Edgar Graham Posted October 15, 2010 Report Share Posted October 15, 2010 Yo, was just wondering if anyone has ordered a guitar from abroad before and incurred customs charges?I am planning on ordering a guitar from japan and was wondering what I can expect to pay and if there are any ways around the charges?I know that claiming it is a gift normally waives the fee, but I'm not sure I'll be able to get away with that in this case. Or will I? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeid Posted October 15, 2010 Report Share Posted October 15, 2010 I've bought two guitars from Japan. Best thing to do is add on about 20%, by the time you get your VAT and handling fees added on, it usually equates to that much.Don't get the company to declare the value as lower than it actually is because if it gets fucked up in shipping, then you can't claim the full amount back. Sending as a gift has its flaws as well, but it's your best bet.My housemate bought a guitar from Japan, for some reason he never got charged an import tax on it... the bastard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HateEvent Posted October 15, 2010 Report Share Posted October 15, 2010 I got my Hanneman from the States in 2007 and it was about 450 in customs (20% of marked price). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigsby Posted October 20, 2010 Report Share Posted October 20, 2010 Bought my Silvertone from the US 3 years ago, again, about 20% of the price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neepheid Posted October 20, 2010 Report Share Posted October 20, 2010 Marking as a gift has little or no application to high value items like guitars - it changes your tax free allowance from 18 to 36 (big wow) and changes the way customs duty (a separate charge from VAT) is calculated (whether the postage cost is factored in). VAT is charged on both the item cost and postage costs.Not worth committing fraud for, I'd say. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kybosh Posted October 27, 2010 Report Share Posted October 27, 2010 20 (ish) % is the norm , as people have said it's based on the value of the item (this has to be declared on the postage form in the country of origin) plus postage.You have to pay at the post office you collect it from here before they will give you the package , I even had to pay the tax on an item which I had won in a competition even though I had a letter from the organiser saying "congratulations , you have won , it's in the post"the only way round it is to get the seller to declare a low value on the item but as has been said if it gets damaged you can only claiim for the declared value Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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