Shipping my possessions over... Tax again!

[ukmark67]

Sorry if this is in the wrong section....

My possessions from the UK are finally arriving after a nightmare with a well known removals company ( useless *******). We are now being told by the local agent there is duty and tax to pay (her commission obviously).

They wanted my wife's passport and now mine...(800 baht for motorcycle collection in BKK).. I'm on a non O visa through marriage. There is only half a container of small personal items/ pictures, one chest of draws, a surfboard/ wakeboard, 2 bicycles, a printer, a surround system and a cctv system, and my wife's clothes from UK (she was only on tourist visas so 6 months at a time)

I was under the impression that we were allowed one shipment within 6 months of arrival duty free of 'used' items... Which these all are. There is only one of each except the bicycles.

Can anybody advise as my 'current' wife has the IQ of a 3 year old when somebody tells her it's official revenue/ business and she should comply....please help before we visit the local Amphur again .. Lol!

Thank you?

Edited March 12, 2015 by ukmark67

[moe666]

I know this doesn't help you now but should have checked here first. I believe the only people who get duty free are the folks whohave a work permit.

[MaeJoMTB]

Shouldn't have associated your foreigner name with the shipment.

They probably would have let it through if just her Thai name.

[ukmark67]

Thanks guys, Simpsons... Yes SIMPSONS wouldn't let me ship in my wife's name... They have been a nightmare ...Now their Thai agent has us by the b****

Future lesson learnt... You get what you pay for!

Already a little tired of the recurring pattern..sigh...

[Oceanbat]

Thanks guys, Simpsons... Yes SIMPSONS wouldn't let me ship in my wife's name... They have been a nightmare ...Now their Thai agent has us by the b****

Future lesson learnt... You get what you pay for!

Already a little tired of the recurring pattern..sigh...

Doesn't matter they still nailed me even though I shipped under my wife's name. I had a work permit. They nailed me for my bicycle and golf clubs. Said to pay 7k or they would open the container and probably charge me more.

Total bandits.

OB

[ukmark67]

Cheers OB

Thank you for your time.... ?

[Oceanbat]

Cheers OB

Thank you for your time.... [emoji106]

Sorry not so helpful. Bit of a rant.

OB

[overherebc]

Cheers OB

Thank you for your time.... ?

Best way is to tell them No problem, I'll just send it back to UK/USA whatever. Believe me all tax goes away or becomes a very small figure.

[ukmark67]

Cheers.... That's what I told her... When I could get a word in.....tax , duty, thailand rules, import rules.... Obviously after a bonus from her boss ... Told her it's not of any value and I'll return it to the UK if she was going to be silly... Thanks for your reply ?

Edited March 12, 2015 by ukmark67

[Mr Somtam]

Shipped stuff here from Holland last year, told the company my wife was Thai. Got an email from the Thai agent when the stuff was in BKK. Stuff was delivered at our address, never anything about tax, fees, whatever... Company was Windmill Forwarding, recommended.

[Oceanbat]

Shipped stuff here from Holland last year, told the company my wife was Thai. Got an email from the Thai agent when the stuff was in BKK. Stuff was delivered at our address, never anything about tax, fees, whatever... Company was Windmill Forwarding, recommended.

Dodged a bullet.

OB

[ukmark67]

We have another money grabber somtam... Thanks for your reply....Seems to be one at every corner!

[Thorgal]

Your local Thai shipping agent should negotiate with customs.

In worst case, you will have to pay a deal....

Your wife can't do much about this.

But you should respect her more when you get in trouble.

[NeverSure]

Your wife has an IQ of a 3 year old but you got yourself into this mess. I get it, LOL.

[Torrens54]

They have you by your short and curlies I'm afraid.

We had a container load and were hit for extra charges on the Rental of the container due to Public Holidays, then when it arrived in BKK we were told the Customs Inspection would cost X-Thousand Baht if we wanted an Official Receipt or....a certain amount LESS if we didn't need a receipt.

Yes, they had us too....they knew there was no way we'd send the container BACK as it would have cost a fortune in shipping costs and of course RENTAL cost on the Container .

We were LESS than pleased!

[Soutpeel]

I was under the impression that we were allowed one shipment within 6 months of arrival duty free

only if your on a WP

she was only on tourist visas so 6 months at a time

and understand a Thai national has to be out the country more than 12 months to bring in personal items tax free and only in their name

SIMPSONS wouldn't let me ship in my wife's name

and they could actually be correct as your wife would be classed as a tourist from the UK.

By the looks of it on face value what they are doing is correct.

[JMWPACIFIC]

When we moved back from America about 8 years ago, my wife got an exemption because she was a returning Thai citizen and I believe had to have been out of TH for several years in order to get the exemption.

[Soutpeel]

When we moved back from America about 8 years ago, my wife got an exemption because she was a returning Thai citizen and I believe had to have been out of TH for several years in order to get the exemption.

I have always understood it to be a minimum of 12 months, which pretty much in line with a lot of other countries as well, as regards bringing personal effects "home" tax free after being out the country and you have to have been "living" out side the the country eg not being a "tourist"

and this is why I think his shipping company have it correct as to not allowing his wife to put it on her name, she has been classed as a tourist in the UK.

Edited March 12, 2015 by Soutpeel

[meatboy]

Cheers OB

Thank you for your time.... ?

my wife was in the uk.20yrs.she shipped 3 cubic mts.all personel items,both her passports had her married name, agents fee 12,000bht.

we were warned before we shipped from the uk.SCAMMED BY NON CUSTOMS.TIT.

but we only paid 240quid for the shipping.

how much was yours?

Edited March 12, 2015 by meatboy

[Rod Wallop]

Thanks guys, Simpsons... Yes SIMPSONS wouldn't let me ship in my wife's name... They have been a nightmare ...Now their Thai agent has us by the b****

Future lesson learnt... You get what you pay for!

Already a little tired of the recurring pattern..sigh...

Doesn't matter they still nailed me even though I shipped under my wife's name. I had a work permit. They nailed me for my bicycle and golf clubs. Said to pay 7k or they would open the container and probably charge me more.

Total bandits.

OB

7k??Bargain. I would have charged you 20k

[Issanman]

A friend of mine was in the same situation as far as a last minute demand for money. In his case, the amount was only 3500 baht. He reluctantly paid it and the container was delivered to his house less than 24 hours later, unopened by customs. Still had the original lock and seal on the door.

I would pay the 7K and get on with my life, if I were you.

[Langsuan Man]

It's a crap shoot any way you look at it. For everyone that got through with little or no Customs Duties, there will be another person who has a horror story to tell. Unfortunately it is the Royal Thai Customs Officer that is assigned to your shipment that makes the rules and assesses the duty

When I shipped my Household Goods from Germany I was given the option of paying 80,000 THB for a receipt and 40,000 THB for no receipt, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to guess which option I picked

I even had to pay duty on furniture, rugs and curios that were purchased here in Thailand that were being shipped back. So if you want to retire in Thailand, Customs robbery is just one of those things that you have to live with

[Mr Somtam]

A thai national does NOT have to pay tax on personal stuff shipped to Thailand was what my shipping company told me.

[KittenKong]

I was under the impression that we were allowed one shipment within 6 months of arrival duty free

only if your on a WP

When I looked at this a few years ago it seemed that anyone with a long visa could get this exemption once but you had to follow the correct procedure to the letter and fill in all the correct customs forms before your things arrive in Thailand. As far as I know this involves detailing every single item, and I suspect that many people would rather just pay the tax than go to all that trouble.

[srn89]

If your wife was residing abroad for over 6 months she is allowed to import her goods into Thailand without a Tax Liability, the goods must have been shipped in her name only and only 1 of each item, you need a good clearing agent ( not a greedy one ) to clear the goods at the port of entry.

[p_brownstone]

Only Household effects are exempted from Import Duty, NOT Personal effects:

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

Personal effects accompanied with the owner traveling into or out of Thailand, including any goods used or will be used commercially are not eligible as household effects and cannot brought in tax and duty free as the household effects.

So once again those who scream "corruption" at the drop of a hat should check their facts first.

Patrick

Edited March 13, 2015 by p_brownstone

[Soutpeel]

A thai national does NOT have to pay tax on personal stuff shipped to Thailand was what my shipping company told me.

only if they have been residing outside of Thailand for long enough, my understanding its a minimum of 12 months outside Thailand to bring items in tax free as personal effects

Although I see someone else says its 6 months..

[Soutpeel]

Only Household effects are exempted from Import Duty, NOT Personal effects:

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

Personal effects accompanied with the owner traveling into or out of Thailand, including any goods used or will be used commercially are not eligible as household effects and cannot brought in tax and duty free as the household effects.

So once again those who scream "corruption" at the drop of a hat should check their facts first.

Patrick

woops your correct...personal effects and household effects not same

[Pib]

Unless you are a returning Thai citizen or a farang with a work permit your chances of getting hit with customs are high. When the Thai wife and I moved to Thailand around 7 years ago from the U.S. we shipped almost a ton of household/2nd hand goods worth thousands of USDs....basically stuff in our house we just couldn't bear to part with that we had accumulated over many years...mostly stuff the "wife" couldn't bear to part with. Anyway, it was shipped under the Thai wife's name and using her Thai passport as ID because I knew if shipped under my name with only a Retirement Visa we would mostly likely get tagged with customs of around 30% of the value "determined by customs." Back then the customs website was pretty clear that a non-o visa didn't exempt you from customs and it still pretty clear unless you have a work permit or can get a letter from immigration saying they will grant you a yearly extension---yea, right, like immigration is going to give the typical farang a letter saying your yearly extensions are all but granted/guaranteed. When the stuff got to Bangkok the shipping company receiving the shipment couldn't get it released without some additional paperwork given to Thai customs....we (the wife and I) had to show the wife's current, original Thai passport and since it was less than a year old we had to show her previous/expired Thai passport also...customs was basically confirming she had been out of Thailand for at least a year. I stayed in the background during this process. That was quite a few hours at Thai customs, but we got the shipment released without any customs being applied; however, when the dust settled and we got the shipment delivered a few days later we did end up paying a "customary customs fee" of Bt3,000 (about $100) to the receiving company...but we didn't argue that because we had escaped a BIG customs charge and just wanted our ton of stuff.

Some people do seem to escape through customs free, but beware of such posts unless they also provide details on what type of shipping fees they paid upfront because some shipping plans include a customs payment upfront as part of the shipping fee kinda like some of the shipping plans you can select when buying things off Ebay, Amazon, etc....normally such shipping plans add a healthy price which allows the shipment to cruise through customs (but actually you really paid customs with such a plan). I could have selected/paid for such a plan also, but didn't as we used the Returning Thai Resident approach to avoid almost all customs related fees except that one Bt3,000 fee which had a customs related title to it....I figure that just stayed in the receiving company's pocket.

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

[LivinLOS]

Everyone can say theres a rule that a Thai bringing it back is tax free etc.. This is true but they dont care.. they have your stuff..

I played hardball for a few days and then came to the office and they had opened my stuff spreading it all around an area that was unsecured with people wandering around.. Easy to nick anything.. 1000s of usd worth of home theater gear, projector etc.. The nego got down to a reasonable level and he sealed the deal with eyeing some 7500 usd worth of marble speakers and saying "maybe we have to crack those open to see whats in them" well played Sir well played..

Still I think it was only around 10k or so..