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Right, so after a frustratingly long wait of 2 weeks.. the package has cleared the customs and is scheduled for a delivery today. (Dont ask me abt 2 weeks, hsg only keeps harping on full verification procedure was being done.)

Now the problem i am facing is that they have levied duty on the phone which is much higher than what i had expected.

My consignment consists of a Samsung Galaxy S2 (i777 variant), the paypal transaction proof had been pasted on the box stating the price i had got it for ($210)
This was purchased by me via pvt sale and is a pre owned phone. Also the box, as per my knowledge, had 'Mobile Phone' written/mentioned on it.

DHL tells me that the total amount to be paid at the time of delivery is Rs 650/-
I dont have the break up yet, but what i have gleaned in past few weeks:- 350 is the DHL charge, and Duty on a mobile phone is 2% iinm..

Any ideas as to What can be done to get this charge toned down? (esp agantuk, varkey)
 
Contact dhl for bill of entry....it will show u exact customs duty... Customs ignored the invoice value. If it's a S2,they will have taken value as 24000..duty is calculated on cost + shipping... Shipping =another 30-40$...

650 maybe inclusive of dhl charge..
 
^ That is the value of a fresh one. Wont they consider the $210 pricing in any case??
Secondly, In case of an adjustment.. i sure hope DHL wont be holding the package till they get a nod from the customs or something like that.. right ?
 
^^ Used items when imported attracts a higher customs charge according to the rules. In this case you have been charged decently.
 
Spacescreamer said:
^ That is the value of a fresh one. Wont they consider the $210 pricing in any case??
Secondly, In case of an adjustment.. i sure hope DHL wont be holding the package till they get a nod from the customs or something like that.. right ?
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They will not adjust anything for you. They will simply say they have no control over what the customs does, and if you feel it was charged wrongly, you can take it up with the customs department yourself.

Faced the same issue, customs valued phone worth 3k at 20k! :mad: Atleast yours is better. :p
 
buBleZ said:
^^ Used items when imported attracts a higher customs charge according to the rules. In this case you have been charged decently.
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varkey said:
They will not adjust anything for you. They will simply say they have no control over what the customs does, and if you feel it was charged wrongly, you can take it up with the customs department yourself.

Faced the same issue, customs valued phone worth 3k at 20k! :mad: Atleast yours is better. :p
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I dont have any issues in paying up the money which is rightfully due. Or With the Indian scenario.. Whatever 'incorrect but its official' is due.. (our customs officers are just that class apart) ... But,

1) I would like to know IF customs did assessed incorrectly ?
2) Have spoken to DHL already and they said that if i can prove that the duty levied during the clearance has been much too excessive, they can look into it.

So as DHL did mentioned something to the effect of looking into it, i might as well speak up now than repent later that i didnt even tried. :)
 
Spacescreamer : On checking it further, the duty charged is perfectly correct

Your assessable value after including the international shipping cost will be about 230 USD. 2.3% of that is Rs 290. DHL's handling fee is Rs 350 + tax ~ Rs 393. That makes it Rs 680. :D

How much are you expecting it to be actually?

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Spacescreamer said:
I dont have any issues in paying up the money which is rightfully due. Or With the Indian scenario.. Whatever 'incorrect but its official' is due.. (our customs officers are just that class apart) ... But,

1) I would like to know IF customs did assessed incorrectly ?
2) Have spoken to DHL already and they said that if i can prove that the duty levied during the clearance has been much too excessive, they can look into it.

So as DHL did mentioned something to the effect of looking into it, i might as well speak up now than repent later that i didnt even tried. :)
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If you need to know that, just ask for a Bill of Entry (BOE) and all details with respect to the assessable value, duty %, duty amount will be clearly mentioned in that. But as I mentioned above, the duty was charged as per the price you have given.

Well, I did try that and this is what they eventually replied and sent me a form which I need to submit directly to the customs department to get a refund.

We have filed Bill Of Entry based on the invoice value however during assessment customs have appraised the value to INR40000.

DHL is committed to customer service and we work with the Regulatory authorities to facilitate shipment deliveries. However, Customs discretion is beyond our control.

Please find enclosed with this mail the refund application for your reference. We request you to please approach the customs directly as DHL is considered as a third party and not entertained by the customs. We do not have any email id of the customs department.

We hope you will understand that it is mandatory for any shipment to undergo customs clearance and DHL Express has to abide by the laws of the land and hence does not have a direct control over clearance and customs rules and regulations. We hence request you to kindly accept the delivery of the shipment against payment of the duty. We have filed Bill Of Entry based on the invoice value however during assessment customs have appraised the value to INR40000.

DHL is committed to customer service and we work with the Regulatory authorities to facilitate shipment deliveries. However, Customs discretion is beyond our control.

Please find enclosed with this mail the refund application for your reference. We request you to please approach the customs directly as DHL is considered as a third party and not entertained by the customs. We do not have any email id of the customs department.

We hope you will understand that it is mandatory for any shipment to undergo customs clearance and DHL Express has to abide by the laws of the land and hence does not have a direct control over clearance and customs rules and regulations. We hence request you to kindly accept the delivery of the shipment against payment of the duty.
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Then there has to be calculation mistake on my part. Will recheck and cross check with the Bill of Entry stats.
Thanks Varkey. That was really elaborate :)
 
But customs have got extremely strict these days . Even with valid invoices they are assessing the values at twice or thrice these days . Have seen the same from my last 3 shipments in past one month .
 
kuduku said:
But customs have got extremely strict these days . Even with valid invoices they are assessing the values at twice or thrice these days . Have seen the same from my last 3 shipments in past one month .
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They are considering indian prices for all imported items..
 
I bought 3 iPhones and got them shipped from HopShopGo. 1 was shipped via DHL and 2 were shipped via FedEx. DHL people took over 5 days to get it cleared from customs as they asked for all the proofs about the purchase and it took some time on my part but duty charged was appropriate i.e. 2%.
FedEx people got the shipment cleared the same day it was received. However in addition to the 2% CVD there was a charge of 4% Special Additional Duty. Total duty charged was around 3500.
 
I opened a case with them and today they told me that their customs team has come to the conclusion that duty charged was right.This is the first time I had even heard of SAD. However I do feel that they might be right because I read online that SAD is charged at the discretion of Customs people when the same product is being sold in India. It is equal to the sales tax/VAT that is charged when you go and buy a similar product in India. So I guess since VAT on phones is 5%, they charged me 4% SAD.
Someone who knows more about customs duty, can you please shed more light on this matter.
 
(@varkey & @agantuk esp) Okay so it was indeed my calculation mistake which made me concerned. Sorry bout that. One decimal shift while calculation can cause big fluctuations.. :sleep:

Another query: How do the customs people choose the exchange rate?
DHL cc mentioned the rate is taken on a per day basis. So as the consignment went in yesterday night for processing it should have been yesterday's rate. Which was not 54.85/usd as is stated in the BOE. Should have been something like 54.7xx iirc.

Again, it wont make a huge difference in the final bill but still would like to know how is the exchange rate decided.
First time dealing with all the custom and exchange rate thingie, hence the interest and curiosity.
 
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