Kanada

Is there import duty for goods from China, if so what rate?

mfesharne

The short answer is yes but rate depends on type of item & value.

Usually most goods under a stated value of about €20 or so don't get charged but some items (from anywhere outside the EU) can incur dramatic charges........ For example, when I import car parts from the US I get hit with import tax on stated value of items plus 23% IVA/VAT on value of item, post AND packaging and sometimes the total tax has been more than the cost of item.

There are however ways to reduce the tax on some items. For example, we had to import some personal goods from Africa & rather than import straight into Portugal, we imported into Denmark & then trucked the crate to Portugal........ which reduced the VAT from 23% to about 3% and (surprisingly) the shipping costs were also significantly cheaper.

gedscottish

I bought a dashcam from China on ebay, it got held at customs for about 6 weeks, my 42€ got VAT added on and postage costs, in the end it cost me 65€! Forgetting the costs, it was a lot of hassle too... never again!