In the last year I have received a few very small gifts from the UK. All these have come with the CN22 form correctly completed (marked as gift, description, value, weight). Each time I have been charged a large amount of customs duty. For example, today I received a small packet with a value of 4£ and was charged 6.16€ (almost 140%). A couple of months ago I received a book as a gift with a value of 10£ and was charged 7.52€. In each case they were delivered by correos and I was told the payment could only be made in cash. I asked for a receipt and was told it would be sent to my email which I provided but I have never received anything.
Obviously, I understand that customs duty, IVA etc., has to be paid, however, not only do these amounts seems excessive, I also find it strange never to receive a receipt.
Has anyone else had this problem? I live in Madrid but I wonder if this is a similar situation in other areas of Spain.

I have paid these charges and don't remember getting a receipt - but I trust my local postman (I live in a small village)

I received a letter from Customs they had blocked a small gift from the UK - I didn't understand the procedure and was not worth the effort so I ignored it and told my UK family not to send any more items to me - not worth the hassle.

I buy books from World of Books and they always arrive OK with no charges. (so far)

I have had to pay custom duty on two gifts, not from the UK but from outside of Europe, not received a receipt but just like spainrico I am in a small place and trust my postie. Not sure whether they are oblijed to provide proof of payment as so much is done electronically nowadays.

Rosemary

Small value items are charged for in cash by the postie, once I said maybe Correos will add Bizum one day, he said many people are asking for credit cards or Bizum and he lets his management know but you know how these things take time...

For small value items below €25 you pay €5.15 handling fee + 21% IVA of the value of the goods so those figures you give look right. In theory gifts below €45 are not charged for, but they often do as many companies send commercial goods as gifts and then you have to claim back on their website. The postie can't deliver the parcel if it's marked as payment required and they don't get paid.

You should get a receipt, they enter the email address on their PDA or they let you enter it and it arrives in a minute or two. If it's not in the spam folder and the email address is spelt correctly and it never arrives then think about opening another one with a big provider for this, e.g. Gmail or Outlook.

So you'd need to open a claim on the website and that should include the tracking number if there is one, photo/scan of the CN22, receipt, and a declaración responsable of the gift's value in a format like this.

All in all, a lot of hassle.

Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences and the info about the procedure.
Nothing much can be done and it’s certainly not worth the hassle!