Thai Customs tightens up inspection of parcels

[webfact]

Customs tightens up inspection of parcels

 

 

BANGKOK: -- The Customs Department has tightened up inspection of parcels of goods sent from abroad to supposedly pre-order business operators to make sure that the imported goods are properly taxed, said customs chief Kulis Sombatsiri over the weekend.

 

He pointed out that several pre-order business operators had taken advantage of lax inspection of parcels by ordering goods from overseas producers and having them parceled to them and then sold to their clients who placed the orders for such goods.

 

Through this unfair trade practice, the customs chief noted that pre-order business operators could sell products to their customers at much cheaper prices than ordinary traders and still could make fat profits which is unfair to the traditional importers.

 

This unfair trade practice, said Mr Kulis, has rendered the state loss in import tax which should have been collected.

 

Full story: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/customs-tightens-inspection-parcels/

 

-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2017-03-13

[ezzra]

 

They are talking about outfits like Lazada and similar others who

once you order an item they don't have in stock locally, order it

from abroad for you with a hefty premium on top....

[SoFarAndNear]

Maybe do a fair taxation instead of protectionism. Current situation just allows corrupt people to make profits.

[rkidlad]

Yea! Buy locally made products. Oh, you don't make those? So why is the import on them so expensive? Oh, you do make that. But it's of a completely inferior standard to the foreign made one. So I have to buy the locally made inferior product or pay the ridiculous tariff on a foreign made one? Great. Lucky me the consumer: 

[colinneil]

So Thai customs are tightening up parcel checks.

Will not affect me, as nobody ever sends me anything.

Also the UK pound is so low, when my pension goes in my bank, i have to look very closely to see any change in the account balance.

So i cannot afford to buy anything from outside Thailand.

[quadperfect]

There is a trend here that shows the money is not there for the new subs

Jet fuel tax

National park fee

Alchohal tax increase

Possible vat increase

 And now lets check those parcels so we dont miss any craps.

The writing is on the wall.

 

[darksidedog]

So the only reason for charging more tax is because some people are making more money than others. So this isn't about grabbing more money then, just leveling the playing field. Yeah, right!

[yellowboat]

Customs taxes everything at a very high rate, making Thailand very unfavorable to business.  

[rkidlad]

50 minutes ago, quadperfect said:

There is a trend here that shows the money is not there for the new subs

Jet fuel tax

National park fee

Alchohal tax increase

Possible vat increase

 And now lets check those parcels so we dont miss any craps.

The writing is on the wall.

 

I fear so. So much talk of collecting taxes. And of course it's the average Joe who's supposed to foot the bill. 

 

This is never good. Making your poor pay for your reckless spending and frivolous lifestyles will come back to kick you in the a***. 

[clockman]

Customs, the second most corrupt department? Remember the luxury cars. That set on fire! Any more follow up?

[thenewgoo]

I know someone who had to pay tax on their kid's teddy bear that was sent from NZ. The land of smiles.

[Dave67]

Genuine football shirts is another one. Pay duty on them to avoid traders in Koh San road being cheated out of money for 100 baht snides

[mtls2005]

The smell of desperation on the collections side is overwhelming.

 

Similar to the police targeting people on pay day.

 

 

 

[fruitman]

9 minutes ago, thenewgoo said:

I know someone who had to pay tax on their kid's teddy bear that was sent from NZ. The land of smiles.

What's wrong with that?  Import is import wether it's a teddy bear or a toolset.

[thenewgoo]

2 minutes ago, fruitman said:

What's wrong with that?  Import is import wether it's a teddy bear or a toolset.

Both the kid and the teddy bear was four years old.

[RBOP]

Ever order from eBay and send to Thailand? All kinds of add on taxes and fees that dont make sense.

[thaiguzzi]

Recently (last month) had motorcycle parts sent over from the States (USPS) and the UK (Royal Mail), ie, no courier service, UPS, Fex Ex, DHL et al which i will not use. Both parcels had "m/c parts" written on them as description of contents.

#Parcel number 1, UK, value of contents £99 + £24 postage, total of £123. Got charged 1,975 baht at the PO here, them claiming 30% import tax and 7% vat on goods valued at 5000 baht...

#Parcel number 2, USA, value of contents inc. postage £84, got charged ZERO...

Go figure...

[12DrinkMore]

4 hours ago, ezzra said:

They are talking about outfits like Lazada and similar others who

once you order an item they don't have in stock locally, order it

from abroad for you with a hefty premium on top

I have never experienced that from Lazada, Thailand.

 

So far the price advertised is the price I have paid. No extras, even when shipped from abroad. Unlike Amazon. 

[WhizBang]

19 hours ago, ezzra said:

 

They are talking about outfits like Lazada and similar others who

once you order an item they don't have in stock locally, order it

from abroad for you with a hefty premium on top....

 

Wrong.   I have ordered from Lazada items that shipped from abroad.  Usually free shipping and NO EXTRA fees added.  I paid only the price as stated on the Lazada website.   Any customs duty/fees already covered by Lazada in the price I paid.   All items arrived at my door, no fuss, no muss.

 

[mtls2005]

11 minutes ago, WhizBang said:

 

Wrong.   I have ordered from Lazada items that shipped from abroad.  Usually free shipping and NO EXTRA fees added.  I paid only the price as stated on the Lazada website.   Any customs duty/fees already covered by Lazada in the price I paid.   All items arrived at my door, no fuss, no muss.

 

 

 

This makes sense. Alibaba purchased Lazada. I'm sure they are collecting all the appropriate VAT, excise, duty and remitting it to the "government". 

 

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-04-12/alibaba-to-pay-1-billion-for-control-of-lazada-e-commerce-site

 

 

[nong38]

What about the two Chinese submarines, I wonder what tax will be payable upon those? There will be VAT on them because there will added value once the Thais get their hands on the keys and show you how they really work, are they diesel or 91 by the way?

[Lupatria]

The expected over supply to the market of confiscated goods comes in handy. Songkran is knocking at the door.

[new2here]

Recently (last month) had motorcycle parts sent over from the States (USPS) and the UK (Royal Mail), ie, no courier service, UPS, Fex Ex, DHL et al which i will not use. Both parcels had "m/c parts" written on them as description of contents.
#Parcel number 1, UK, value of contents £99 + £24 postage, total of £123. Got charged 1,975 baht at the PO here, them claiming 30% import tax and 7% vat on goods valued at 5000 baht...
#Parcel number 2, USA, value of contents inc. postage £84, got charged ZERO...
Go figure...

I think this is more reflective of the reality that customs really can't inspect 100% of all incoming parcels - without incurring sizable delivery backlogs.

Sure, it frustrating when 2 packages of similar items gets materially dissimilar customs clearance treatment; but I suspect this simply a case of customs not having the physical set-up, equipment/processing capacity and manpower, to conduct the kind of hands-on examination that a dutiable package requires and for every inbound parcel.


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

[NoBrainer]

1 hour ago, nong38 said:

What about the two Chinese submarines, I wonder what tax will be payable upon those? There will be VAT on them because there will added value once the Thais get their hands on the keys and show you how they really work, are they diesel or 91 by the way?

As long as they are not Nuclear, I don't see any problem with them. The fiasco will start when Somchai spills his SomTam on the controls, and in the ensuing panic, the thing bottoms out on a sunken freighter.

 

How much will it cost to bring in the foreign experts to rescue the crew and recover the wreck.

 

On another note, I haven't seen any of those new busses roaming the streets of Bangkok yet.

 

 

[Bangkok Barry]

Considering that most Thais pay little or no tax on earnings, any suggestions on how the government should raise money, other than taxing imports and luxury goods? It seems there are plenty of people out there who think that money grows on trees. 

[FunkyDunky58]

It's not fair said the customs agent. People are getting parcels in without us extorting money from them. This has to stop! 

On other comments made, our local cops are doing checkpoints every morning now, even though the good general said they shouldn't.

[eeyang wah]

7 hours ago, SoFarAndNear said:

Maybe do a fair taxation instead of protectionism. Current situation just allows corrupt people to make profits.

Exactly. I would happily pay tax on items sent from overseas if it was charged at the correct rate and not just what Somchai decides on the day. 

[MorristheRunt]

5 hours ago, rkidlad said:

I fear so. So much talk of collecting taxes. And of course it's the average Joe who's supposed to foot the bill. 

 

This is never good. Making your poor pay for your reckless spending and frivolous lifestyles will come back to kick you in the a***. 

Lets hope so and soon

[elgordo38]

7 hours ago, rkidlad said:

Yea! Buy locally made products. Oh, you don't make those? So why is the import on them so expensive? Oh, you do make that. But it's of a completely inferior standard to the foreign made one. So I have to buy the locally made inferior product or pay the ridiculous tariff on a foreign made one? Great. Lucky me the consumer: 

Yes my old Samsung frig and TV and microwave keep puttin along. Most of the other products 1 to 2 years and into the overflowing garbage dump. Most of this crap er sorry stuff seems to have a built in obsolescence 

[mtls2005]

1 hour ago, Bangkok Barry said:

Considering that most Thais pay little or no tax on earnings, any suggestions on how the government should raise money, other than taxing imports and luxury goods? It seems there are plenty of people out there who think that money grows on trees. 

 

VAT?