Thai customs duty on personal items - how to calculate

[Straight8]

I just got off the phone with a customs official (using the 1164 phone number from the website). She said that once your total is over the duty-free B10,000 you have to pay duty on the total, not the excess. That's whether it's a single item worth say B1,100 (in which case you pay duty on the full 1,100) or two items totalling B1,100 (say one for 500, one for 600 in which case again you pay on the total 1,100). In other words, the minute you exceed a total of B10,000 the duty-free allowance disappears completely. This might seem counter-intuitive (and contrary to practice in many other countries) but she stated it several times and went through the examples with me. However it seems there is no clear authority for this, nothing on the website and she couldn't point me to a regulation. I'm going to follow up by email to her and see if I can get some authority for it.

Also, the chargeable amount is more than 1,100 in the above example, because they use a formula: chargeable base = C+I+F. C= cost of item. I= insurance (and if you didn't buy insurance, they deem you to have insurance at a minimum of 1% of cost anyway). F = freight (and if you didn't pay freight because you took it on an airplane, they charge you B590/kg if from "Zone 1" countries such as Canada, different in other zones, and this part of the equation is apparently supported by Notification #9/2553). Add C+I+F and you get your base and then you pay 10% duty on the base, and 7% VAT on the base+duty (bear in mind I used the example of a guitar, some items might have different duty rates). Clearly the point of origin (Zone) is important because for example, if the item is from China and you get a certificate of origin, you pay no duty on a personal item, although I didn't ask about VAT.

Now, of course there's no telling whether the customs people at the airport will apply the same approach on any given occasion, but this is the closest I've got so far to definite answers on how it's supposed to work.

Hi Terraplane,

Interesting!!! Appreciate the feedback on this topic.

Firstly see the part highlighted in red. Did you get an more information on this?

Secondly, do you if the duty of the 10% is specific related to the type of items or 10% for anything [other than Cigs and Alochol which their is a stric limit].

Cheers

[craigt3365]

There's another article about this on the Bangkok Post today. Says new rules are being planned. Whatever you find out now will probably be changed shortly. But it did say if you brought in too much, over a new limit of 80-100k, you could be charged up to 4 times the amount of the goods...but left up to the discretion of the officer in charge. Clear as mud.

[harrry]

Great find! I think that lays it out quite well....

not an entirely accurate site. It gives electric wheelchairs a tarrif code of 8711.20.90000 wit a 60% duty not

16 Imported articles, soleby used for disabled persons or used for the rehabilitation of disabled persons, subject to the rules and conditions specified by the Director General of Customs with approval of the Minister of Finance. Note : The term "Disabled Persons" and "the Rehabilitation of Disabled Persons" shall be regarded to the Rehabilitation of Disabled Persons Act.

and exempt

[zydeco]

COULD I ASK ALL POSTERS TO PLEASE FOCUS ON THE QUESTIONS IN THE OP. THEY ARE SPECIFIC MATHEMATICAL QUESTIONS ABOUT HOW DUTY IS CALCULATED. THERE IS ANOTHER THREAD IN THE NEWS FORUM FOR COMMENTS ABOUT RECENT ANNOUNCEMENTS AND GENERAL OBSERVATIONS/OPINIONS/ANECDOTES ABOUT THE APPROACH OF THAI CUSTOMS. THAT IS NOT THE PURPOSE OF THIS THREAD. THANK YOU

I could NOT find a Thai site that outlines all the fine detail, because different things are taxed at different rates. I believe once you go over the set limit the entire amount is calculated.

however, I did find this site that does list the rates for various items, you can use their calculator to enter the appropriate item and go from there.

I'm not sure if this helps you.

http://www.dutycalculator.com/hs-lookup/183389/hs-tariff-code-for-camera/

Looks like you only get three free look-ups on that site before they start charging you.

[TerraplaneGuy]

I just got off the phone with a customs official (using the 1164 phone number from the website). She said that once your total is over the duty-free B10,000 you have to pay duty on the total, not the excess. That's whether it's a single item worth say B1,100 (in which case you pay duty on the full 1,100) or two items totalling B1,100 (say one for 500, one for 600 in which case again you pay on the total 1,100). In other words, the minute you exceed a total of B10,000 the duty-free allowance disappears completely. This might seem counter-intuitive (and contrary to practice in many other countries) but she stated it several times and went through the examples with me. However it seems there is no clear authority for this, nothing on the website and she couldn't point me to a regulation. I'm going to follow up by email to her and see if I can get some authority for it.

.....

Hi Terraplane,

Interesting!!! Appreciate the feedback on this topic.

Firstly see the part highlighted in red. Did you get an more information on this?

Secondly, do you if the duty of the 10% is specific related to the type of items or 10% for anything [other than Cigs and Alochol which their is a stric limit].

Cheers

I sent an email to the officer I spoke with but have yet to hear back. If I do I'll post an update.

As for whether 10% is the duty rate for all or most items, I don't know. The only example I used with her was a guitar. I wouldn't be surprised if different rates apply to other categories of goods. I would have expected to find that information on the Customs website but I couldn't find it. If I hear back from the officer I'll ask that question as a follow-up.

[craigt3365]

I helped 2 guys out last year who brought in instruments. One a guitar, the other a mandolin. Went to customs in Laem Chabang. They will actually look up the instrument on google and using a variety of websites, try to determine the price. Didn't matter what the shipping label said nor what we said. Based on that, they come up with a price. If I remember correctly, it was 7%.

The guitar was listed as $300. They looked it up and decided the price was fair. IIRC, he paid around 800B to get it out of customs. The mandolin was actually coming back into the country after being shipped out to have it worked on. Unfortunately, he didn't have the original paperwork showing he already paid VAT, but the lady was really nice and charged up the lowest amount she could. IIRC, it was 200B. Her only request was he come back and play for her someday. LOL.

This was obviously not at the airport, but it was handled by officials from the customs department. Here's another interesting website I just found:

http://www.rd.go.th/publish/6043.0.html

[TerraplaneGuy]

I received an email from the same customs officer I spoke to on the phone (see my above posts) and she seems to have changed her tune! She wrote "we would like to inform a new information that in case of the cost exceed 10,000 Baht. which you have to declare it at red channel, a customs officer will only collect duty from surplus and the first 10,000 Baht. it will be exempted according to your understanding." Although the grammar is not perfect, I believe she means that if the value exceeds B10,000, duty will only be charged on the excess, not the full amount. This is contrary to what she told me (and what I relayed above) earlier, which explains why she says this is "a new information". It is not clear whether this means the policy has changed or simply that she has double-checked internally and come up with a different answer than she initially gave me (if I had to guess, I'd guess the latter). I will follow up with her and see what else I can find out.

TG