Duty Tax on Personal Imports

[paulfr]

Several times I have received goods for personal use from the US and had to

pay Thai duty tax. Once the clothes for my daughter from family was $200

[but mistakenly insured for $500]

in value and they wanted 22,000 baht [no misprint].

An agent got them down to 9000 baht which I had to pay.

Another time some food items in boxes came [approx $100 incl shipping]

and I had to pay 100% of the cost of goods plus shipping; came to 4000 baht.

Recently a Thai friend told me all persoanl items are duty free.

I was being swindled by the Customs Dept and did not know enough

to challenge them ........ ???

Is this true ?

Did I NOT have to pay these charges because all items were personal

in no way connected with a business ?

Thanks for your comments

[GrantSmith]

Several times I have received goods for personal use from the US and had to

pay Thai duty tax. Once the clothes for my daughter from family was $200

[but mistakenly insured for $500]

in value and they wanted 22,000 baht [no misprint].

An agent got them down to 9000 baht which I had to pay.

 

Another time some food items in boxes came [approx $100 incl shipping]

and I had to pay 100% of the cost of goods plus shipping; came to 4000 baht.

 

Recently a Thai friend told me all persoanl items are duty free.

I was being swindled by the Customs Dept and did not know enough

to challenge them ........ ???

 

Is this true ?

Did I NOT have to pay these charges because all items were personal

in no way connected with a business ?

 

Thanks for your comments

 

 

Were the items new or 2nd hand?

As for tax free, anything over 1000 baht will be liable to attract import and excise taxes if it is brand new.

Getting the person to "lower" the cost of the item won't do a lot - and is technically illegal - as the import tax / excise tax is based on total cost of getting the item(s) here.

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[telldem]

I've never paid taxes on 5 packages i received with Ems.

[thailandbeachisland]

People who do not have any import tax to pay are just lucky, but it often happens.

Personal items or not you will have to pay IF THEY WANT.

[paulfr]

The items from family were new.

But because they are personal, they should be exempt according to my Thai friend.

[GrantSmith]

The items from family were new.

But because they are personal, they should be exempt according to my Thai friend.

Unfortunately this is not the case... The duty assessment from Customs is correct, as ridiculous as it sounds... But with some lobbying from your agent this fee was reduced and subsequently attributed to the christmas party fund...

[harrry]

The items from family were new.

But because they are personal, they should be exempt according to my Thai friend.

Your Thai friend is not an expert on import and export I see.

All imports are subject to tax and duty whether new or used. The rate for duty is assessed on the value of the goods plus freight and insurance as assessed by Customs. Some items have a 0% tax rate some have 60% plus. Most have 7% VAT. Some also have an excise on top.

Generally a package with a value including postage of less than 1000 baht are not taxed.

The whole package is assessed for duty at the rate of the higest rated item in the package.

[h90]

The items from family were new.

But because they are personal, they should be exempt according to my Thai friend.

That is nonsense: Personal or not personal you pay import tax if it is over 1000 Baht value.

If it is express cleared you pay the import tax for the item with the highest duty.

(someone told me for shoes it is 60 %, but I can't verify as the my internet doesn't work well at the moment)

So lets say someone sends mixed items together with a pair of shoes. Together value 10.000 Baht. Shipping cost 500 Baht

10.500*0.6=6300 Baht

16.800*0.07=1176 Baht

fees 200-1000 baht

You see you are very fast on very high numbers for an almost worthless shipment. And in Europe it is much worse than in Thailand

[arminbkk]

The items from family were new.

But because they are personal, they should be exempt according to my Thai friend.

That is nonsense: Personal or not personal you pay import tax if it is over 1000 Baht value.

If it is express cleared you pay the import tax for the item with the highest duty.

(someone told me for shoes it is 60 %, but I can't verify as the my internet doesn't work well at the moment)

So lets say someone sends mixed items together with a pair of shoes. Together value 10.000 Baht. Shipping cost 500 Baht

10.500*0.6=6300 Baht

16.800*0.07=1176 Baht

fees 200-1000 baht

You see you are very fast on very high numbers for an almost worthless shipment. And in Europe it is much worse than in Thailand

A shipment of about 250 euros is "an almost worthless shipment"?

So in your example, the import tax + VAT + fees come to about 8,400 baht, or close to 85% of shipment value.

Talk about excessive.

Edited to add: my family once sent me a large carton box from Europe with kids toys via EMS. I just picked that box up

at the post office (this was in Ubon) without paying anything. This was in 2005 if I recall correctly.

Edited November 29, 2013 by arminbkk

[NancyL]

I find that items shipped via the postal system rarely are charged duty while items shipped via DHL/FedEx/UPS almost always are charged duty and that the duty is based on the cost of the goods plus the cost of the shipping.

The part that's hard to accept is being charged duty on the cost of the shipping, not just the value of the goods.

[lemoncake]

This is what i recently learned.

I sent about 12 boxed of personal belongings from Oz to Thailand.

Each box was over 10kg

I used regular post, Thai name and wrote address in both English and Thai.

Not even one was stopped or taxed, all went through without a problem

I think its the name of addressee and type of service that attracts the customs and taxes

[Prbkk]

I notice that one of the international shopping sites charges 25-30% more in Baht for Thailand deliveries than for the same item to Australia. I assume that this is because they make arrangements to cover the duty ' somehow'.

[donniereadit]

How do they value new shirts that have the packaging and receipts removed? Package not insured and minimal value listed on customs form.

Perhaps there is an itemized list somewhere they use for this?

[GrantSmith]

How do they value new shirts that have the packaging and receipts removed? Package not insured and minimal value listed on customs form.

Perhaps there is an itemized list somewhere they use for this?

To give you a decent indication of what could happen, give us a bit more info...

Location of export

'Minimalist cost' plus shipping

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[MrWorldwide]

http://www.dutycalculator.com/country-guides/Import-duty-taxes-when-importing-into-Thailand/

The key here is 'CIF' - I seem to recall that CDs and books are exempt from import duty. Clothing and other items where the Thais have a domestic industry to protect would logically attract higher duty than other items where they dont have factories pumping them out, but as always TiT.

Duty rates in Thailand vary from 0% to 80%, with an average duty rate of 20.93%. Some products can be imported free of duty, e.g. laptops and other electronic products.

[meatboy]

People who do not have any import tax to pay are just lucky, but it often happens.

Personal items or not you will have to pay IF THEY WANT.

these discussions have been going on for yrs.will they or wont they.

after reading some posts lately i think we got a fair deal.

3cubic mtrs.of wifes personel items nothing new,mind you nearly new shipping from our door uk.to the port half a mile

arrived in bkk.on time.£240

all boxes[30] marked with every single item.

time to get intouch with the agent[bkk].

copy of passport required and bill of laden.

oh mrs.meat there is some tax to pay[whatever they can screw you for] 3 days of pissing my wife off she now gets angry with them and tell them my brothers are on their way.ok they say we have to pay another co.to go onto the dock we have no licence.

minutes later we have negotiated with them total to pay,12,000bht.plus 6,000 delivery to korat.

so not counting the delivery charge from uk.to bkk.£500

and by the way 30kilo's overwheight on the plane no charge when we showed them our tickets were one way.[thai airways]

[h90]

The items from family were new.

But because they are personal, they should be exempt according to my Thai friend.

That is nonsense: Personal or not personal you pay import tax if it is over 1000 Baht value.

If it is express cleared you pay the import tax for the item with the highest duty.

(someone told me for shoes it is 60 %, but I can't verify as the my internet doesn't work well at the moment)

So lets say someone sends mixed items together with a pair of shoes. Together value 10.000 Baht. Shipping cost 500 Baht

10.500*0.6=6300 Baht

16.800*0.07=1176 Baht

fees 200-1000 baht

You see you are very fast on very high numbers for an almost worthless shipment. And in Europe it is much worse than in Thailand

A shipment of about 250 euros is "an almost worthless shipment"?

So in your example, the import tax + VAT + fees come to about 8,400 baht, or close to 85% of shipment value.

Talk about excessive.

Edited to add: my family once sent me a large carton box from Europe with kids toys via EMS. I just picked that box up

at the post office (this was in Ubon) without paying anything. This was in 2005 if I recall correctly.

Sorry about the "almost worthless shipment" What I thought and what I wrote are two different things:

I thought about second hand clothes with some shoes, declared at 10.000 Baht.....I thought something like the second hand clothes have no real market value, but someone wrote 250 Euro because that is the price if you would loose them and have to buy new clothes.

That was in my mind when writing but forgot to write it so it came that I wrote 250 are almost worthless....

[harrry]

The items from family were new.

But because they are personal, they should be exempt according to my Thai friend.

That is nonsense: Personal or not personal you pay import tax if it is over 1000 Baht value.

If it is express cleared you pay the import tax for the item with the highest duty.

(someone told me for shoes it is 60 %, but I can't verify as the my internet doesn't work well at the moment)

So lets say someone sends mixed items together with a pair of shoes. Together value 10.000 Baht. Shipping cost 500 Baht

10.500*0.6=6300 Baht

16.800*0.07=1176 Baht

fees 200-1000 baht

You see you are very fast on very high numbers for an almost worthless shipment. And in Europe it is much worse than in Thailand

A shipment of about 250 euros is "an almost worthless shipment"?

So in your example, the import tax + VAT + fees come to about 8,400 baht, or close to 85% of shipment value.

Talk about excessive.

Edited to add: my family once sent me a large carton box from Europe with kids toys via EMS. I just picked that box up

at the post office (this was in Ubon) without paying anything. This was in 2005 if I recall correctly.

Sorry about the "almost worthless shipment" What I thought and what I wrote are two different things:

I thought about second hand clothes with some shoes, declared at 10.000 Baht.....I thought something like the second hand clothes have no real market value, but someone wrote 250 Euro because that is the price if you would loose them and have to buy new clothes.

That was in my mind when writing but forgot to write it so it came that I wrote 250 are almost worthless....

And that is the definition of value that customs uses. THe value of an item is not what someone says he paid for it but what they consider it would cost to replace.

[h90]

That is nonsense: Personal or not personal you pay import tax if it is over 1000 Baht value.

If it is express cleared you pay the import tax for the item with the highest duty.

(someone told me for shoes it is 60 %, but I can't verify as the my internet doesn't work well at the moment)

So lets say someone sends mixed items together with a pair of shoes. Together value 10.000 Baht. Shipping cost 500 Baht

10.500*0.6=6300 Baht

16.800*0.07=1176 Baht

fees 200-1000 baht

You see you are very fast on very high numbers for an almost worthless shipment. And in Europe it is much worse than in Thailand

A shipment of about 250 euros is "an almost worthless shipment"?

So in your example, the import tax + VAT + fees come to about 8,400 baht, or close to 85% of shipment value.

Talk about excessive.

Edited to add: my family once sent me a large carton box from Europe with kids toys via EMS. I just picked that box up

at the post office (this was in Ubon) without paying anything. This was in 2005 if I recall correctly.

Sorry about the "almost worthless shipment" What I thought and what I wrote are two different things:

I thought about second hand clothes with some shoes, declared at 10.000 Baht.....I thought something like the second hand clothes have no real market value, but someone wrote 250 Euro because that is the price if you would loose them and have to buy new clothes.

That was in my mind when writing but forgot to write it so it came that I wrote 250 are almost worthless....

And that is the definition of value that customs uses. THe value of an item is not what someone says he paid for it but what they consider it would cost to replace.

No the value is the market value. So lets say some old used socks, someone forgot in the hotel, have a market value of 0.01 $ while they cost a couple of $ to replace.

On the other hand a collector item might be very expensive but to replace it with a new one could be very cheap.

So market value it is.....And that is often the thing to discuss about.....(importing second hand luxury cars, etc etc)