Newbie Visa & imports cost questions

[Hillywilly]

Our situation is as follows ;

We are moving to Thailand in a few months

W intend to stay at least 1 year, hopefully more if we like it and all settle in

My daughter (8) has been accepted into a school and they are in the process of sending us the paperwork to enable us to apply for her visa.

My husband is looking at getting a 1 year multi-entry B visa ( he travels a lot for work)

I will arrive on a 60 day tourist visa, then I intend to enroll in a certified Thai language school and obtain a 1 year Ed visa.

Firstly - does this sound reasonable and is it fully legal?

We are not as yet in a financial position to apply for a guardian visa for myself as you need around £17,000 in a bank account as I understand it.

The next question I have is regarding import tax on personal items.

We do not intend to bring a huge amount of things with us, but There will be things that just don't fit into a suitcase ( particularly for my daughter who is struggling with the idea of leaving a lot of her toys in storage!)

We have looked at shipping costs for a few boxes and found a reasonable quote, but I'm desperately in need of advice regarding the cost of duty and importation tax.

As I understand it as none of us have a work permit we will be liable to pay tax of 20% +7% vat on all of our items.

Does anyone know how this is worked out?

Would the boxes be valued individually or together as total value of shipment?

I read on one sige that we will also have to pay tax on the cost of the shipping. How does that work?

I'm sorry for all the questions, but im at my wits end trying to figure this all out and any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I'm really struggling to find the answer to my questions anywhere and my head feels like it about to explode with all the information I have read over the past couple of months...

Thanks

[Mario2008]

Yes, it is possible and legal.

Yes, you will have to pay import duties. Your agent will be able to negotiate a favourable fee with customs.

To be a guardian you need 500,000 baht in a bankaccount in Thailand, that is around 10,500 pounds.

You could try to apply for a multiple non-O visa and skip the ED-visa. But that would mean that you have to leave the country every 90 days for a border run. You cna come back the same day.

[glegolo]

While you are waiting for more and better answers what regards your VISAS and so forth, I can offer you information that you probably will end up after negotiations with the import customs agent here in Bangkok paying around 3-4.000 baht as duty and VAT. This under condition that it is personal effects..... Plse do not forget that there will ALSO be other charges debited by the customs agent and further charges added by the shippinglineagent.

I can line it up for you as follows:

Customs Clearence agent:

- Customs clearence 2.000baht
- Service 2.500baht
- W/house handling 1.200 baht
- VAT 7% 399 baht

- Customs duty 3 - 4.000 baht

Shipping line agents charges:

- CFS THB 300/WM
- THC THB 250/WM
- STC THB 150/WM

- FAC THB 60 W/M

- DOF THB 1.600/set
- HANI THB 500/LS
- VAT 7%

F.Y.I. W/M means weight/measurement which in fact is 1 ton or 1 m3 whatever

profits most for the shipping line...

ps. If you have problem to calculate these costs, you are welcome to come back with measurements of your goods that you intend to ship, and I will help you out with it.

Glegolo

Edited June 12, 2013 by glegolo