customs ;taxes / fees

G'day all,
Question; when importing parts from the USA to AUSTRALIA is there any hidden charges from goverment departments;{customs)& the like?
If that is so ,how do i workout the charges so ian work the cost out properly /
To make a smooth transation!

cheers albear

 

albear
I know importing from the USA to Canada there is duty to be paid at the customs. Then there are taxes to be paid too. In Ontario there is a 15% tax. What I don't get is the shipping charges. For a small item the difference is more than $20. I think the cheapest is when it goes through the postal service. All the rest is over charging. Some times I see an item for $10 and the shipping is $40. It is ridicules.

 

i work at a general post office for canada post. when importing or exporting there are always charges no matter what. some ways of trying to get around this is marking the item as a gift. this does often work for thing that customs people think could be a gift. items get charged 15% on the ammount that you put on the package and a handling fee of 5 dollars. there are several ways of either having less taxes or charges and/or getting rid of them all together. from my expirence the best way of doing it is making the item a lesser value. unfortunetly this will also make the parcel less insurable. insurance can only be purchased for the ammount the parcel is worth. if you mark it as 5 dollars they pay taxes on 5 dollars if they charge you at all even if the package is worth $1000, the delema you can only insure it for $5. therefore taking a chance. if you mark it as a gift they will generaly look at it. if it could be a gift then they might over look it all together. my general consensis would to be by using the first method. also im not sure about australia but there is the other factor of what they consider importable and exportable. in canada anything that can be pruchased in canada is generaly taxed if its imported. if you cant purchase it in canada then they dont taxe you. that is so that we can keep are economy up (working great by the way (sarcasm))

good luck check with your local postal service for more details they can explain the whjole process to you better as this is only the canadian version of how they charge to much.

galamb as far as a $10 purchase costing $40 to ship thats the goverment for you. it would be cheaper to drive to the states and mail it from there some times. they pay far less then we do to send things. i received a 2 pound book from the states cost then 3 dollars to ship. i looked up the shipping to where it came from. it would cost me 13 dollars to send it back lol. even with the conversion rate they pay three times less then we do lol.

GO CANADA (hockey sucks )

 

The way I was told, when importing from US to Canada, and how it has gone for me is that the postal service picks out parcels at random, and those parcels are charged duty - which basically works out to the tax. FedEX and the others do it by the truck load. Every they pay a rate per truck/ per package and then divide it amongst all the packages and call it a brokerage fee. So if your $30 part comes fedex on a truck with somebody elses expensive stuff - your going to get nailed. I once had a $500 USD guitar cost me $200 at the door in brokerage fees.

It's a racket plain and simple!

 

I shipped some AMC car parts once to Tazmania. I don't think the US had any charges for it leaving. I do think there were customs charges on the other end. It was awhile ago maybe laws are different now.

 

Ace, this is supposed to be free trade But if you order on e-bay the seller has to use the sale price. If I could have a US address, things could be a lot easier. Then just cross the border and pick it up.
It's a racket !!

 

Ordering from the US is like gambling. Sometimes you pay duty and sometimes you don't. My last order of $140.00 from Cafepress came to the door with no duty. I just ordered $325.00 worth of parts from Chacal. We'll see what happens when that one comes.
If an item has ridiculous shipping charges to Canada but not the US, I'll quite often have it sent to my parents in AZ and they can bring it home in the spring with them. This only works in the winter and if I'm not in a panic for it.

 

G'day all,i found the answer;
if the value is $1.000.00. or less.here is the link.
http://www.customs.gov.au/site/page.cfm?u=5549

cheers albear

 

There is no tax to mail items within the US or to ship items out of the US. As observed above you're getting gigged on your end. This is likely to change if/when Mr. Obama socializes medicine. You have to do something to raise the revenue to pay the piper.

With the exception of "sin taxes" I.e. cigarettes, alcohol and taxes on petroleum we only pay social security and income taxes to the Feds. No GST etc. Yet.....

 

I just ordered approx $100.00 from Chacal and it got here with no extra tax or duty
Shaun

 

We've hijacked this thread from Australia to Canada. Just got my order today. $325 US = $422 CDN + I got dinged $44 CDN for taxes and a handling fee!

 

It all depends on what the item is and where it's manufactured. I just recieved a really nice set of saddle bags off an ebay store for 85.00US no tax or duty ....made in Pakistan. New exhaust from Ohio 325 US and made in the US cost me 60.00 duty and tax. The saddle bags, comparable but not quite as nice (material type too) cost about 250 up here.