Customs charges on gifts sent from abroad

Possibly because he knew that you don't have to pay customs in Germany if the value is below 22€ (approx. 25$)
.. the guys at the customs surely thought someone is playing tricks(If somebody orders software in the US it must be more expensive).
90$ is approx 60€. VAT is 19%. So you have to pay about 12€.
I think this 12€ will not cause any trouble. (except that you have to go there)

Many thanks!

Just received one of these blue and green notices as well with the US Customs Declaration and Dispatch note attached to it. The declared value for this unexpected gift from a friend is $90 US and it looks like she already paid $55.50 for postage and fees. The green card has a box ticked for "Rechnung (zweifach; allgemein verständliche Warenbezeichnung in deutscher Sprache)". I had no idea this gift was even coming so how am I suppose to produce any type of document in German? Is that what they're looking for?

mkg - if it is a gift & there is no invoice, then you should be ok. I think the Zoll spot check stuff coming in from abroad - even if it is declared as a gift. Yesterday the Zoll here in Düsseldorf said "in the days of Ebay, lots of things which are purchased online are shipped as gifts".

I ordered some vintage clothes from a retailer in the USA. They posted with an invoice inside the parcel & I got stung for import duty (12%) and MWSt (19%). I was not reckoning with import duty on second-hand clothing! Bloody annoyed me because the same article was not available here!

This usually implies they have doubt as to the declared value so want to see evidence...

If I would work at the customs I would not believe that somebody sends something worth $90 US
and pay $55.50 postage. Btw. you have to pay customs for the gift and the postage.

Huh?

Hello YL6,

I found this in the German FAQ of www.zoll.de
(http://www.zoll.de/faq/postverkehr/postverkehr/index.html#post2)
There is also an English FAQ, but it doesn't contain the complete German FAQ.

Basically it says, no tax for gifts under 45€.
You have to pay tax on the costs of shipping.

Warum muss ich für ein Geschenkpaket aus USA Zoll bezahlen?
Auch bei der Einfuhr einer Geschenksendung aus den USA oder anderen Drittländern (d.h. Ländern, die nicht der Europäischen Gemeinschaft angehören) in die Bundesrepublik Deutschland sind grundsätzlich Einfuhrabgaben, d.h. Zoll sowie die Einfuhrumsatzsteuer und ggf. andere Verbrauchsteuern zu entrichten.

Von diesem Grundsatz gibt es aber auch Ausnahmen. So sind bei Waren, die von einer Privatperson außerhalb des Zollgebiets der Europäischen Gemeinschaft an eine andere Person im Zollgebiet der Gemeinschaft gesandt werden, keine Einfuhrabgaben zu entrichten, wenn es sich um eine gelegentliche, nichtkommerzielle Sendung (=unentgeltlich) handelt, deren Gesamtwert den Betrag von 45 Euro nicht übersteigt. Bei Tabakwaren, Alkohol und alkoholischen Getränken sowie bei Parfüm und Eau de Toilette dürfen darüber hinaus bestimmte Mengengrenzen nicht überschritten werden.
Die Wertgrenze bezieht sich auf den Betrag in Euro, nicht US-Dollar oder eine andere Währung.

Ich habe in einem Land, das nicht zur EG gehört, bei einem Versandhaus Waren bestellt. Warum wurden bei der Berechnung von Zoll und Einfuhrumsatzsteuer die Transportkosten mit verzollt?
Bei der Zollwertermittlung hat die Zollstelle den Wert einer Einfuhrware beim Überschreiten der Außengrenze der Gemeinschaft zu ermitteln. Dieser Wert wird nicht nur durch den für die Ware gezahlten Rechnungspreis, sondern z.B. auch durch Aufwendungen für Transport, Verpackungen und Ladekosten bis zur Grenze beeinflusst. Sind solche Kosten nicht im Rechnungspreis enthalten (z.B. bei "Ab-Werk-Lieferung"), so sind die mit der Beförderung verbundenen Kosten bis zum Ort des Verbringens über die Außengrenze der Gemeinschaft in den Zollwert einzubeziehen und damit auch einem Wertzoll zu unterwerfen.

The good news is that I must have caught the customs person on a good day as, he asked us what was in the package - we told him based on the description on the form from the US - he had me sign for it and told us to go on our way. No additional fees! Not sure if it had anything to do with the fact that you could hear broken glass in the box when you picked it up as a candle had broken, but overall it was a very painless experience. Thanks to everyone for your help!

Would appear its the luck of the draw.Just got a Nintendo DS Lite on e bay england with 18 games for € 172.It came from Shanghai but on the delivery form it stated 'Gift fom auntie Annie'.We had nothing to pay on top

I just found out that if you get married outside of the EU (like in the States, for example), you can bring up to 1000€ worth of stuff back into the EU tax free. You just have to prove that you got married while you were on the trip. We're in the situation - we are having a reception in the States for family and friends who didn't make it to the Germany wedding and we will probably get gifts (although, I hope not too many) and have to bring them back with us.

Hi,

How long do I have to go and pick my stuff up from the zollamt? My brother has sent me something from US amazon as a birthday present (I have no idea why he didn't use UK or German amazon...). I have no idea what it is. I can't get hold of him as he is on holiday and refused to take his phone. I assume he used the amazon gift service - so I don't have a reciept (so don't know how much it will cost), will this cause a problem? I am loathed to go and pick it up - as I don't really want to pay tax on it - also I have a sneaky feeling it will be a DVD box set - that probably won't work on my DVD player... So how long can I leave it before it gets sent back? (Oh and I haven't read the card yet - as I am also away from Munich for a bit so I have only got a brief message from my fiancee as to what it says).

Cheers
Rich

20 calendar days, I think. It will say on the card (which your fiancée can't read as it is in German).
PS Hello you, will I ever see the pair of you again? Been too long pal.

That's funny. Amazon.com in the US now has a customs prepay option. You can pay the fees in advance and then, if they have overcharged you or the zollamt doesn't charge they will credit the money back to the card used to buy it.

@Kitkat, I think there is also some rule if there are wedding gifts mailed to you here from outside the EU, they will be duty free as well. However, this only applies if you receive the gifts after you get married.

I had to do the customs thing with a birthday present recently. Is there a german site like amazon with an english option so that our relatives can buy stuff from that site and avoid the hassle of having to pick up the package from customs?