coldel

A friend of ours living in Australia posted us a present (to celebrate my fiancee and I getting engaged hurrah!) and upon delivery we got charged TVA.

Now, the present (photo frame) is stated on the delivery note as being worth 50 Australian Dollars which is 30 Euros. We got charged 18 Euros - last time I looked im sure VAT isnt over 50% !!

I feel we have been ripped off here - im going to contact the carrier in this case DHL but wondered if people have had similar experiences?

Also Im wondering why we have been charged tax at all? Does everything that is posted in from abroad have to be taxed at 50%+ ???

Am I over reacting here? It just seems bizarre as when living in Tokyo we never paid tax on things posted to us...

val50

I think part of the problem is your present came from Australia, so was not from another EU country, and the amount you had to pay was import duty. I know we've had complaints before from people who've bought goods online, from companies such as ebay, and had them sent to France, and they've had to pay quite large amounts of money when the goods were delivered.
Congratulations on the engagement though.

coldel

OK thanks Val that would explain it - still pretty ridiculous though - must be the highest taxing country in the world given Japans rates..!

jdr

Maybe they should of written gift or present on the declaration.

coldel

Im getting to the bottom of it, 50 Euros for the gift, tax at 17% PLUS the cost of delivery 60 Euros which we have to pay VAT on also! DHL dont include it in their costing....

...have you ever heard of anything so ridiculous "Its 60 Euros postage not including tax which the person receiving has to have in cash when its delivered"