Dazlinsky

What are the import duties etc???

Thanks!!

Joshlin

Hi Dazlinsky

Am in the process of moving over to NZ ( shippers in at the end of the month). I have two fairly large Snap On tool boxes- 1 roll cab / 1 top box. They are new, i bought them to lose some money before i wound my buisness up. They obviously will be full of tools, which aren't new, but i'm hoping not to pay any import duty on them, rightly or wrongly.

Hoping we both don't get stung.

Lee

Dazlinsky

Thanks for your info. My box is the same snap on boxes full of tools!! Hopefully they can't charge us, it's for our livelyhood???
What shippers did you use, and if you don't mind me asking, what did tey charge??

uk+kiwi

I thought I read (but I could be mistaken) that you will get charged the VAT equiv (GST?) on ANYTHING new whatsoever that you take (ie import) into NZ. However you only have to use things once I believe, so as long as you dump any packaging it would be hard for them to prove otherwise I suspect. May look odd if you have lots of new looking things though!

scottish

We took hubbys rather heavy toolbox as luggage (needed it for work right away). As long as the items/box are clean and look used you wont get hit with duty on them.

Joshlin

my thoughts exactly. if you have been in a garage enviroment then by and large your tool box normally stays mint-its just whats inside that gets grotty. would be hard pressed to prove that things were not "used".
we ended up using PSS. they were slightly more expensive than John Masons and a lot cheaper than Crown Relocations.
i take it you are a mechanic also? where are you heading for??

Lee

Joshlin

PSS will cost us £3600 for 20ft container -plus £5.20/cubic ft for overspill/groupage

Dazlinsky

We are only taking my tool box. No furniture at all. I plan to cram the tools together and then pack our personal things in a few of the drawers, I have a Snap on KRA series tool box so it is quite big. Do you have any ideas about just shipping the tool box?

NZ Climber

That's true. Some friends of ours bought new furniture before they left the UK to come here and as it was all going in a container, they left it in the packaging and didn't even put it together or anything (thinking that it would keep it safe). Bad idea - cost them $600 in duty. I took apart and flatpacked all my bookcases, wardrobes etc etc to save space and we didn't pay duty on anything when we came.

The rules of thumb are:

1. If it's new, get rid of the original packaging and get the shipping company to just wrap it up as normal and note it down as "bookcase" or whatever it happens to be (not "brand spanking new bookcase...")

2. If you bring more than one of things that you should only really have one of (i.e: 3 plasma TVs, 12 Black and Decker workmates etc etc), you're likely to get stung.

If they think you're taknig the piss, they'll have you, if they don't, they won't bother as it's too much hassle. Basically, try to be honest with everything on the manifest because it's easier that way. If they look at your manifest and they know that you're a married couple with no kids for example and your manifest has five childrens bikes, a bunch of toys still in their boxes, five single beds and clothes etc etc, they're going to get suspicious. If you've got 5 kids, they're not going to be suspicious of that in the slightest. Likewise, if you've been a mechanic and are shipping a whole lot of tools, they're not going to get suspicious at all.

We brought in ~700 books, ~300 CDs, ~150 DVDs and didn't get a single bit of trouble. We also shipped two hi-fi set-ups, snowboards, climbing gear, a shitload of assorted sporting equipment and two tents. The only issues we had were that the OH had a native african bongo drum with (obviously) an animal skin on it. That got taken away by MAF to be fumigated (at a cost of ~$80 I think) and they also wouldn't let us open the box with the OHs Mountain bike in or a couple of boxes that had wooden masks in. Not sure how they missed the tents actually thinking about it. That was it. They rocked up to the house, opened the boxes and checked it all out and then released it to us on the spot. Piece of cake. They're crash hot on hiking gear, tents, MTBs, basically anything that could have had mud or other organic debris on it that may not have been cleaned properly. The OH spent a couple of hours with a toothbrush and soapy water going at her bike before it got packed up and as soon as the MAF guys saw how clean it was, they didn't bother even getting it out of the box.

jjennings

My toolbox got in no problem. It had been opened as it had a 'Inspected by Customs' tape on it but no other mention. The only thing customs removed was a bayonet (my Father's from WW2) and I got that back once I got a 'Permit to Import' from the police (free).

Cheers,

John