Customs Duty Charges, ANyone Know??

[PurseSlave]

Hi, I'm going to be receiving a handbag soon from a foreign address, I live in the US, and I was wondering if anyone knows how much customs charges for duties?

The bag is going to be insured for $4,000...and it's going to be declared as my b-day present cuase I was born in January.

If anyone knows, please HELP!! I just want to know how much I am going to have to pay for duty charges.

[south-of-france]

There have been a few threads about this already, did you do a search?

[PurseSlave]

nope, could you send me a link to one? :)

[secret shopaholic]

I think if it sent to you as a gift then there shouldn't be a charge.

[secret shopaholic]

I meant to say also if it has been declared as a low value.

[PurseSlave]

Yea, I want her to claim it at full value in case something happens to it. But it will be declared as a gift, so hopefully I'll be okay! :)

[ValleyO]

I received a Prada I paid over $200 for from Canada and didn't have to pay taxes.

[noshoepolish]

I think I paid $43 plus the fee on $700 so I guess you could calculate it out.

[PurseSlave]

yay I like hearing the good news.....I guess if it's sent as a "gift" you don't have to pay duty charges..

[SilverLotus]

Once the declared value is over $100, you are liable for duty, even if it's a gift. At $4,000, not only will you have to pay duty, but you'll most likely have to go through a "formal" clearance rather than an "informal" clearance. Formal is when the value is over $2,000, informal is when it's under.

I hope that your bag is being sent via the international postal system and not a courier service such as FedEx or UPS. If duty is charged, a courier service will pay it and then bill you, and if the duty charged was the wrong amount (happened to me several times when importing the jewelry that I sell), it can take a while to get it straightened out. On the other hand, when it comes through the mail, you are able to protest the amount of the duty before you get charged for it.

[Rally]

Originally Posted by PurseSlave

Hi, I'm going to be receiving a handbag soon from a foreign address, I live in the US, and I was wondering if anyone knows how much customs charges for duties? The bag is going to be insured for $4,000...and it's going to be declared as my b-day present cuase I was born in January. If anyone knows, please HELP!! I just want to know how much I am going to have to pay for duty charges.

Probably 9%

[PurseSlave]

Yea, she is going to ship through FedEx......I'd rather just get my bag right away and THEN receive the bill in the mail or whatever.....oh well I will just protest it then! lol

[PurseSlave]

I don't see why they have a duty charge on gifts....that is just dumb.

[SilverLotus]

If everything that was labeled gift was free of duty, then every package imported into every country would be marked gift! Governments know that many of us will not be totally forthcoming about the value of an item and/or whether it's a gift/commerical item, etc., so all of them have rules and regulations about this stuff. It's the only way they can snag our money!!!! And they all do it.

[PurseSlave]

My b-day really is in January though, if I challenged the duty charge and showed them my gift certificate, etc., would they change it?