Non-EU customers potentially now (more) liable for import duty

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Korkki
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Re: Non-EU customers potentially now (more) liable for import duty

Post by Korkki »

parsa wrote: Wed Jan 09, 2019 10:25 pm
Korkki wrote: Wed Jan 09, 2019 9:49 pm Don't know how it's elsewhere but here's no customs duty for a watch. Just the VAT. Shipping costs are included indeed but because VAT is not collected for an item under $24 there are no duties
That loophole hasn't existed before. I doubt they have created it now, and it's probably a glitch on the calculator. BTW, last time (10/2017) I had to pay import fees, there was customs duty for the watch, VAT for the customs duty (!! this was new) and also VAT for watch and shipping. I asked from Finnish customs and they replied that from 2017 they collect customs duty from all items, no matter value.
To be exact there is always 0,80€ duty for watches but it's not carried because total duties are less than 5€ (as being zero) for item under $24. The loop hole has been there for a while. But if the value goes over $24, then everything changes.

The answer you got from Finnish customs officer is a bit weird. Books, for example, are completely duty free and has been many many years, even from countries not having any kind of preferential agreement with EU.
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Re: Non-EU customers potentially now (more) liable for import duty

Post by slimpickens »

Posted this in the January Sale 2019 thread - but thought I would add it here too for posterity.

Bought a NN C65 vintage in the sale - shipping to the US via DHL. First they stopped my package when it got in the states because they misread the invoice as $3,770 - not the $377 I paid.I corrected them, but they are still asking for my social security number to import AND they asked me to fill out this "Watch Worksheet" form. I've emailed CW CS for help so I guess we'll see what happens. I know this isn't CW's fault, but this is my first purchase from them - so far not ideal.

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Re: Non-EU customers potentially now (more) liable for import duty

Post by Lavaine »

>As there is no longer an “advantage” of choosing Royal Mail over DHL, we have chosen DHL as our chosen international courier as they offer better tracking than we receive with Royal Mail.

Sadly, CWL has chosen DHL without any real understanding of the advantages or disadvantages. For shipping to Canada, there is still a significant advantage to shipping via RM. The advantage is two-fold:
Shipments into Canada by mail are randomly selected for assessment of tax and duties. My experience is that about 1/3 of packages will be assessed duties and taxes. The remainder will arrive with no additional fees due. I even had 2 watches arrive on the same day from CW, with one assessed duties, and the other arriving with nothing owing.
Secondly are brokerage fees. As mentioned elsewhere, DHL and other couriers charge high brokerage fees. Canada Post charges a flat rate of $10 for brokerage, regardless of declared value, and only if there money owed on the parcel.

Hopefully CWL will consider some of the feedback from the forum, and continue to offer customers a choice of shipping methods. If not they are doing us a disservice and failing to keep customers happy by offering the best value they can.
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Re: Non-EU customers potentially now (more) liable for import duty

Post by albionphoto »

slimpickens wrote: Thu Jan 10, 2019 12:56 am Posted this in the January Sale 2019 thread - but thought I would add it here too for posterity.

Bought a NN C65 vintage in the sale - shipping to the US via DHL. First they stopped my package when it got in the states because they misread the invoice as $3,770 - not the $377 I paid.I corrected them, but they are still asking for my social security number to import AND they asked me to fill out this "Watch Worksheet" form. I've emailed CW CS for help so I guess we'll see what happens. I know this isn't CW's fault, but this is my first purchase from them - so far not ideal.

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It looks like the errors belong to DHL and not CW. There should be no duty on a watch (or any item) entering the US if the value is less than $800. DHL seem to be making a mountain out of a mole hill and CW CS might be able to fix this. I certainly haven't seen this form before and I don't know if any of the other regular CW customers in the US have either. Was there a new set of regulations that came into force on 1st January or are DHL just being difficult? I don't see why DHL need your SSN unless they have to link it to a state tax return for local (state) sales tax like Amazon have to. Try and work with CW CS to see if they can fix this from their end but I think you might have to get on the phone to the UK rather than just by email. Good luck and let us know what happens. I might also be tempted to get on the phone to DHL and start being difficult about the SSN and why you have to do this at all for an item invoiced at $377. You may already have done this so I apologise if I'm stating the obvious.
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Re: Non-EU customers potentially now (more) liable for import duty

Post by albionphoto »

nordwulf wrote: Wed Jan 09, 2019 10:42 pm
The amount of duty for incoming wrist watches, clocks and other time devices into the USA is actually pretty complicated and nearly impossible to figure out if you're not an expert.

https://www.usitc.gov/publications/docs ... 201c91.pdf

36 pages of this.. how would you even figure out the value of the case, strap and battery separately? :?

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The worksheet in Slimpickens post has been seen before in a thread earlier this year. It may be the only way to actually meet the requirements of the 2019 HTS. However, you'll need a very co-operative manufacturer to fill it out. I hope CW is ready if this becomes a regular occurrence for their US customers. In fact if this becomes common practice for watches sold into the US then a lot of manufacturers have things to sort out. I think the only people who'll really benefit are the shippers who get to charge handling fees.
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Re: Non-EU customers potentially now (more) liable for import duty

Post by slimpickens »

Thank you - I'll try working the phones tomorrow. Like I said, first purchase, so I really wasn't sure if this was out of the ordinary or if everyone here would say, "oh yeah of course we always do the form".

For what it's worth, I only paid $377 for a $755 watch (that punches above its weight)...the inconvenience is worth it for a deal like that.

This forum has been invaluable. Thanks everyone.
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Re: Non-EU customers potentially now (more) liable for import duty

Post by nauf »

As for me, I prefer standard international shipping via Royal Mail. I puchased 5 CW watches last year. The first watch was shipped via Royal Mail and delivered to my door without any hassle. Of course, it took about two weeks to arrive. My second watch, however, was shipped via DHL express free of charge, complimentary by CW (thanks Katie!). The delivery was fast, less than three days to arrive. Unfortunately, DHL CS gave me a call saying that I need to clear the import tax, 10% of the total purchase, since it is more than RM500 (£1=RM6.2, sadly).

So for the third watch, I decided to use Royal Mail and again arrived to my door without any import tax. So I know even though standard shipping takes about two weeks to arrive, I don’t have to fork out more money to pay the import tax. Then the fourth watch was again shipped via Royal Mail, as usual no tax. But not for my fifth ones, Scott decided to ship to me via a complimentary DHL express.

As CW decides to use DHL only starting this year, I have to slow down my future purchase 😆
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Re: Non-EU customers potentially now (more) liable for import duty

Post by Caller »

I doubt many watches are shipped to Thailand, although I had a CW delivered here in 2015, via RM. All went well.

So just for the companies info, DHL are just about the worst carrier to use here. Some couriers will sub-contract if the delivery address isn't in Bangkok and that's fine, as most use other reputable carriers such as TNT or Kerry (I get various deliveries from abroad). But DHL use the Thai equivalent of white van man in this area.

In front of me, despite my calling out, I watched a smallish painting I had purchased from the UK, casually and with little care, slip through the couriers hands, as he placed it on the ground, landing with a thud, which there was no need to do in any case. I just knew the frame would be damaged and sure enough it was. I could feel it as soon as I picked the package up. Luckily it was cheap as chips to repair, but the gallery were horrified when I sent pics of the damage and offered to pay for the repair (no need). They said they wouldn't use DHL for Thailand again and my next purchase arrived, intact, via TNT, although they weren't the original courier at source.
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Re: Non-EU customers potentially now (more) liable for import duty

Post by parsa »


Korkki wrote:
parsa wrote: Wed Jan 09, 2019 10:25 pm
Korkki wrote: Wed Jan 09, 2019 9:49 pm Don't know how it's elsewhere but here's no customs duty for a watch. Just the VAT. Shipping costs are included indeed but because VAT is not collected for an item under $24 there are no duties
That loophole hasn't existed before. I doubt they have created it now, and it's probably a glitch on the calculator. BTW, last time (10/2017) I had to pay import fees, there was customs duty for the watch, VAT for the customs duty (!! this was new) and also VAT for watch and shipping. I asked from Finnish customs and they replied that from 2017 they collect customs duty from all items, no matter value.
To be exact there is always 0,80€ duty for watches but it's not carried because total duties are less than 5€ (as being zero) for item under $24.
I know, this has been the case. But as I said, last time I ordered, the 0,80e was carried automatically online. Out of interest, I might email Customs again to check if this has changed again.

Sorry, I didn't mean they collect duty on all items like books, but they said the limit has removed. They collect duties on all items that have duty, no matter how small.

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Re: Non-EU customers potentially now (more) liable for import duty

Post by H0rati0 »

parsa wrote: Wed Jan 09, 2019 10:25 pm
Korkki wrote: Wed Jan 09, 2019 9:49 pm Don't know how it's elsewhere but here's no customs duty for a watch. Just the VAT. Shipping costs are included indeed but because VAT is not collected for an item under $24 there are no duties

Image
That loophole hasn't existed before. I doubt they have created it now, and it's probably a glitch on the calculator. BTW, last time (10/2017) I had to pay import fees, there was customs duty for the watch, VAT for the customs duty (!! this was new) and also VAT for watch and shipping. I asked from Finnish customs and they replied that from 2017 they collect customs duty from all items, no matter value.
Parsa

the charges you received were "correctly" calculated.

https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/b ... -amount_en

Duty (if applicable) is charged on purchase price plus shipping including insurance, then VAT is calculated on top of all that. After all, Customs Duty is of course "added value" in the mind of a bureaucrat - it's how they "earn" a living.

The exempt amount varies by country (€10-22) as does any duty so you have to look that up specifically.

https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/s ... online.pdf

Germany and UK are not included in this list (good enough for bureaucracy) but the thresholds are €22 and £15 respectively.

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Re: Non-EU customers potentially now (more) liable for import duty

Post by Markornot »

slimpickens wrote: Thu Jan 10, 2019 12:56 am Posted this in the January Sale 2019 thread - but thought I would add it here too for posterity.

Bought a NN C65 vintage in the sale - shipping to the US via DHL. First they stopped my package when it got in the states because they misread the invoice as $3,770 - not the $377 I paid.I corrected them, but they are still asking for my social security number to import AND they asked me to fill out this "Watch Worksheet" form. I've emailed CW CS for help so I guess we'll see what happens. I know this isn't CW's fault, but this is my first purchase from them - so far not ideal.

Image
I had a shipment held up by fed-ex with a delivery from Steinhart. I contacted the shipper and the company. Steinhart contacted the shipper and provided them with the required info. It sounded common for them. CW should do that for you as well.
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Re: Non-EU customers potentially now (more) liable for import duty

Post by Kip »

slimpickens wrote: Thu Jan 10, 2019 12:56 am Posted this in the January Sale 2019 thread - but thought I would add it here too for posterity.

Bought a NN C65 vintage in the sale - shipping to the US via DHL. First they stopped my package when it got in the states because they misread the invoice as $3,770 - not the $377 I paid.I corrected them, but they are still asking for my social security number to import AND they asked me to fill out this "Watch Worksheet" form. I've emailed CW CS for help so I guess we'll see what happens. I know this isn't CW's fault, but this is my first purchase from them - so far not ideal.

Image
The problem here is not CW, but with US Customs. The form that DHL has provided is the information that is requested by customs and not DHL. Fill out the form with the required information and send to DHL. They will deal with US Customs from there.

It is not up to CW to fill out the form, despite what Steinhart might do. They will provide the necessary info for you though. Your SS# is requested in lieu of a federal ID#.

I have sent you a pm to assist with the form.
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Re: Non-EU customers potentially now (more) liable for import duty

Post by albionphoto »

Thanks Kip. I would guess that if the recipient were a company they, the company, would have a Federal ID# of some kind.
I wonder if all this kerfuffle happened because DHL/US Customs misread the initial invoice total at $3770 and now need to verify that the value is actually $377.
Threads like this just go to show that often the problem is US Customs and we forget how lucky we are when things go normally without any additional bottlenecks (US Customs).
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Re: Non-EU customers potentially now (more) liable for import duty

Post by TigerChris »

Wouldn't it be so much easier if everything we bought included duty/taxes etc.. calculated at checkout and paid directly to the vendor on purchase. Will we ever get to that stage? Who knows! I had a nightmare with duty on a warranty repair to the US a year ago, with the UK customs wanting me to pay for it being returned to me after I'd already paid all of the fees once for the original watch.
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Re: Non-EU customers potentially now (more) liable for import duty

Post by nordwulf »

albionphoto wrote: Thu Jan 10, 2019 2:08 pm I wonder if all this kerfuffle happened because DHL/US Customs misread the initial invoice total at $3770 and now need to verify that the value is actually $377.
I was thinking the same thing. It is just a bit odd they check these values manually as I assume CW enters the value in the system when they process the shipment.

My 2 shipments arrived in New York last night, cleared customs and now going through their Cincinnati hub en route to Michigan. No emails, no delays and no other issues so far. Probably a good thing they are 2 separate shipments because total value is about $920.
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