The Feds are onto me

So, some you might have seen in a previous post  I got a complimentary Arb sig gen from Feeltech for my contributions to a post over in EEV blog . The unit is with me about a month at this stage ,low and behold this morning in the post box is a letter from Fed-ex demanding almost half the value of the unit in import tax/collectors fees. I didnt order this unit or pay a penny ,it was in essence a trial unit for the purposes of getting me to contribute more to the blog ,I have no means of proving anything to them as there is no invoice or  paper work ,apart from a couple of emails  telling me I was recieving the unit . I wonder does anybody have the low down on the EU regs involved here ,there has to be a crafty/creative accounting solution to get these hound dogs off my trail ,any and all sugestions welcome .

I'm not a barrister but most shipping advice when I ship stuff internationally have a box to check for gifts, vs purchased merchandise.

Good luck... sounds a little odd, government it rarely that effective.

JR

You can't receive gifts from companies.

You are from Ireland, right?

https://www.revenue.ie/en/importing-vehicles-duty-free-allowances/gifts-and-consignments-of-low-value/rules-for-duty-relief-on-gift-consignments.aspx

Cheers John ,
yeah kinda sounds like I need to contact yet another government department to clarify my rights ,good thing is here most of those places are staffed by very courteous and helpfull people, bad thing is if you hit a grey area they dont tend to know their arse from their elbow and so you get stuffed into the pending box while emails fly up and down the ladder trying to find someone to take responsibility .Same everywhere to some extent I guess . :

Yeah Ireland Silent ,
Bummer ,looks like Im goosed then 
Maybe I misunderstood and this unit is only on loan to me after all 

[silent:arts] said:

You can't receive gifts from companies.

You are from Ireland, right?

https://www.revenue.ie/en/importing-vehicles-duty-free-allowances/gifts-and-consignments-of-low-value/rules-for-duty-relief-on-gift-consignments.aspx

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While rarely, I have occasionally shipped merchandise with zero value declared. Typically repair parts that I don't want the customer to pay duty for. FWIW I do not give away my drum tuners, even to reviewers.

At the same time I have customers asking me to understate the value of the merchandise to avoid duty. Australia has historically been the worst for this, but I have seen requests from several countries.

JR

Tubetec said:

Maybe I misunderstood and this unit is only on loan to me after all 

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This may avoid some duty but not VAT.

There is a special kind of documentation to avoid duty for equipment on temporary loan.

carnet said:

ATA Carnet (aka "Merchandise Passport") is an international customs document accepted by 80 countries and territories. ATA Carnet allows temporary entry of goods, duty-free and tax-free, whether shipped or hand-carried. ATA Carnet system was established by international ATA convention and is governed by World Customs Organization and International Chamber of Commerce and its World Chambers Federation to encourage world trade and reduce trade barriers created by different national customs regulations. The initials "ATA" are from the French and English words "Admission Temporaire/ Temporary Admission." U.S. Customs appointed US Council for International Business as National Guaranteeing Association (NGA).

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I doubt you can perfect this after the fact, but returning the unit might help.

JR

This is most unusual. If ever I have purchased something that attracts duty or VAT, the shipping company will not deliver it until after I have paid said duty/import. Other companies, like Mouser, send stuff VAT and duty paid. I see no reason why your supplier could not have done this.

Usually VAT and duty are payable on what you paid for it, not what it is worth. Since you paid zero, that is exactly the amount of duty/VAT you should pay.

Cheers

Ian

Just for chuckles, what is the possibility this is a scam?

JR

ruffrecords said:

This is most unusual. If ever I have purchased something that attracts duty or VAT, the shipping company will not deliver it until after I have paid said duty/import. Other companies, like Mouser, send stuff VAT and duty paid. I see no reason why your supplier could not have done this.

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This is normal with FedEx, UPS and DHL Express. They pay your VAT and duty upfront, you pay them EUR 12 for the service.

Yeah Ive heard of carnet alright , in the context of touring bands .Lists are carefully compiled ,normally your waved right through customs ,ocassionally you get a shake down ,if every last thing isnt accounted for tour manager is in deep doo doo .

The sig gen comes in below the value for duty in this case ,so its only the vat and the collectors fee is applied ,comes to just shy of 50% of the declared value in this case .Technically what I recieved was a prize in a competition ,it was awarded on the basis of contributions I made to the blog of my own free will ,theres no further implication on me to do anything in the manufacturers favour ,so It would seem to come under a different category than a business arrangement of some kind . Probably fighting a loosing battle here alright ,but I wont be going down without putting up a fight.

Thats the spirit Ian , if they want they are welcome to asses me on the basis of what I paid, 0 euro  ,vat @ 23% +12.50 euros fees still equals zero

For international shipment you need at least a proforma... invoices is preferred
for pear to pear (non professional/company) "gift" there is an upper limit declared value (depending of country)
ATA won't work here, it's for transit/temporary only, with fixed time range, you have to send back the item after the period OR make a definitive importation and pay VAT.

Something come to you from outside EU, it's an importation, you have to pay at least custom fees and administrative work...
about VAT it depend of the declared value (gift or not there is a value...)

I don't see how you can escape this  :-\

ruffrecords said:

Usually VAT and duty are payable on what you paid for it, not what it is worth. Since you paid zero, that is exactly the amount of duty/VAT you should pay.

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No...usually you pay what it worth, cheating at this is TVA fraud by default, to prove what you pay for invoice have to be fitted...
The exceptions is just for pear to pear low value items...

Best
Zam

Feds are onto me too, I am having to cover duties on a unit I sold to a person across the pond. Since it arrived a little on the non working side, it came back for repair and went back out. customs is asking for more money.  it's listed as a repair but anyway.

feds will be onto everyone soon... still reading into this one.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/06/21/supreme-court-allows-sales-taxes-online-purchases/699556002/

pucho812 said:

Feds are onto me too, I am having to cover duties on a unit I sold to a person across the pond. Since it arrived a little on the non working side, it came back for repair and went back out. customs is asking for more money.  it's listed as a repair but anyway.

feds will be onto everyone soon... still reading into this one.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/06/21/supreme-court-allows-sales-taxes-online-purchases/699556002/

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The scotus decision is about state sales tax, so no feds involved yet....  They would love a federal sales tax (like vat), me not so much.

I already mentioned this in economy thread.

JR

California will be first in line, the state always wants more money.

Just for sh*ts and giggles I got onto a supposedly independant advisory in relation to consumer rights ,the guy seemed genuinely trying to be helpfull ,but the bouncing around of responsabillity thing was exactly as I had anticipated .He told me because Fed-ex was registered in Tenn. I was bound by US law,but because the sender was Chinese ,I would need a team of lawyers to interpret both US and Chinese  law to figure it all out.What a load of bullsh*t  ;D

Anyway ,finally got onto a nice lady in Mumbai  ,I spoke clearly  and  slowly and without condescension we had things sorted out in no time .I just need to clarify the situation with my local Fed-Ex(tortion)HQ via email and Im not liable for anything . She appeared to have seen similar situations before. When I thanked her for her help I could feel her spirits lift ,and that in turn lifted mine ,just one of those random points of human contact  that can put you in a good mood for the day ,and its been a damn good day .

Reading this gives me a really bad feeling about the post-Brexit landscape. A really, really bad feeling

"Frictionless Borders" my arse

Nick Froome