Customs duties, taxes and fees for different countries

Do you buy goods from other countries via online shops, Ebay or others? Are you aware that you may have to pay Customs duties, taxes and fees?

It’s good to be aware of when charges may be payable, as it could affect your decision on whether to buy local or not. This is the purpose of this brief article, which include a list of the limits (for the different countries) under which charges are not payable.

 

Different rules for different countries

When buying your table tennis equipment from overseas, most countries have a limit, under which no Customs fees and charges are payable. A few countries, like Hong Kong & Singapore, there are no fees at all (for individuals importing equipment), for other countries like Australia the limit is a generous AUD$1000, but for some others, like the UK, the limit is only £18.

In some cases only duties are payable, but in others taxes like VAT or GST are also payble.

The rules are all subtly different for the different countries. Some also include the shipping cost in the value, some don’t charge fees if they are gifts, so if you want to be sure, I’d encourage you to check on the Customs website of your country to be sure you get the latest and correct information.

The value

In most cases the value of the goods is the actual amount you payed. If they are gifts, some online retailers will happily mark the parcel as such, and might even be willing to mark the goods at a lower value (like the actual value of the goods, not the retail price), but others may only be willing to mark the value of the goods paid.

The limits

I thought it would be worthwhile to compile a list of the different amounts for different countries, under which no fees and payable. So I’ve collected the values from two of the big table tennis forums (see OOAK and Mytt) where there are many players for a wide range of different countries.

Here is the list in alphabetical order of the ones I’ve collected so far… I will continue to add in more as they come in:

Australia- $1000 AUD
Belgium- 45 EUR (sent as a gift)
Canada- CAD 20
Croatia- 27 USD
Denmark- $15
Estonia- 22 Euros
Hong Kong- No limit
India- No limit
Indonesia USD$50
Norway- NOK200
Malaysia- MYR 500
Phillipines- USD 75
Russia- 5000 RUB
Singapore- No Limit
South Africa- $50
Spain- EUR 24
Turkey- EUR 75
UK- £18 (inc shipping)
Inited Arab Emirates- 500 AED
USA- $200 USD

 

Do you know the limit for your country? If it’s not on the list, please post it here (or on one of the forums listed above) and I’ll add it in for the benefit of others. Thanks a lot!!!

By: haggisv