Customs charges on gifts sent from abroad

Has anyone had the experience of recieving christmas gifts from the states and being charged customs duties?

I have lived in Europe for 17 years and this is the first country where I have ever encountered this problem.

What is the Law in Germany

The law is the same across Europe, although the rates may be different. Typically 7% import duty on items with an assessed value over €45 plus 16% (soon to be 19%) VAT where applicable. If the duty and taxes are processed by a third party (e.g. the courier or postal service) they may charge an administration fee. The assessed value is the higher of the declared value and the value perceived by customs, should they open or identify the contents. It's a frequent trick to under-declare value and hope they don't spot it or open the parcel as they sometimes do (randomly).

I paid 12 euro and change last week for a package sent directly from amazon.com. We have received quite a few other Christmas packages that were not mailed from a business, and have not been billed by customs for those.

I have the feeling that the Customs Office has been cracking down on this in the last couple years. Just last week I had to pick up some bibles (sent from a private address) at customs to the tune of €15-odd even though they were declared as a gift. The flunkie with whom I was dealing said basically that Germany wanted the VAT on any imported item.

Just last week I ordered clothing from an US based company and it was shipped via UPS. The goods totalled $172.00 + $30.95 shipping. I had to pay duty in cash to the delivery chap when he brought the parcel and a couple of days later I received a thick ream of papers relating to the charges.

It is interesting to note that each item I ordered had it's own sheet detailing (of what I could figure out in German) coutry of manufacture, material used etc as well as applicable taxes ranging from 6.5% to 16%. UPS charged 2.5% processing fee, so I paid a total of €52.36 to receive my order. It was well worth it though and I got it within 24 hours of ordering on line ... now that's what I call service!

Its all luck.

What I recommend is having it shipped to you from someone in the states (friend or relative), and get the tags and packaging taken off...like its being shipped to you as something you own already...

...of course this is my thought after shelling out a whole heap of euros to customs on my own Christmas and birthday gifts after the last 2 years...

It is luck, but if you take all the tags and packaging off, and there is no statement of the value on the tag from the US post office, you're opening yourself up to the whims of the customs agents. They could very well decide that the article is a new item, and worth more than it actually is, and charge you accordingly.

I must say never been charged for items purchased from eBay.com as these usually arrive in used boxes or padded envelopes, even when the value marked exceeds €22. My guess is they check more often during Xmas.

Does this apply to gifts packed in checked luggage?

Yes. You're supposed to claim it and pay customs if it's worth more than something like 500 Euro altogether. (For all the new items you're bringing in.)

Customs can do random stops on arrival and go through your bags before you leave the baggage claim area, to see if you're underclaiming.

It's pretty easy to get around customs at the airport, though. If you buy any clothes while you're away, for example, take the tags off before you pack them and say they're not new.

By the way, you're taking a bit of a chance anyway if you carry wrapped gifts, that they will be opened by airport security at the departure airport.

I guess they've also got more strict over the last couple of years, since the US$ has nose-dived against the Euro. Seems like people are doing some of their Xmas shopping in NY.

This goes for anything you might get charged for. Clothes, Laptops,etc.. Make it look like you had it when you left and your OK.

Don't go packing your new Laptop in the Orig box, or have all the documents, reciepts etc. in your baggage. Mail them to yourself before you go...

When I was back in the US for Christmas I went shopping for a wedding dress and what not with my mom and sister, and I am gettign the stuff sent over. What I am wondering is if there is anyway I won't have to pay customs on it since my parents paid for it (so its basically a gift)?

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Writing gift is a good idea, but if they write that its worth over 50 USD then you will get charged customs. Further, you can say its less than 50, pretend like you already own it and cut the tags off...that should do.

I'm getting married to a German in September, but I'm flying over in April. It's a tradition in the US for all the ladies to have a bridal shower where everyone gives gifts - bed linens, towels, etc. I'll be bringing this over with my in my suitcases when I fly to Munich. Will I have a problem with the Customs agents in Munich? I already cut all the tags off and am planning on washing everything so that it has "used" smell about it. I have never dealt with the customs agents in Munich. I usually went through in Amsterdam then Munich. I had to buy a 3 week ticket this time, since the one-way was too expensive. Will this send up "red flags" to the Customs agents? Should I keep it at a two bag limit or should I pay to have 3 bags when I come through? Please help as I'm stressing I'll owe loads to the germans on GIFTS.

Frankly I dont think it makes a difference whether YOU bought the items or whether someone else did & GAVE them to you.

If duty is payable then duty is payable.

Thanks for the quick response and feedback.

If your stuff is not in brand new boxes, and you don't have clothes with tags, I find it hard to believe they will charge you duty when you arrive into the country with this stuff in your luggage. It could be easily argued that it is stuff you've owned for a while in the US and are just bringing back cause you're living here now.

what about those who live in Germany and go home for Christmas where ultimately, we will be given gifts and will be bringing them back in luggage? My mom wants to buy me an iPod, but I suggested we go halves because it is $250. should I claim this as well when I arrive back in germany?

Don't claim anything, unless your pulled aside for inspection, and if you are, claim you had it with you when you left.
Just don't be stupid enough to leave it in the Orig. box, with all the docs, cables, US Receipts, etc.. Mail those to yourself from the US
if you really feel your going to need them.

i usually do this for clothes anyhow since i always stock up on my jeans & underwear when at home (we can discuss this somewhere else!). I've never brought back technical stuff so I was not sure. it's not my intention to deceive anyone buy buying an iPod over there and not here, for yes, it is much cheaper. but trousers that fit, that is something completely different!

I bought some I-pod speakers and a heap of clothes and brought them back and had no trouble at all, but then I was incredibly naive and didn't know that I was supposed to pay anything extra on them!

Hell, I bought a 21speed Road Bike and brought it back in a big box and didn't pay anything and didn't get caught (this was 4 years ago). When I bring stuff back, I take all the tags off and wear it at least once. There is no way they can prove that you didn't buy it in Germany and bring it on your trip to the States.

Problem is, it may be up to YOU to prove that you did buy it within the EU...

i couldn't do that with ANY of the clothes I do actually own (and have bought here). When people go on holiday, the don't take receipts from 10 year old clothes with them, do they?!

Rilana I don't think they are going to go after you for clothes most of the time unless you have a suitcase full of jeans in different sizes or something (but not when it looks like a person's normal wardrobe). iPods, laptops, cameras, etc. though they can ask you to prove they were bought in the EU... If you can't it may be up to you to pay the customs charges.

According to my local Zollamt, the charges are a straight 19% Mehrwhateversteuer (MWT is VAT?) on anything valued at over 45 Euros. If the items are mailed using the US postal service, or the Canadian postal service, and if some or all of the following criteria are present, you have a problem and will have to drive to the Customs house in your area as specified on the evil green postcard you will receive in your mailbox.

The value exceeds 45 Euros and/or;
The package is untidy looking;
The listing of items is vague;
The parcel looks too big for the declared value;
The parcel feels too heavy for the declared value;
The person who unloaded it from the plane was having a bad day.
The person who sent it forgot to check off gift.
The person who sent it, decided to use their business address as their return address with a fancy printed return address label, even when it was a personal gift.

My "local" customs office is 1,5 hours away and not serviced by train. Joy. They always let you open the parcel yourself. And if you are lucky, whoever sent it washed your crap, and took the tags off, or bought it at Target for 70% off and left the tags on. It helps if your friends and family send you something in the parcel that is quite worn, that you can pull out first and hug to yourself while squealing enthusiastically. Germans don't seem to like worn looking old things. :-) Going just before closing, to pick up your parcel is also a very good strategy. (The enthusiastic squealing, itself, is usually enough to embarrass the civil servant enough to want to get rid of you immediately on the spot.)

You may require a receipt in German, an email in German, or something official-ish from the person who sent it, written in German giving a more detailed listing of the contents with the value of the goods noted. Zero English is spoken at my local office. (No prob, thank goodness - my German isn't flawless, but I got a 96% on my Deutsch Zertifikat. :-) Whew!

If the parcel is valued at over 45 Euros, you will pay 19% MST on the full amount, NOT just the amount that is over 45 Euros.

Compare this with being allowed to mail from Germany 300 dollars USD worth of merchandise, per day, to the USA without having to pay any duty.

:-/

I couldn't get a ride to the office for 3 months and they sent a parcel back to the USA... Still waiting for it to get there so that I can try to get it shipped again. You have to be very specific with friends and family regarding the labeling. The best shipping method is the International Priority Mail Flat Rate Box from the USPS. 20 pounds of weight, 35 US dollars shipping fee. It's a great deal. But they have to check the GIFT box off, and the value of the goods must be under 45 Euros.

Smiles,
CA

Easy.. It was bought off ebay from a local, for which you meet -up with and paid cash for. No receipts. No Bill..
Theres always a way around stuff, which is why 99% of the time the Customs guys don't care. Now if you were bringing
in a suitcase full of iPods, that would be an issue.. Like who takes a 100 iPods with them on vacation...

I don't think they do all that much though...I took my laptop to the US and back with me and nobody asked and I bought i-pod speakers and a camera there and it was fine too...

Received a notice that a package had been shipped (USPS) from California to us. From hubby's sister, marked as gift (necklace and watch) and insured for $500 dollars. Notice from customs office said we'd have to pay import duty despite it being marked as a gift. Shipped Dec 19th, notice arrived Jan 4th.
Went to the winnenden office to pick up.
Package had not been opened.
Asked about customs and official asked to open package to view.
Enclosed were jewelry and christmas gift card.
She said, no fee, it's obviously a gift.
Phew

It's a complete crapshoot.

Sometimes we order stuff online from the US and it arrives at our doorstep with no customs duties charged. Sometimes, we get a notice and havve to go to the Zollamt and fill out a zillion forms regarding the fiber content of the cloting, etc. to be keypunched into a huge make-work database, no doubt, and end up paying 15%.

The secret seems to be keep the orders small. If it arrives UPS or FedEx, we almost never get dinged. If it arrives in a big-ass box vial DHL/Deutsche Post, we're generally screwed.

Interestingly, we once refused shipment on a big box from L.L. Bean at the Zollamt because they wanted to treat us like commercial importers and charge full German VAT ... they sent it back to Maine (at their expense). I simply reordered the whole thing online and it sailed through without any problems about a week later.

Steuer runter ... macht Deutschland münter!

I think you were lucky. IMHO whether its a gift or not is irrelevant for import duty purposes.

...or maybe the customs officer had a good eye for a fake...

I am planning to ask my friend to send me a camera >500$ and will be taking it out of Germany. Can I explain that to the customs and get away without having to pay the duty ?

If the camera is coming into Germany from outside the EU then you are liable for duty.

Of course you can explain this to customs. Unlikely to have any effect.

You could temporarily import and use it in Germany/EU (for up to a year) if you raise a ATA Carnet, but it's probably not worth the hassle or cost.

Is the 45€ limit also applicable to packages sent from an actual business? Or do I have to pay no matter what the cost was (will be about 45USD)?

this is probably a really stupid q, but I want to order something from an online shop based in the UK. Will I get charged customs duties?

You have of this thing called the EU right?

i know! *sheepish grin*
question is sort of irrelevant now. i found a shop in germany and they had free delivery, same price. this UK shop had free delivery, but not any more.

I think I must have been tagged for some reason. I have never NOT had a major hassle receiving anything from abroad. I've been accused of lying about things being gifts (they were rather horrendous items that I would never have paid for, and I came thisclose to just leaving it all there), of importing things for resale (yah, I am going to make a real killing reselling THREE snowflake ornaments made by kindergarteners), etc.

Customs can totally suck it.

I signed up for an online course and as a free extra, they sent me a pair of earphones. Worth about $10 - but customs put a charge of 16 euros on it. So I just shrugged and left it at the Post Office!

OK, how long does German Zoll clearance take? Am waiting for a crate of wine from NZ posted 29th January 2008, the other shipping carton with personal effects arrived some time back and NZ Post Track & Trace indicates it is with German customs. Wine is clearly marked as such and am prepared to pay duty, has anyone else ever shipped wine from outside of the EU?

That's too long, even on high value items. I never had to wait more than 3-4 working days. Does the tracking information tell you who the handling agent is here in Germany? If not you should ask and contact them...

Handling agent not listed, think will contact NZ Post, cheers.

EDIT: have now submitted enquiry with all the tracking info, thankfully stuff is insured if the worst happens.

From the German customs homepage:
If you receive a gift - value below 45€ from a person you don't pay any duty.
If you receive something commercial the limit is 22€.
(The exeptions are tobacco, alcohol, perfume and coffee. You have to pay duty)
http://www.zoll.de/c0_reise_und_post/b0_po...ngen/index.html

In my opinion it depends on the weight/size of the package. I bought radios, antennas via ebay in China - no problem.
When I bought at three heavy books from Amazon US the package was opened, but again no tax.

The package has been found - it's in the damaged goods area at Wellington NZ Post Head Office. One bottle of wine broke (sadly the 2004 Waitiri Creek Pinot Noir) and has damaged the other bottles' labels so when they arrive it really will be a blind tasting.
NZ Post are repackaging, bubble wrapping and resending - they've been really helpful and friendly doing the trace. Phew!
The stuff is worth the wait though.
Will have to go to Garching anyway to pick up another parcel from the Zoll, bit of a pain that.

Amazingly the bottles turned up about 20mins ago, all remaining 12 in relatively good nick and with labels still on.
And despite being clearing declared as wine and having the accurate (high - still lower than if it was German market value) value listed on the declaration, no customs duty was charged.
None.
Nil.
Nada.
Nichts.

Not complaining though. Woo hoo!

Looks like one can escape while others are getting cought

I just received a call from my gf today saying that the I-Pod my friend sent me from US arrived per DHL.
That was a good piece of news, the bad part is that the DHL guy wanted us to pay 55,47 EUR (Duty, Taxes, and whatnot)
The declared value of the item was 130 USD.

I told the guy it does not make sense to pay 66% of the total value of the item, and told him to play "Return to sender" on his way to the other delivery

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!

I ordered software online from USA and I knew I will have to pay customs since it was $90 (I just could not find the same software in english here, and my german is not good to pay for software in German). So I got the green paper to go the Zollamt in Garching, and according to it I just need to bring the invoice (Rechnung) will it be ok to bring it english? since that is all that I have.
Then I do not know why the person that send if from USA put that the value was $25 (I did not ask for that) do you think I will be in trouble because of that?

Many thanks!

Ceci