Import Duty On Freight ?

[luudee]

Just got a FedEx shipment of some items I ordered. I usually try to avoid using

FedEx like the plaque, but sometimes there is no way around it.

Is it legal for FedEx to impose a "Import Duty" on the "Freight" Charges ?

Please see attached the fright bill. It's a small amount, but I'm still pissed

because it basically doubled the cost of the items I ordered.

Please see attached image.

Is the government organization I can complain to about this ?

Thanks,

luudee

[MyTHaiMyKe]

Why do you have to pay import duty on insurance and freight? Shouldn't you just pay duty on cost, which was 1300.96, making your duty only 260.19?

[Langsuan Man]

One of the problems with using any of these private carriers is that they "pro-rate" your shipment using the total value of all the items in the container. This includes not only the duty on the declared value of the individual items but also VAT, unfortunately VAT is charged on the "freight"

If you complain to FEDEX, if they respond at all, they will state that they merely collect the customs duties for Thai Royal Customs Department. Which is partially true, but to insure that their shipments are not delayed, they (actually you) over pay

[Boksida]

It looks as if Fedex have paid the import duty on your behalf. Whether they actually paid that amount is another matter. All countries that I know of calculate duty on the CIF value. If you did receive an electric light fitting of some sort shipped from somewhere in Asia, there is not much you can do about it.

Edited May 16, 2013 by Boksida

[Beardog]

Sounds about right. Had fed ex send a pair of repaired Maui gyms. My cost $10.00 to repair. The glasses were luckily polycarbonate so the were cheaper than glass . New price $169.00 By the time they got to me Fed Ex collected 148.00 with vat tax included on a repair not even a new purchase. Needless to say I use EMS only in Thailand & within the U.S. If I need it quick I will use Fed Ex. I think they are making a killing on the overage charges. Last trip in the states I came back with over $2000.00 in motorcycle & building gear & a nice Webber grill (for 1200 baht here it is 6800baht to 7200baht for the same) It paid for my airfare with what they would have gaffed me for using Fed ex. I think UPS is about the same. Not sure about DSL . I never used them.

[kurnell]

The charge is correct and based on CIF value.

[jbrain]

Kurnell beat me to it.

Import duties are always calculated on the price of the goods including Insurance and freight cost. This is worldwide the same.

[brummiebob]

DHL is more reliable in this parts of the world but on the issue of tax and duties, they will pay the government according to what's declared on the airwaybill everytime, unlike EMS or standard mail where the odd shipment might slip through

[luudee]

Usually I use EMS worldwide, and as far as I can remember never had to pay

import duty on freight with them. Also, it seems with EMS, anything below

$100 USD is usually delivered without having to pay import duty and vat.

A couple of months ago, FedEx would not deliver items at all, and call asking

to send them a copy of my passport ... and than deliver like a week later.

Complaints as usual didn't go anywhere ...

Anyway, thanks to everybody for clarifying this. I guess it is accepted practice

"worldwide" to pay duty and vat on Insurance and freight in addition to the

actual value of the items shipped. I did not know that.

Cheers,

luudee

Edited May 16, 2013 by luudee

[surangw]

Did you ask for an estimate before you decided to make the shipment?

[yankee99]

what did your original customs receipt say?

[Arkady]

Not only legal but obligatory to charge import duty and VAT on cost insurance and freight.

Better to order small stuff by post. Thailand Post has an agreement with the Customs Dept that they don't have to collect duty on packages declared at less than US$50. Often they will stretch a point and let things through valued a bit more than that.

The courier companies have non exemption and collect every last cent, always erring on the side of caution. I was charged import duty and VAT on the freight only on an unsolicited free auction catalogue.

Edited May 17, 2013 by Arkady

[shaznay]

Hi,

We are moving to Thailand in November and I would really like to ship some of our belongings. Can anyone recommend a good shipping company? Also approx how much import duty and tax I should expect to pay.

Value of shipment is about £10,000. Been quoted by one company £3045 excluding duties,taxes and insurance.

Thanks a lot

[yankee99]

Not sure where you are shipping from but a 20' container from the usa is under $3000

[shaznay]

We are moving from Jersey, Channel Islands. Its almost as expensive to ship our things to GB mainland as it is from GB to Thailand!

We are also bringing our dogs with us. We've chosen to fly them direct from Heathrow but we'll have to take them to Heathrow by ferry and car as Jersey don't fly there!

I shall be getting some more quotes for shipping, just wondered if anyone could give us an idea how much duty and tax to expect.

[Satcommlee]

There is a fixed charge which is based on the weight of the Item, it is itemized on the bill.

It's taxed based on Cost, Insurance and Freight.. (CIF)

Too complicated to go into here.. but no way to get around it when you dealing with FedEx, DHL etc...

[raro]

Not sure where you are shipping from but a 20' container from the usa is under $3000

and why can we compare the rates from the US (east or west coast?) with the rates from the UK?

Did your quote also include packing? Transport to the port? Etc.. I've been in this business before and the only thing you can compare is a quote for the same job by different forwarders. Most of the time you will find out that they differ by a couple of dollars. It is cut throat business nowadays and that's why I quit for good.

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[p_brownstone]

There is a fixed charge which is based on the weight of the Item, it is itemized on the bill.

Nonsense.

The Import Duty is based on the Harmonised Duty Tariff (category) of the item Imported and is a simple percentage of that Code charged on the C.I.F. value of the shipment.

Size or weight of the Package has absolutely no relevance.

Patrick

Edited July 28, 2013 by p_brownstone

[yankee99]

Not sure where you are shipping from but a 20' container from the usa is under $3000

and why can we compare the rates from the US (east or west coast?) with the rates from the UK?

Did your quote also include packing? Transport to the port? Etc.. I've been in this business before and the only thing you can compare is a quote for the same job by different forwarders. Most of the time you will find out that they differ by a couple of dollars. It is cut throat business nowadays and that's why I quit for good.

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

This includes dropping the container in southwest florida with a 2 hour load time then taking it to thailand. Its not to complicated as i shipped some things with them already.

Here is a link to get a quote from a US location http://internationalshippingusa.com/Home.aspx

[kurnell]

Not sure where you are shipping from but a 20' container from the usa is under $3000

Yeah, that would be freight only

[kurnell]

We are moving from Jersey, Channel Islands. Its almost as expensive to ship our things to GB mainland as it is from GB to Thailand!

We are also bringing our dogs with us. We've chosen to fly them direct from Heathrow but we'll have to take them to Heathrow by ferry and car as Jersey don't fly there!

I shall be getting some more quotes for shipping, just wondered if anyone could give us an idea how much duty and tax to expect.

Unless you have a recent work permit your shipment will be subject to tax and duty on arrival...or a Thai missuz.

[Satcommlee]

There is a fixed charge which is based on the weight of the Item, it is itemized on the bill.

Nonsense.

The Import Duty is based on the Harmonised Duty Tariff (category) of the item Imported and is a simple percentage of that Code charged on the C.I.F. value of the shipment.

Size or weight of the Package has absolutely no relevance.

Patrick

I asnt specifically talking about import duty, but the tax on freight..

It is actually shown on the bill he posted, read again carefully point 1 in small print, note Asia is 130 per KG!

It is not nonsense.

In this case the Freight tax is based on 130 baht per KG X 21 KG = 2730 Baht

Edited July 28, 2013 by Satcommlee

[joepattaya1961]

One could ask whether it's correct that VAT is charged over Import Duty.

[yankee99]

One could ask whether it's correct that VAT is charged over Import Duty.

Yes it is .... if the value is $100 and duty is 10% that becomes $110 x 7% (vat) so $10 + $7.70 = 17.70 (vat and duty)

[Gone]

We are moving from Jersey, Channel Islands. Its almost as expensive to ship our things to GB mainland as it is from GB to Thailand!

We are also bringing our dogs with us. We've chosen to fly them direct from Heathrow but we'll have to take them to Heathrow by ferry and car as Jersey don't fly there!

I shall be getting some more quotes for shipping, just wondered if anyone could give us an idea how much duty and tax to expect.

Unless you have a recent work permit your shipment will be subject to tax and duty on arrival...or a Thai missuz.

Not true. A Retirement visa is better for shipping personal goods then a WP because a WP has nothing to do with anything when it comes to shipping.

[kurnell]

We are moving from Jersey, Channel Islands. Its almost as expensive to ship our things to GB mainland as it is from GB to Thailand!

We are also bringing our dogs with us. We've chosen to fly them direct from Heathrow but we'll have to take them to Heathrow by ferry and car as Jersey don't fly there!

I shall be getting some more quotes for shipping, just wondered if anyone could give us an idea how much duty and tax to expect.

Unless you have a recent work permit your shipment will be subject to tax and duty on arrival...or a Thai missuz.

Not true. A Retirement visa is better for shipping personal goods then a WP because a WP has nothing to do with anything when it comes to shipping.

Wanna bet?

[yankee99]

We are moving from Jersey, Channel Islands. Its almost as expensive to ship our things to GB mainland as it is from GB to Thailand!

We are also bringing our dogs with us. We've chosen to fly them direct from Heathrow but we'll have to take them to Heathrow by ferry and car as Jersey don't fly there!

I shall be getting some more quotes for shipping, just wondered if anyone could give us an idea how much duty and tax to expect.

Unless you have a recent work permit your shipment will be subject to tax and duty on arrival...or a Thai missuz.

Not true. A Retirement visa is better for shipping personal goods then a WP because a WP has nothing to do with anything when it comes to shipping.

Complete bullocks ^^^^

[raro]

We are moving from Jersey, Channel Islands. Its almost as expensive to ship our things to GB mainland as it is from GB to Thailand!

We are also bringing our dogs with us. We've chosen to fly them direct from Heathrow but we'll have to take them to Heathrow by ferry and car as Jersey don't fly there!

I shall be getting some more quotes for shipping, just wondered if anyone could give us an idea how much duty and tax to expect.

Unless you have a recent work permit your shipment will be subject to tax and duty on arrival...or a Thai missuz.

Not true. A Retirement visa is better for shipping personal goods then a WP because a WP has nothing to do with anything when it comes to shipping.

Wanna bet?

go for it, you'll win

only a WP not older than 6 months entitles you to a duty-free import of personal effects and even then conditions apply.

[raro]

There is a fixed charge which is based on the weight of the Item, it is itemized on the bill.

Nonsense.

The Import Duty is based on the Harmonised Duty Tariff (category) of the item Imported and is a simple percentage of that Code charged on the C.I.F. value of the shipment.

Size or weight of the Package has absolutely no relevance.

Patrick

I asnt specifically talking about import duty, but the tax on freight..

It is actually shown on the bill he posted, read again carefully point 1 in small print, note Asia is 130 per KG!

It is not nonsense.

In this case the Freight tax is based on 130 baht per KG X 21 KG = 2730 Baht

yeeeeeesss....okay.

You are right in a way, the duties amount is depending on the weight as the weight calculates the total amount of freight. The freight being a function of the weight and the duties being a function of the freight we could mathematically deduct that parts of the duties can be looked at as a function of the weight.

Now back to real life: the CIF value is the basis for the duty calculation. That is the VALUE (which can be technically different from the invoice amount) of the goods upon arrival. This includes the freight.

[Gone]

Hey I can admit if I am wrong. Instead of saying only "wanna bet" he could have explained it like Raro just did right?

Sorry to everyone if I gave wrong information and should have made sure that I knew what I was talking about. That is not my normal intensions on these forums.

I just know that because I have a retirement visa that when I come back from a trip to Canada that it allows me to bring things that I might not be able to if I was only on a tourist visa etc. Ok that's nothing to do with shipping.

Again, my apologies.