Import Duty?

[Stuntman Mike]

Hi guys

I´m wondering about the import duties for you US guys when you buy model kits from other countries. When I´d send an insured package with a value of $300 to you, how much do you need to pay at the customs?

Cheers,

Kevin

[niteowl7710]

I don't believe the U.S. has Custom Duties on plastic models. I know we don't pay them on stuff coming in from Asian Countries (Japan, China, Korea, Singapore, etc).

[Brett Barrow]

We don't pay anything. Models sold for a consumer's personal use are exempt. Only if they are sold business-to-business with the intention to re-sale would there be customs duties.

[Brizio]

Agree on what they said. I receive different package (not only model cars) from all over the Europe, Japan, China etc, and never had to pay a penny in customs.

[martinfan5]

I want add to all the correct info that has already been posted , toys and games, which model kits fall under, have no duties for private parties.

Edited June 2, 2014 by martinfan5

[English Jules]

Your lucky, here in the UK, the 5 Lindberg Crown Vics i got last week got import tax, then a handling fee..... Handling fee was more than the tax. Held them up for a couple of days....

Nightmare. Its not as if your allowed eq of $100 or $200 before you have to pay tax, is about $25 then you are stung

[mnwildpunk]

In the US. We do also get hit with handling fees by certain Companies and like you said it can almost be as much as the model or whatever itself. But I have never been hit with a import tax

[English Jules]

Im involved with a model build, of a RAF 70's Jet fighter, EE Lightning..for injured ex servicemen here the charity H4H. So far raised just over £1000 Its been around the world with bits of the build by lots of people in each country. Anyway the person posting it back to the UK, thought to himself this must now be worth a couple of thousands $'s....so thats what he wrote on the customs form......................................and you can guess what happened next.

[Stuntman Mike]

Your lucky, here in the UK, the 5 Lindberg Crown Vics i got last week got import tax, then a handling fee..... Handling fee was more than the tax. Held them up for a couple of days....

Nightmare. Its not as if your allowed eq of $100 or $200 before you have to pay tax, is about $25 then you are stung

Same situation in Germany. The benchmark is 22 Euros which equals $30. But the benchmark also includes the shipping cost.

Item = 18€

Shipping = 4,01€

Total = 22,01€

I´m one cent above the benchmark and have to pay 19% of the 22.01€ for import duties. It´s almost impossible to stay below the benchmark.

However, thanks for the information.

[Luc Janssens]

Been there, blood pressure rose, got mad, didn't help.

Oh well...

[jbwelda]

does marking an item on the customs form as a "gift" change anything?

Not that I am advocating customs fraud but pretty much anything I send overseas (from the usa) I mark as a gift and I assign a piddly dollar value to, like 1 - 5 US$. Most of the time no one pays anything extra that way. it was explained to me by an employee of the USPS that "value" is not necessarily what the item would sell for. it is the value to the sender...and for instance if you built it from nothing bought it is totally valid to assign "NCV" (no commercial value) to the item for purposes of a customs form declaration. same with a model...if its value to you is or could be negligible either because you don't want it or perhaps have multiple copies, or any other reason, it is rare someone will challenge that.

jb

[martinfan5]

does marking an item on the customs form as a "gift" change anything?

Not that I am advocating customs fraud but pretty much anything I send overseas (from the usa) I mark as a gift and I assign a piddly dollar value to, like 1 - 5 US$. Most of the time no one pays anything extra that way. it was explained to me by an employee of the USPS that "value" is not necessarily what the item would sell for. it is the value to the sender...and for instance if you built it from nothing bought it is totally valid to assign "NCV" (no commercial value) to the item for purposes of a customs form declaration. same with a model...if its value to you is or could be negligible either because you don't want it or perhaps have multiple copies, or any other reason, it is rare someone will challenge that.

jb

I am not going to try and pretend that I am knowledgeable in customs, but my guess is you can get away with marking it as a gift because you are a private party sending to another private party.

[English Jules]

Well lots of ebay sellers state they will NOT put gift or change the value..... Some will, esp in China etc.

LIke i said i got stung for the 5 Lindberg Chargers, not a lot extra, i guess about $20 but its 20 i didnt really have to spare. These are for me to build...

I had bought a lot of American Diorama cop and sheriff figures, asked him to put a lower value and tick gift....

[Roncla]

I recently had a package from HobbyLink Japan intercepted by Customs and I had to prove to Customs the value stated on the customs form was what I had payed for it before they would release it.

Since I had payed with Visa it meant a trip down to my bank and a print out on the banks stationery of my Visa statement showing the transaction then a trip back to Customs to show them the proof.

This has only happened once in literally hundreds of packages I've imported but does high light how Customs can pick up a undervalued package.

[Luc Janssens]

Value, that's another issue, when buying a vintage kit on ebay, it can be $150, or $10 when the seller listed the item in the wrong category.

I even had some ebay seller who, declared book value on an item, while I paid much less, luckily the item passed customs without paying duties.

IIRC When Revell sent me replacement Pro-Modeler '69 Chargers back in the day, I think they declared $5, while the kit was retailing for $25

So what is value?

Edited June 4, 2014 by Luc Janssens

[niteowl7710]

Remember when mis-declaring the value or falsely claiming something is a gift, it's YOU who are going to be in hot water not the end recipient. Even if someone like Mr. Hales asked you to do it - and I don't intend to question his ethics beyond his own statements - I bet 99% of people will immediately declare that they NEVER asked you to make false Customs declarations. They'll just have their package tied up for months while everyone tries to figure out what the item(s) are worth, and probably get stuck with paying a duty on the MSRP of them.

Meanwhile if you've done that type of thing enough (or the package has a high enough mis-declared value) - remember those tracking numbers aren't SnapChat, they never go away - the USCBP & Postal Inspection Service will come knocking on your door to have a chat about your inability to not commit fraud. Those outbound Customs declarations are FEDERAL documents, and you're swearing that the information is correct and true. It's one thing to declare NCV on a built model, since what value does it REALLY have commercially, but any complete kit - particularly sealed ones - DO. You could declare a "gift" on a trade, but by the letter of the law if they paid for the item beyond the costs associated with shipping it, then it has a declarable value. Nobody here can operate a Duty-Free Hobby Shop.

If you're going to do that little dance with fate, you oughta at least toss in a Birthday Card or something, to make it plausible that you were REALLY sending them a gift. Also when you undervalue the contents of the package, that value becomes what the contents are worth should the package go AWOL or become destroyed in shipment. So that $50 worth of models that got sent out, and you're on the hook for replacing/refunding since they were purchased by the other guy, is now worth $1 to the USPS when you go to make a claim for it.

[jbwelda]

sorry, that's total paranoid BS. but go ahead and insist on stating an inflated or even true value if it makes you feel "safe". unless you are a business you are never going to be called on it. never. and rarely even if you are a business.

jb

[martinfan5]

sorry, that's total paranoid BS. but go ahead and insist on stating an inflated or even true value if it makes you feel "safe". unless you are a business you are never going to be called on it. never. and rarely even if you are a business.

jb

Sorry, but your post is total BS, James knows what he is talking about, as you could say, he is in the business, but you go right ahead and continue to try and play with Customs, you better pray it doesn't catch up to you

[jbwelda]

been "playing with customs" for about 20 years now believe it or not and haven't been called on anything on either side...ever. that's sending or receiving packages whose "value" could be from 1 US$ to 10,000 US$.

I am speaking from experience here.

but like I said go ahead and declare full MSRP if it makes you feel "safe". throw in a little extra just to make sure. I am sure your overseas customers will thank you for it. I would certainly never advocate publicly that one try to defraud the government.

this message brought to you by the Concerned Mothers of 'Merica, birddogging your every move since 9/11/2001.

jb

[martinfan5]

been "playing with customs" for about 20 years now believe it or not and haven't been called on anything on either side...ever. that's sending or receiving packages whose "value" could be from 1 US$ to 10,000 US$.

I am speaking from experience here.

but like I said go ahead and declare full MSRP if it makes you feel "safe". throw in a little extra just to make sure. I am sure your overseas customers will thank you for it. I would certainly never advocate publicly that one try to defraud the government.

this message brought to you by the Concerned Mothers of 'Merica, birddogging your every move since 9/11/2001.

jb

I dont send things overseas, I am not worried about it, and I am also not on a public forum openly admitting to committing customs fraud either .

[Casey]

However, thanks for the information.

I think Kevin got his answer.