Customs tax: What is exempt?

luckykitty · Post by **luckykitty** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 2:22 pm

Hi,

I'm just thinking of what happens when you order products from the US or somewhere outside this VAT region? (I'm assuming that if I order something from the UK, as in general things like books, dvds, electronics etc, the customs tax isn't charged again since I'm already paying VAT on it?)

Say if I order books from the US, like from Amazon.com, or I order an electric toothbrush from the states, if its 60 euros or something, does the customs here charge customs tax on that? And how much would the tax be?

Is there there a value that the objects can be under where its exempt, like less than 100euros or something? I tried to find the information on the tulli website, but I didn't find anything talking about individuals ordering stuff.

Thanks!
Luckykitty

**Sponsor:**

onkko · Post by **onkko** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 2:52 pm

Tax depends on what you order, you can try to look but its quite hard.
value of what you order + postal fee * possible tax * vat is what customs want, if tax is under 10e or vat is under 10e you dont have to pay it.

For example value of your order including postal fee = 45e, no additional taxes and vat 22%.
45*1,22 = 54,90. vat 9,90 so no taxes.

vat is 8% on books, 17% on food and 22% rest

edit, found toothbrush and tax in that is 3,7%. I dont know if that apply to electronic one tho.

luckykitty · Post by **luckykitty** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 4:21 pm

Hey onkko, thanks for the comprehensive answer! yeah its a shame they don't make it easier to search taric. I was trying to look for some arm excercise ball, or voimapallo, and looked under excercise equipment, I got this code 9506910000 but it said be more specific, even though the object tree didn't click any further.

Why is the VAT taken on the postal fee too btw? :O

onkko · Post by **onkko** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 4:36 pm

Probably to prevent people ordering 1e+199e postal fee to avoid tax, i dont know for sure.

karen · Post by **karen** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 5:05 pm

Remember to have the package addressed to every member of your household. Each person has the maximum exemption. Once, I had a package that included some kitty treats and the customs agent counted the cat as another "person" with an exemption. If the max is €50/person, then my family of three has €150 as long as every name is on the box (and possibly another €50 for the cat

). I can't remember what the amount is exactly, but it is around €40-50/person, including postage.

onkko · Post by **onkko** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 5:09 pm

karen wrote:Remember to have the package addressed to every member of your household. Each person has the maximum exemption. Once, I had a package that included some kitty treats and the customs agent counted the cat as another "person" with an exemption. If the max is €50/person, then my family of three has €150 as long as every name is on the box (and possibly another €50 for the cat ). I can't remember what the amount is exactly, but it is around €40-50/person, including postage.

Sounds like guy who got inspection fee in London for travelling without ticked, in fee slip his name was "mr Ajokortti Körkort"

Edit for english speaking audience, thats MR Drivers licence Drivers licence

DMC · Post by **DMC** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 10:11 pm

Remember to have the package addressed to every member of your household.

That is not without problems though. One year my mother sent a Christmas gift and I went to the post office to collect it. The drone there didn't want to give me the parcel because I am only Mr and the parcel was addressed to Mr & Mrs.

luckykitty · Post by **luckykitty** » Sat Jul 05, 2008 1:37 pm

Lol, thanks for the tips everyone

So if I own 3 cats then woohoo, i can get alot of stuff sent to me (kitty treats included ofcourse

). Only joking.
Hehe about the drivers license, i guess to a non-Finnish person, that might sound like a name

. I heard a joke about Janne Ahonen, the skijumpers name, sounding like "You idiot!" in a local Japanese dialect, so why not Mr. Ajokortti Körkort ;D.

Spectra · Post by **Spectra** » Mon Aug 04, 2008 12:07 pm

Hey Karen, when you ordered packages and had every family member's name on it, did they give you troubles with picking up the parcel too? That is, if you went in alone to pick it up...

karen · Post by **karen** » Mon Aug 04, 2008 12:37 pm

Spectra wrote:Hey Karen, when you ordered packages and had every family member's name on it, did they give you troubles with picking up the parcel too? That is, if you went in alone to pick it up...

No, I've never had a problem picking it up. In fact, I ordered something last year that cost $34, but the shipper used their standard form which had $100 on it. I just showed up with my receipt and didn't even have to open it there.

Spectra · Post by **Spectra** » Mon Aug 04, 2008 1:20 pm

Ok, thanks!

r32 · Post by **r32** » Wed Aug 27, 2008 1:42 pm

Onkko is it the same when I order something from UK?

onkko · Post by **onkko** » Wed Aug 27, 2008 1:47 pm

UK = EU = no taxes

r32 · Post by **r32** » Wed Aug 27, 2008 1:50 pm

onkko wrote:UK = EU = no taxes

Can you tell me how are the taxes applied when ordering from USA? I don't know finnish and it might be hard to check the pdf

onkko · Post by **onkko** » Wed Aug 27, 2008 1:56 pm

Read 2nd post in this thread. And im sorry i confused you with that pdf and bad english, my mistake.

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