****SHIPPING GIFTS HOME BY DHL****

Hi all. We have recently returned home from OZ. Whilst there I purchased a
Didgeridoo from a shop in Surfers Paradise. I paid $280 for this and was
advised that for another $60 I could have it shipped home with DHL. As it
weighed in at 6kg I decided this would be the best option. If I took it
myself I could have declared it at the airport and claimed the tax back but,
not being in possesion at the airport I couldn't.
All went well and it arrived home safely. So what's the point of this
message I hear you say? Well today I have just recieved an import / VAT duty
invoice for £42 from DHL. I have just phoned them and was told that if you
ship anything back with a specialist company and the value is greater than
£18 you are nailed. This was not pointed out when I bought the damn thing.
In essense I have paid 10% duty in OZ and 17.5% in the UK. A Grand Total of
27.5%.
It breaks down as £4.66 Customs Duty, £27.30 VAT and as look would have it
an Admin Fee from DHL of £10.
Be very careful if you buy anything to ship back. It could prove very
expensive.
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!


Geoff

Caveat Emptor.



On Fri, 6 Feb 2004 11:24:33 -0000, "Geoff Buck"
wrote:

Hi all. We have recently returned home from OZ. Whilst there I purchased a
Didgeridoo from a shop in Surfers Paradise. I paid $280 for this and was
advised that for another $60 I could have it shipped home with DHL. As it
weighed in at 6kg I decided this would be the best option. If I took it
myself I could have declared it at the airport and claimed the tax back but,
not being in possesion at the airport I couldn't.
All went well and it arrived home safely. So what's the point of this
message I hear you say? Well today I have just recieved an import / VAT duty
invoice for £42 from DHL. I have just phoned them and was told that if you
ship anything back with a specialist company and the value is greater than
£18 you are nailed. This was not pointed out when I bought the damn thing.
In essense I have paid 10% duty in OZ and 17.5% in the UK. A Grand Total of
27.5%.
It breaks down as £4.66 Customs Duty, £27.30 VAT and as look would have it
an Admin Fee from DHL of £10.
Be very careful if you buy anything to ship back. It could prove very
expensive.
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!


Geoff

"Geoff Buck" wrote in message
...
It breaks down as £4.66 Customs Duty, £27.30 VAT and as look would have
it
an Admin Fee from DHL of £10.

The Admin Fee could be a mistake, they appear to have charged you the
business rate.
see http://www.dhl.co.uk/info/duty.html

All you can do, in future, is post things back to yourself, and make sure
that the declared value is below the threshold. (£18 for merchandise, £36
for gifts).

The shop you bought it from may not have known this, it's a UK customs
charge, and a $280 purchase would not incur any customs charges if sent into
Australia.

"Geoff Buck" wrote in message
...
Hi all. We have recently returned home from OZ. Whilst there I purchased a
Didgeridoo from a shop in Surfers Paradise. I paid $280 for this and was
advised that for another $60 I could have it shipped home with DHL. As it
weighed in at 6kg I decided this would be the best option. If I took it
myself I could have declared it at the airport and claimed the tax back
but,
not being in possesion at the airport I couldn't.
All went well and it arrived home safely. So what's the point of this
message I hear you say? Well today I have just recieved an import / VAT
duty
invoice for £42 from DHL. I have just phoned them and was told that if you
ship anything back with a specialist company and the value is greater than
£18 you are nailed. This was not pointed out when I bought the damn thing.
In essense I have paid 10% duty in OZ and 17.5% in the UK. A Grand Total
of
27.5%.
It breaks down as £4.66 Customs Duty, £27.30 VAT and as look would have
it
an Admin Fee from DHL of £10.
Be very careful if you buy anything to ship back. It could prove very
expensive.
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!
Geoff

There is no duty on the sale of didgeridoos in Australia. However, GST is
applicable (same as VAT) for domestic sales. You should not have been
charged Australian GST on the purchase if the store arranged the export
shipping. Exports are not subject to GST.

Did the invoice show GST, or include a note saying that the total shown
includes 10% GST? If so, its wrong. You could claim a refund of the GST
from the store as they have ovrcharged you. I assume that the value
declared to Customs in the UK was the price including Australian GST, so
you've paid too much UK duty and VAT too.

If the invoice does not indicate that GST is included in the price, then its
possible that the $60 you were quoted was the incremental price difference
between taking it yourself and paying GST ($280), or sending it by DHL and
paying $254.55 for thedidgeridoo plus $85.45 for DHL.

Martin

All the International Courier Companies play the same thieving game.

John L.

On Fri, 06 Feb 2004 22:34:27 GMT, wrote:



Caveat Emptor.



On Fri, 6 Feb 2004 11:24:33 -0000, "Geoff Buck"
wrote:

Hi all. We have recently returned home from OZ. Whilst there I purchased a
Didgeridoo from a shop in Surfers Paradise. I paid $280 for this and was
advised that for another $60 I could have it shipped home with DHL. As it
weighed in at 6kg I decided this would be the best option. If I took it
myself I could have declared it at the airport and claimed the tax back but,
not being in possesion at the airport I couldn't.
All went well and it arrived home safely. So what's the point of this
message I hear you say? Well today I have just recieved an import / VAT duty
invoice for £42 from DHL. I have just phoned them and was told that if you
ship anything back with a specialist company and the value is greater than
£18 you are nailed. This was not pointed out when I bought the damn thing.
In essense I have paid 10% duty in OZ and 17.5% in the UK. A Grand Total of
27.5%.
It breaks down as £4.66 Customs Duty, £27.30 VAT and as look would have it
an Admin Fee from DHL of £10.
Be very careful if you buy anything to ship back. It could prove very
expensive.
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!


Geoff

I did OK with the late, great Ansett Freight (to and from Oz), but I s'pose
that isn't much help any more 8-( . My almost-horror story is with UPS -
they call and want "authorization to clear customs" for packages. They
won't say how much (in the specific instance I'm talking about, it was
coming from the US on a tariff-free item, so it should have just been the
sales tax). I refused to write a blank cheque. I later found out they
would have charged something like $60 "handling charge," plus the taxes, on
a $125 item. Phew.

OTOH, I just got an item shipped USPS which for some reason ended up in
Purolater's hands at the border. Fine. It arrived, nobody asked for a
signature or authorization or anything. A few weeks later, I get a bill for
the taxes (fair enough), and a $7.50 "handling charge." I paid the former,
but refused the latter as I had never agreed to it. It wasn't enough to
make or break me but there was a bigger point.

Bottom line? Get specific numbers BEFORE you ship anything, or have
anything shipped to you - otherwise, it's the golden rule - who has the
gold, makes the rules. They have your stuff, you want it, they don't
release it until you ante up.....


in article , John L at
wrote on 2/7/04 5:10 AM:

All the International Courier Companies play the same thieving game.

John L.

On Fri, 06 Feb 2004 22:34:27 GMT, wrote:



Caveat Emptor.



On Fri, 6 Feb 2004 11:24:33 -0000, "Geoff Buck"
wrote:

Hi all. We have recently returned home from OZ. Whilst there I purchased a
Didgeridoo from a shop in Surfers Paradise. I paid $280 for this and was
advised that for another $60 I could have it shipped home with DHL. As it
weighed in at 6kg I decided this would be the best option. If I took it
myself I could have declared it at the airport and claimed the tax back but,
not being in possesion at the airport I couldn't.
All went well and it arrived home safely. So what's the point of this
message I hear you say? Well today I have just recieved an import / VAT duty
invoice for £42 from DHL. I have just phoned them and was told that if you
ship anything back with a specialist company and the value is greater than
£18 you are nailed. This was not pointed out when I bought the damn thing.
In essense I have paid 10% duty in OZ and 17.5% in the UK. A Grand Total of
27.5%.
It breaks down as £4.66 Customs Duty, £27.30 VAT and as look would have it
an Admin Fee from DHL of £10.
Be very careful if you buy anything to ship back. It could prove very
expensive.
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!


Geoff

It breaks down as £4.66 Customs Duty, £27.30 VAT and as look would have it
an Admin Fee from DHL of £10.
Be very careful if you buy anything to ship back. It could prove very
expensive.

They have no discretion over the VAT and duty - those are gov't charges (and
the tariff book is thicker than the London telephone directory) - in many if
not most instances, the carrier is liable to remit whether or not they get
it out of your hide in turn (that's why major shipments aren't released
until the taxes are paid). The fact you paid tax in Australia is
immaterial. The admin charge is another story. If you didn't agree to it,
you shouldn't have to pay it unless they can point you to some statutory or
regulatory authority (it may exist. For instance, Canada Post is allowed to
charge a $5 fee regardless of the value of the parcel, if it has gone
through a border clearance). I'd send them a cheque for the GBP31.96 with a
note saying, "if you cash this, we're square."