EU Customs Duties on inks from North America

[berserk]

Ha - I bought a 5D-printer with surround, hightfiddility and JBL:s.
OK - just bragging!

 

[Smile]

Excuse my deviation from the original subject. My point was to show that "high-tax areas" typically have superior services. But that may not always be the case. I have never had to pay a customs duty on anything, nor pay a VAT.

Here, my state+local sales tax is 6% (food is not taxed unless it is in a restaurant setting). My annual property tax is about 0.3% of "market valuation". There is a federal income tax, but no state or local income taxes. Fuel taxes are insanely low. Overall, taxes in this rural state are VERY low. However, since I don't reside in the nearby town of 30,000 souls (which includes the headcount of 11,000 university students)...

• I must transport my trash/garbage to the "local" landfill and pay a slight fee.
• Law enforcement is provided by the County Sheriff, a staff of 6 to 8 deputies to cover Albany County's 4,309 sq mi (11,160 km2).
• There's no professional, paid, fire department that covers my residence. It's a volunteer department about 8 miles away, who handles grassland/woodland fires only (not structures). Fire insurance isn't cheap.
  
• I have no community water or sewage. Well and septic works just fine but has an initial capital cost and infrequent maintenance cost.
• The landline works "almost" all the time. Cell phone signal is absent (or very weak). My internet speed (via line-of-sight wireless ) is limited to 850 kbbs up and down.
• "Ranch power" requires the use of a few UPS power supplies, and a back-up generator for the longer outages, while the local Rural Electric Association calls around to find out "who has the truck today".
• I have to pay additionally for local road maintenance and snow removal (about 2 miles of private gravel roads to reach a federal paved road). And, that federal road can be closed frequently due to winter weather for a day or two. Be prepared!
• I get one (1) TV station over the air, due to a repeater about 20 miles away for PBS.

BUT, I can own all the firearms I want, and pot is legal only 13 miles to the south!

You can buy all the guns but I bet you are afraid that even postal office is spying on you and you would be afraid to declare lower price for a parcel too. The fact is that agreed price between customer and seller is (should be) a trade secret.

 

[stratman]

I bet you are afraid that even postal office is spying on you and you would be afraid to declare lower price for a parcel too.

I do not know about international shipping, but domestically in the US, you declare a price on your US Postal Service (USPS) package for insurance purposes only, not for taxation purposes. You can declare any dollar amount you wish but must be able to provide proof of value if a claim is made on a damaged or missing package.

The USPS gives you the initial $50-$100 in coverage and then you purchase more insurance based on your declaration. Of course the USPS would like you to declare big $$$ so they can collect more money for the coverage.

In the end, though, the USPS doesn't care if you underinsure your package. And, the USPS doesn't care what it is you are shipping as long as it is not on the (fairly common sense) banned list.



Edit:

 

[The Hat]

Our Customs are a bit smarter than that, if the goods are coming from outside the EU and the declaration is over €20 then charges and Vat are applied to the cost of the goods plus the delivery charge, hence why most will under declare, the value and no, they don’t check...

Couriers never underestimate the goods value, that’s why here, it’s always cheaper to ship by Post and not by Courier, and delivery within the EU accumulate no charge...

 

[Smile]

I might add the the customs paperwork must be done by Courier agent and that cost at least 50Eur, so imagine buying something for 21Eur then having to pay
21+shipping of say 10+ 21%VAT +50 = 87.51Eur????

since 1 May 2004 in our Country in EU is same 20Eur limit for import until tax, what nonsense. Before we had 100USD limit but nobody knew our country after we got out from soviet empire and nobody sold anything to us. Our country was simply not listed in online stores.

 

[turbguy]

USPS spying? That's giving them a LOT of credit!

As for "declaring value", it's needed for insurance purposes only. Otherwise perhaps it's needed for overseas shipment, but they don't check. Why lie anyway?