" here. They have sent me a bill for 13k (baht) broken down like this

1.Customs Clear : 2,500 thb

2.Tax : 6,134 thb

3.DO : 3,231.40 thb

4.Customs Fee : 200 thb

5.ware house : 96.30 thb

6.4 wheel truck : 900 thb

Total : 13,061.70 thb

On the paperwork they sent I've realised firstly that they have categorised the import at 30% (even though it should be 1%) and also changed the value of the machine down from 900 GBP to 300 GBP (Personally I'd choose to pay 1% of 900 quid than 300% of 300)

Does anyone know what the .DO charge for 3k is??

Obviously the small fees sound right (clerical government/storage/transport)

Any insight would be appreciated

[samran]

The machine was sent from the UK. On the Bil of Laden it gave the name of the "Agent" here. They have sent me a bill for 13k (baht) broken down like this

1.Customs Clear : 2,500 thb

2.Tax : 6,134 thb

3.DO : 3,231.40 thb

4.Customs Fee : 200 thb

5.ware house : 96.30 thb

6.4 wheel truck : 900 thb

Total : 13,061.70 thb

On the paperwork they sent I've realised firstly that they have categorised the import at 30% (even though it should be 1%) and also changed the value of the machine down from 900 GBP to 300 GBP (Personally I'd choose to pay 1% of 900 quid than 300% of 300)

Does anyone know what the .DO charge for 3k is??

Obviously the small fees sound right (clerical government/storage/transport)

Any insight would be appreciated

perhaps start up a new thread? You might get a better response.

This one is all about if the OP Thai's wife should/shouldn't be getting her shipment bought in duty free.

[RudieTheFoodie]

^good idea

[thaihome]

Your wife will have needed to have entered Thailand on her Thai passport and there will need to have been a full 12 months between entries into Thailand for her to qualify for the duty free import.

Otherwise, they are trying it on.

No they do not need a full 12 months out of the country - they can have entry stamps as if coming back to visit relatives or whatever, they need to make sure that they are out of the country for more than 6 months in 1 year. A bit like the UK Tax thing. If the OP is using a decent shipping company HA HA like DHL....Ha Ha they should sort it out for him.

We used a decent company that ships world wide and had no problem, they did everything for us, no tax paid!

Though I am glad it worked for you, I'm wary of this advice for two reasons:

The customs website clearly states: "Returning Thai residents who have been abroad for one year or longer, for the purposes other than touring are eligible to bring in household effects acquired abroad free of taxes and duties."

http://www.customs.g...ouseholdeffects

I've also been through the process myself, and have dug out the old email which the shipping company (Allied Pickfords) sent to me:

Regarding to your sea shipment from the UK to Thailand, please note that for a returning Thai for exemption taxes & duties, must be staying in the UK for over 1 year CONTINUOUSLY (no traveling back and forth to Thailand during the past year). Otherwise full duty applies. FYI.

(Customs can check the period of time you stay by checking from the immigration stamp that shown on your passport).

We shipped a container from China without paying duty with no problem. My wife had mulitple Chinese Z (working/dependent) visas in her passport. Though she had visited Thailand for a week just six months prior, it was not a problem. This was Asian Tigers/Transpo and they handled it with no hassles.

TH

[notmyself]

Personal goods are NOT subject to duty and the only TAX would be on services within Thailand. Note services within Thailand.