Lisbon customs service
 

So I bought something from outside the EU on the internet. Nothing big, some 50 quids worth. Few days later it arrived in Lisbon. And there it sat for nearly a month. then I get a registered letter asking for fiscal number and original invoice.
Send that off and wait again. After paying for their services and duty and vat, I wonder why I bothered. Next time I will send things to friends in the EU and even with the extra postage I will get it cheaper and a lot quicker.

Re: Lisbon customs service
 

If it's going from one individual to another I believe it can be marked as a gift and below a set value (not sure what) it then becomes tax free however, other than that, they're entitled to charge you import tax AND 23% IVA/VAT on cost of item + cost of post + cost of packaging.

I've sometimes had to pay more in duty than cost of item when shipping car spares from the USA. :(

If it's an expensive item it might be worth considering looking at VAT rates for different items to different EU countries. For example, some items are rated at 23% in Portugal but only about 5% in Denmark and it might be cheaper to ship to Denmark and then road transport/courier from there to PT and the additional VAT/IVA might not be chargeable.

Re: Lisbon customs service
 

Supposedly, items under 20 euros are let through without formalities.
I often order small items from China, since they're just ridiculously cheap. Mostly tools that are unavailable locally.
Recently I ordered a thickness meter for 35 Euros, even though I know it will take a long time and likely cost 20 in taxes.
The cheapest one I could get in Europe is 150 euros.

You could trans-ship through another EU country, but then you're asking someone to receive it, re-address it, and take it to the post office for you. How much of your friend / relative's time did that take and what was that time worth?
Also, you never know if the first country will charge duty and VAT just like Portugal, as they can / should.

Generally, I keep it under 20 or order from within the EU.

Re: Lisbon customs service
 

I don't mind so much the duty etc. But when they keep the stuff for a month without even looking at it, that is out of order. Rant over.:thumbdown:

Re: Lisbon customs service
 

I agree; but at the same time I realize there must be a mountain of post arriving daily. It's amazing that they manage to process it at all!

Re: Lisbon customs service
 

At least you received yours
In 2014 I had same problem , sent in the required doc's ,waited several weeks , then contacted them yet again ,only to be informed the "goods" had been returned to the supplier , left it a couple off weeks ,contacted the supplier only to be told the goods had never arrived !!
I can only assume that they went "missing" inside the system :sneaky:

Re: Lisbon customs service
 

Once I asked my 'friend' in US order something for me, to avoid the custom charge and expensive postage, I still haven't received it, after more than 1 year and she has left US. It's not big thing but I will never do it again unless the person who's doing it is someone really close to you.

Re: Lisbon customs service
 

I did the same thing; I did receive the parcel but I had to pay the customs charges just the same. He'd removed the invoice and all.