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You will have to pay Customs duties in your Country on the Value the Seller puts on the USPS Customs Form.The amount of duties vary from country to country, and depend on the price and type of item. I could not locate it online, but would advise you to contact your local postal officials and inquire.
There are ways around this and ways to limit your amount:
Provided the package is under a certain weight (4pounds I think) the seller will use this form:
http://www.nyu.edu/mail.services/forms/customs.form.jpg
If it is over 4pounds its a different form, but the procedure is the same.
Ask the seller to mark GIFT and put a low value, like $25 USD or something. Request that they do not enclose an invoice with pricing inside the package.
You might still have to pay customs, but customs on $25 USD would be minimal... Sometimes you don't have to pay duties(taxes) at all on gifts..
When in doubt, call your local Postal Office and ask.
Source(s):
10 years of internation ecommerce experience, 10 years of selling on ebay, ebay power seller
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If in doubt check with your seller.
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Anyway, while I don't have much more to add, I just wanted to concur with Danny and also reiterate the fact that customs can and will open boxes, and if it's marked as a gift with a low value but there's an invoice and packing slip with a higher value, that can potentially be fraud for both you and the seller.
Be careful with those things, because you definitely don't want to get in trouble for customs fraud.
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All taxes (if any) would be those charged by Sri Lanka. You are not likely to find anyone who knows anything about Sri Lanka taxes on this website.
Regardless of the laws on international commerce, most US based ebay sellers will not pay any Sri Lanka custom duties or taxes. They will expect the buyer to pay these taxes.
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Hope it helped and for people who are shocked with this rate its the truth we still have to pay 95000 for a hd dvd player which is $950 and could be purchased for $500 at most in countries like the U.S and our inflation rate is 13% compared to U.S inflation rate of 3% lol and by the way iam a Srilankan
Hope it helped
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Answered Question
M$2
September 13, 2009 05:36 PM
Do I have to pay taxes in my country, if I purchase an iPod Touch in eBay which ships via US Postal Service Priority ?
I am considering of buying an iPod through eBay.
http://images.apple.com/ipodtouch/images/overview_hero_gaming_20090909.png
I am from Sri Lanka. I would like to know whether I have to pay taxes to customs ...etc if I get the iPod through US Postal Service Priority or another Courier service ?
If I have to pay, I can consider some other alternative methods other than buying through eBay ....
Please include the tax rates and any possible information you know ....
I am from Sri Lanka. I would like to know whether I have to pay taxes to customs ...etc if I get the iPod through US Postal Service Priority or another Courier service ?
If I have to pay, I can consider some other alternative methods other than buying through eBay ....
Please include the tax rates and any possible information you know ....
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| September 13, 2009 09:45 PM |
You will have to pay Customs duties in your Country on the Value the Seller puts on the USPS Customs Form.The amount of duties vary from country to country, and depend on the price and type of item. I could not locate it online, but would advise you to contact your local postal officials and inquire.
There are ways around this and ways to limit your amount:
Provided the package is under a certain weight (4pounds I think) the seller will use this form:
If it is over 4pounds its a different form, but the procedure is the same.
Ask the seller to mark GIFT and put a low value, like $25 USD or something. Request that they do not enclose an invoice with pricing inside the package.
You might still have to pay customs, but customs on $25 USD would be minimal... Sometimes you don't have to pay duties(taxes) at all on gifts..
When in doubt, call your local Postal Office and ask.
Source(s):
10 years of internation ecommerce experience, 10 years of selling on ebay, ebay power seller
| Asker's Rating: |
• Great Information ! Thank you ....
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Helpful: michelleldevon, ghanan20003000, legendkiller
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Other Answers (4)
September 13, 2009 05:57 PM
If I remember my International Law class correctly you dont, the company you ship and order it through has to cover the charges associated with shipping unless it is explicitly stated. In international law the risk of shipping or transporting something that is moved across borders moves at a specified point from the seller to the buyer according to a contract. However this applies more to shipping goods in bulk and especially for goods which are for re/sale in another country. In your case you are just purchasing one iPod for pesonal use. Any charges will be covered by the seller or the transporting company at customs. I doubt you will go pick up your single iPod Touch at the harbour straight off the boat, therefore by the time your iPod reaches your doorstep all customs arrangements have already been taken care of. If in doubt check with your seller.
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September 14, 2009 07:34 AM
Danny gives a solid answer. When we used to have to ship overseas, we regularly did this exact scenario, except ours usually were gifts, but we ran into an issue with sending a PlayStation to someone and the customs and taxes were going to be more than the cost of the machine! Anyway, while I don't have much more to add, I just wanted to concur with Danny and also reiterate the fact that customs can and will open boxes, and if it's marked as a gift with a low value but there's an invoice and packing slip with a higher value, that can potentially be fraud for both you and the seller.
Be careful with those things, because you definitely don't want to get in trouble for customs fraud.
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September 14, 2009 08:30 AM
You will not have to pay any United States taxes or excise duties. All taxes (if any) would be those charged by Sri Lanka. You are not likely to find anyone who knows anything about Sri Lanka taxes on this website.
Regardless of the laws on international commerce, most US based ebay sellers will not pay any Sri Lanka custom duties or taxes. They will expect the buyer to pay these taxes.
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Reply
October 10, 2009 09:54 AM
Well well you guys are from developed nations your duties are low, buddy you gotta pay a 150% duty on electronics you are better off buying them in Sri Lanka which is a poor protectionist economy.
Hope it helped and for people who are shocked with this rate its the truth we still have to pay 95000 for a hd dvd player which is $950 and could be purchased for $500 at most in countries like the U.S and our inflation rate is 13% compared to U.S inflation rate of 0.6% lol
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Hope it helped and for people who are shocked with this rate its the truth we still have to pay 95000 for a hd dvd player which is $950 and could be purchased for $500 at most in countries like the U.S and our inflation rate is 13% compared to U.S inflation rate of 0.6% lol
Hope it helped
October 10, 2009 09:58 AM
Well well you guys are from developed nations your duties are low, buddy you gotta pay a 150% duty on electronics you are better off buying them in Sri Lanka which is a poor protectionist economy. Hope it helped and for people who are shocked with this rate its the truth we still have to pay 95000 for a hd dvd player which is $950 and could be purchased for $500 at most in countries like the U.S and our inflation rate is 13% compared to U.S inflation rate of 3% lol and by the way iam a Srilankan
Hope it helped
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Isn't that fraud?
I've always had a problem with person to person sales on ebay (or the internet) being taxed due to customs. If the person were to fly to NYC buy an Ipod Touch and bring it back in carry on, it would not be taxed by Customs as the total of purchase is under a certain value. So with that in mind, why should someone have to pay custom duties when they buy one item for personal use off the internet?
The other viewpoint is I guess it could be Customs Fraud, but its a $200 Ipod. Customs Agents in Sri Lanka have bigger problems. If it were a case of Ipods you were going to resell and the tag is marked "junk electronics" and the tag says $20 value then yes, I'd say that would be fraud. If Ipods were not available and banned in Sri Lanka that would be fraud as well..
BTW, here's a Link to Sri Lanka Customs Information: http://www.customs.gov.lk/about_customs.htm
And here's a link to the contact us page: http://www.customs.gov.lk/contacts.htm
If you really want to know, call them.