Paying Import Duty

Jerryc41

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I ordered a uke from England, and it was held in the UPS warehouse, "waiting for information." I didn't know what they meant, but after two days, I called UPS. The "Tariff Form" was missing some info. Long story short, the seller got it straightened out.

Last night I get an email from UPS. I have to pay $108 in import duties. This is an American-made uke sold by a seller in England, and I have to pay an import duty. I have bought ukes from Japan, China, Australia, and New Zealand, yet I never had to pay an import duty. If the amount wasn't so high, this would be funny.
 
The application of import duties by the different transportation companies seems to vary. So far I’ve never had import duty on a package sent via the Postal Service.

Most , if not all of the time UPS collects fees. UPS has a weird way of collecting fees. One time the UPS Delivery person informed me upon delivery there was a duty to be paid. He wanted to know if I even wanted to accept the package or send it back. He was surprised when I wanted to pay it and had to call and find out how to accept payment. At the time they would only accept a check. Other times UPS has sent me electronic payment options prior to delivery. My bottom line is that I would prefer not to have things sent via UPS internationally. Post office seems to be the best way for international shipping.
 
The application of import duties by the different transportation companies seems to vary. So far I’ve never had import duty on a package sent via the Postal Service.

Most , if not all of the time UPS collects fees. UPS has a weird way of collecting fees. One time the UPS Delivery person informed me upon delivery there was a duty to be paid. He wanted to know if I even wanted to accept the package or send it back. He was surprised when I wanted to pay it and had to call and find out how to accept payment. At the time they would only accept a check. Other times UPS has sent me electronic payment options prior to delivery. My bottom line is that I would prefer not to have things sent via UPS internationally. Post office seems to be the best way for international shipping.

This money goes to the government and a broker.

Import Fee.jpg
 
The application of import duties by the different transportation companies seems to vary. So far I’ve never had import duty on a package sent via the Postal Service.

Most , if not all of the time UPS collects fees. UPS has a weird way of collecting fees. One time the UPS Delivery person informed me upon delivery there was a duty to be paid. He wanted to know if I even wanted to accept the package or send it back. He was surprised when I wanted to pay it and had to call and find out how to accept payment. At the time they would only accept a check. Other times UPS has sent me electronic payment options prior to delivery. My bottom line is that I would prefer not to have things sent via UPS internationally. Post office seems to be the best way for international shipping.

Same here. I've been assessed by both UPS and DHL. Never had any duties charged by any government postal service.
 
Substantial import duties for goods imported from outside of the EU here. On pretty much everything. Those taxes are put into the pot and used for the NHS, the police, the military, local and national infrastructure, oh, and my salary as a government employee. Not something I have any issue with really.
 
This is something that I've always been a bit puzzled by. It does seem that Americans often don't have to pay any import costs but here in the EU it's different. Buying within EU is all good but if I import anything outside of the EU I always have to pay VAT (for me it's 24%) on top of what the goods cost me if the value of the goods exceeds 22 Euros. I believe it's the same for most other EU countries as well. The US might have some trade agreements with other countries as well that does away with import costs but even then it seems to vary quite a bit if import costs ever come into play in the US.
 
This is something that I've always been a bit puzzled by. It does seem that Americans often don't have to pay any import costs but here in the EU it's different. Buying within EU is all good but if I import anything outside of the EU I always have to pay VAT (for me it's 24%) on top of what the goods cost me if the value of the goods exceeds 22 Euros. I believe it's the same for most other EU countries as well. The US might have some trade agreements with other countries as well that does away with import costs but even then it seems to vary quite a bit if import costs ever come into play in the US.

We could get into a discussion about taxes vs services, but I suspect that could take a turn for the worse.

I'm wondering if this is going to be commonplace now, or if I just got caught in an odd combination of circumstances. This is the first time in my life that I have had to pay import fees.
 
I belonged to a motorcycle club in Spain. One of the members owned a motorcycle shop in Madrid and I bought a couple of shirts and a motorcycle jacket from him. I paid for them, but he sent it all as a gift. A few years later a couple members wanted a couple of particular Yamaha USA caps that they couldn't get in Spain. They were worried though about customs and i just told them I would buy the caps and they didn't need to pay me. I shipped them as a gift. I don't think they had to pay any fees.
 
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I've noticed in my bank account online that every-so-often I would get an international fee of a few dollars when I buy from England, Japan, Canada, China, but not always, must depend on the delivery service, I guess.


This is Michael Kohan in Los Angeles, Beverly Grove near the Beverly Center
9 tenor cutaway ukes, 4 acoustic bass ukes, 12 solid body bass ukes, 14 mini electric bass guitars (Total: 39)

Donate to The Ukulele Kids Club, they provide ukuleles to children in hospital music therapy programs. www.theukc.org
Member The CC Strummers: www.youtube.com/user/CCStrummers/video, www.facebook.com/TheCCStrummers
 
In the EU it's really very simple and you can easily work out what a $2,000 ukulele will actually cost you to buy and import. There are no hidden charges. If once you have worked it out you decide it is too much to pay then you don't buy it. Three of mine were imported from the USA and I always knew what the total cost was going to be give or take 20 quid or so depending on the exchange rate at the time.
 
It's probably legit, and you probably didn't see it before either because you ordered from countries on the free schedule or because your instrument was valued at lest than US$800

The specific duties depend on the country coming from and the cost in USD of the instrument. Several countries (A,AU,BH,CA,CL,E,IL,J,JO, MA,MX,OM, P,PE,SG) are free for any amount. The UK is probably on the normal schedule at 4.6% for non-guitar string instruments (or 8.7% if it's a guitar - if that's what you were charged you may have a complaint).

Is there duty charged on imports of musical instruments (i.e., keyboard, piano, string, guitar, wind, percussion, drums, etc.)?

Chapter 92 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; PARTS AND ACCESSORIES OF SUCH ARTICLES)

There is also an $800 break point. The Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015 (TFTEA) raised the minimum value that CBP cares about to $800 - unless there's something else about the shipment that requires investigation (CITES concerns maybe?) anything under $800 gets passed through.

Note: Not a lawyer. Not a customs expert. I didn't stay in a Holiday Inn last night. I did look into this for a recent purchase that the seller recommended adjusting options on to keep it under $800
 
This is something that I've always been a bit puzzled by. It does seem that Americans often don't have to pay any import costs but here in the EU it's different. Buying within EU is all good but if I import anything outside of the EU I always have to pay VAT (for me it's 24%) on top of what the goods cost me if the value of the goods exceeds 22 Euros. I believe it's the same for most other EU countries as well. The US might have some trade agreements with other countries as well that does away with import costs but even then it seems to vary quite a bit if import costs ever come into play in the US.

It's weird. Sometimes we have to pay import duties and sometimes we don't. I used to buy a lot from Europe and Asia; whenever there's a delay, I worry about import duty. I think it has more to do with how the seller fills out the forms than country of origin because I buy the same stuff from the same country and only once a while I have to pay.
 
We could get into a discussion about taxes vs services, but I suspect that could take a turn for the worse.

I'm wondering if this is going to be commonplace now, or if I just got caught in an odd combination of circumstances. This is the first time in my life that I have had to pay import fees.

If you buy enough, you'll see this once a while. The first time hurts a lot; it is useless to fight it.
 
@Arcy, thanks for the info. I've never thought that there's a price cutoff. Interesting. There are sellers that claim to never require import duties; I think now I know how they might get away from that.
 
I recently received a $54 bill from FedEx for import duties for a Kiwaya KTS-7 I bought from the UK. It was the first time I’ve purchased from abroad but I just couldn’t find this ukulele in the US.

I received the uke in 5 days and was blown away by the speed of delivery. Shout out to Matt at The Uke Room.
 
I ordered my Kala Baritone Ukulele through Amazon.com. I think they included the fee in the price because I paid one price to them and that was all. No more charges. There is a lot of import fees and customs fees if you live in Thailand as I do. I try to buy in country, in Thailand because all of the fees and other charges have already been paid and included in the price. What I did not know a few years back is that factories in Thailand make quality guitars and ukuleles. No need to import. And again if they have been imported the fees are already paid
 
It still seems crazy to have to pay an import duty on an item manufactured in your own country Jerry. Weird rules.

Canada is similar - Canada Post rarely collects duties on my packages, and if they do it's generally just 5% federal sales tax and a processing fee. The couriers will collect duties on everything. Shipping method greatly influences my purchases. If they they don't ship through the post, I might not buy it.

My last big hit was when I ordered 2 sets of the new sugar strings direct from Aquila. I figured it would get sent in the mail in an envelope, but they came FedEx and I had to pay over $13 fees on a $20 purchase. Not impressed. Maybe $2 taxes and a $10 processing fee plus tax on the fee. It must be a big money maker for them.
 
It's weird. Sometimes we have to pay import duties and sometimes we don't. I used to buy a lot from Europe and Asia; whenever there's a delay, I worry about import duty. I think it has more to do with how the seller fills out the forms than country of origin because I buy the same stuff from the same country and only once a while I have to pay.

In Italy it's pretty random.

They'll choose a certain amount of packages and check them.
So far I've been pretty unlucky as every single item shipped from outside the EU always have been taxed unless it was less than 22€ (this has been mentioned before I believe).

Even when labeling "gift" you'll still have to pay and the worst part is that if a value isn't declared, the post office will try to get in contact with the seller to know the real value and if they don't reply, they'll ship the item back or keep it forever, unless you find a way to contact the customs directly and give them proof of the value.
 
Huh. I don't think I've ever been bit by this and I've bought flutes and whistles from around the world. Hmm, the one exception might be the Pelem Guitalele I got from Indonesia. "Shipping" on that was absolutely insane (like $180, no joke) so maybe there was some of this funny business included.
 
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