mikek1

We are going to arrange for our household furniture etc to be shipped in a 40ft container from the UK to Subic Bay Port then onto our house in Pangasinan.


I was hoping to arrange quickly a 13a visa so that the household goods would be exempt from duty and VAT. However having travelled to London to try to arrange dual citizenship for my Filipino wife (she has a Dutch passport owing to her previous marriage of at least 30 years ago). We came away disillusioned at the paperwork required . I want go into the paperwork needs, but believe me it would have taken months to acquire, if at all.


So we are now left with two options , pay US$50,000 for a special retirement visa or pay the duty and VAT on the goods . As many of you already know dealing with customs clearance agents in the Philippines can be very 'hit and miss' and corruption can be evident.


Has any of the members any experience of such an importation? All the goods will be 'used' so how would they be valued for clearance? What would be the tariff for the goods? It has been suggested that it probably would be easier to buy the furniture in the Philippines, however our furniture is hardly used and would cost us in the region of £40K to replace .If we tried to sell it in the UK it would be vey difficult and would not realise anything like the replacement cost.


Help please.

quiltman

Can't be of great help as we shipped our goods to Cebu. We had a 20ft container with all used household goods. We had an agent here - via a friend - who accepted the goods and did all the import clearances etc. Absolutely no problem , cannot remember the exact cost but was around 60,000pesos for everything including delivery and unloading.As our SRRV had not been approved by the time our goods arrived, we just had to bite the bullet! There is only a $7000 allowance anyway.
the point I wanted to make was that the customs charges were based on OUR declared value of the goods, plus of course the shipping costs. We had listed the value of each large item and each box as our UK shipper needed a value for insurance.

Here's link to the tariff finder;
Home

you should be able to find the duty rates here.
sorry cannot recommend customs agent in Subic Bay but I'm sure someone will be along with a suggestion.

tropicofcancer

I agree with Quiltman on this. I paid P45,000 fifteen years ago. When asked for a valuation, I gave a realistic estimate. That being the price I would have achieved in UK. I was honest, and said that the value, would be higher if sold in the Philippines, but there was no intention of selling anything. That was a 20' container.
As is customary, an agent negotiated on our behalf. I would add that on unloading at our residence, an official was present. The official told us, she was mainly there, to ensure that no motor vehicle, or suchlike, was being smuggled in. She had a good laugh, when carton number twenty was unloaded. I grabbed it straight away, and opened it. So over she came to see why it was so important. Amongst the kitchen stuff, was my electric toaster. Then unobtainable here, and sorely needed. I told her it was as important to me here; as an ice shaver would be, to a Filipina in UK.

tropicofcancer

Further to the above: Remember to stress that VAT will have been paid on purchase at a higher rate than here in UK. Plus the VAT you paid at the time, would most likely, be more than the value of the goods now.
The negotiator will act on your behalf.

Gazza-d

I'm assuming I'm wrong on this but I thought the $7000 dutyfree was for SRRV only, not 13a.

tropicofcancer

I believe that there was once a maximum against a 13a Visa, but now most effects can be imported free of duty. However a lot of paperwork is involved. Including affidavits. I obtained my 13a visa after settling here. So exemption did not apply to me.

quiltman

sorry, you're correct. The $7K is for SRRV. I have no idea about a 13A allowance.

Stokkevn

I sent my container with the complete contents of a 4 bed house prior to my wife regaining her Philippine citizenship and prior to us actually leaving the UK to reside here. All costs were included in the initial price.