What will the custom duty for a $200 phone from China

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beginner007

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Hi Friends

I'm really tempting to buy a popular Chinese brand smart phone costing around $200 usd from chinese online store. But worried about the import customs duty which I do not have any idea. If you know and can tell me the approx customs duty for a $200usd buy, it will be really helpful to me.

Thank you.
 
beginner007 said:
Hi Friends

I'm really tempting to buy a popular Chinese brand smart phone costing around $200 usd from chinese online store. But worried about the import customs duty which I do not have any idea. If you know and can tell me the approx customs duty for a $200usd buy, it will be really helpful to me.

Thank you.
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7% plus tax.

Customs is calculated on basic price plus shipping...
 
Also, off late, if the phone is available in India, you will be charged customs on the Indian MRP and not on the price you paid for it.
 
prateekS said:
7% plus tax.
Customs is calculated on basic price plus shipping...
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Which tax you are talking about ? I think customs duty is the only tax.
The online reseller has FREE shipping, so in that case I'll only pay the 7% of the amount on the invoice (the reseller is ready to put less amount on the invoice) ? Am I right ?
 
The customs you will pay is what the customs want you to pay. You will not have any control over what value they estimate of the phone and the invoice might be pretty useless.
Especially when the packages are coming from China and all, they see lots of them marked as GIFT when they are not.
It is a lottery.
 
beginner007 said:
Which tax you are talking about ? I think customs duty is the only tax.
The online reseller has FREE shipping, so in that case I'll only pay the 7% of the amount on the invoice (the reseller is ready to put less amount on the invoice) ? Am I right ?
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Customs duty, tax = vat.
 
I bought my Oppo Find 5 and accessories for $529. Ended up paying Rs. 2200 as duty. It was marked as gift and i think Oppo had listed the value as $150( not sure). But I have heard of people who have paid zilch. Depends on your luck I think.
 
killmastern3 said:
I bought my Oppo Find 5 and accessories for $529. Ended up paying Rs. 2200 as duty. It was marked as gift and i think Oppo had listed the value as $150( not sure). But I have heard of people who have paid zilch. Depends on your luck I think.
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You paid the correct duty. 7% of $529 is approximately 2200 bucks.

The custom guys rightly charged you for the full value of the phone ($529) and they completely ignored the incorrect value mentioned on the box ($150).

You are lucky sometimes the duty they slap on is arbitrary. I got charged duty of 300 bucks for a product worth $7 including shipping. :(

Also for some high value orders labeled as gift or at a reduced price they confiscate and send a notice asking you to provide proof that the item actually costs as much as it is shown on the box. Happened to me once when I bought an old camera lens that was quite huge for cheap.
 
Brendon said:
You are lucky sometimes the duty they slap on is arbitrary. I got charged duty of 300 bucks for a product worth $7 including shipping. :(
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When i spoke to the customs official at the post office he told me gifts were anything upto Rs.2k in value.

Brendon said:
Also for some high value orders labeled as gift or at a reduced price they confiscate and send a notice asking you to provide proof that the item actually costs as much as it is shown on the box. Happened to me once when I bought an old camera lens that was quite huge for cheap.
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How are you to do that ? Show them the receipt.

In which case they cannot make an arbitrary charge. They can only charge what is due.
 
blr_p said:
When i spoke to the customs official at the post office he told me gifts were anything upto Rs.2k in value.


How are you to do that ? Show them the receipt.

In which case they cannot make an arbitrary charge. They can only charge what is due.
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What do u mean show them the receipt? They charge customs and send to post office, If u pay the duty, u get the item. Or it stays with them.

Rarely do they send a letter for documents.
 
blr_p said:
When i spoke to the customs official at the post office he told me gifts were anything upto Rs.2k in value.


How are you to do that ? Show them the receipt.

In which case they cannot make an arbitrary charge. They can only charge what is due.
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The post office guy will ask you for duty. If you refuse to pay duty they will keep the item. For 300 bucks I didn't want to go to the Foreign post office and try and recover the amount as I would pay more to get it back.
 
Brendon said:
Also for some high value orders labeled as gift or at a reduced price they confiscate and send a notice asking you to provide proof that the item actually costs as much as it is shown on the box. Happened to me once when I bought an old camera lens that was quite huge for cheap.
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Ok, so what constitutes this valid proof for the item then ?

Does anybody know.
 
@blr_p


I had ordered 2 Ainol tablets in 2 different orders from AinolStore, once they directly charged me accurate customs... Second time.. After the package status was updated to "item sent to customs", i got a letter via SpeedPost from the postal appraising department of bangalore foreign post office, asking for documents, invoices etc to help them value the product, which I duly sent.. The invoice, the paypal invoice etc.. And i was charged duty on the same.

If they know the value they will charge you customs directly, if in doubt they send u a letter.
 
prateekS said:
@blr_p


I had ordered 2 Ainol tablets in 2 different orders from AinolStore, once they directly charged me accurate customs... Second time.. After the package status was updated to "item sent to customs", i got a letter via SpeedPost from the postal appraising department of bangalore foreign post office, asking for documents, invoices etc to help them value the product, which I duly sent.. The invoice, the paypal invoice etc.. And i was charged duty on the same.

If they know the value they will charge you customs directly, if in doubt they send u a letter.
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Any idea what kinda duty they will charge on phones. I am itching to try and use USPS once. Does it make any difference if an invoice is included in the package.
 
rdst_1 said:
Any idea what kinda duty they will charge on phones. I am itching to try and use USPS once. Does it make any difference if an invoice is included in the package.
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No, invoice on package doesn't help.
They have their own database, they will use indian MRP if item is available in india.

MRP!!!!

If item is not in their database or not available in india, and if the invoice amount looks too low, or the phone looks too good, they will send you a letter... Asking for documents to help them value.. I'll scan and attach a copy of their letter if i can find it.. I think I have thrown it..
 
prateekS said:
If they know the value they will charge you customs directly, if in doubt they send u a letter.
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What if you want to contest their evaluation ?

Now i know you being in Udipi that wil be difficult but just imagine anyway.

If the products are new and bought from a store then you can link them to it. But if its an ebay deal and second hand then it gets harder. Though a device that does not come sealed is by definition second hand and cannot be treated as new i would have thought.

I find it rather spurious that the customs 'knows' the value of any good imported. All they can do is set a minimum price. MRP is the opposite, its MAXIMUM retail price. WTH pays MRP for electronic devices on the street anyway.

The correct way would be to show them the documentation indicating the money transfer and that would be it.

Brendon said:
For 300 bucks I didn't want to go to the Foreign post office and try and recover the amount as I would pay more to get it back.
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Exactly!

For those that will contest their evaluation, then they don't have to pay this amount. If you send the paperwork, wait the required time then it gets waived as it should. Course you've been waiting already and don't want to wait any more. They say give us the money, you say fcuk it. Take it.
 
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blr_p said:
What if you want to contest their evaluation ?

Now i know you being in Udipi that wil be difficult but just imagine anyway.

If the products are new and bought from a store then you can link them to it. But if its an ebay deal and second hand then it gets harder. Though a device that does not come sealed is by definition second hand and cannot be treated as new i would have thought.

I find it rather spurious that the customs 'knows' the value of any good imported. All they can do is set a minimum price. MRP is the opposite, its MAXIMUM retail price. WTH pays MRP for electronic devices on the street anyway.

The correct way would be to show them the documentation indicating the money transfer and that would be it.


Exactly!

For those that will contest their evaluation, then they don't have to pay this amount. If you send the paperwork, wait the required time then it gets waived as it should. Course you've been waiting already and don't want to wait any more. They say give us the money, you say fcuk it. Take it.
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You can't contest their evaluation, if u want the product.

Also both times their evaluation was correct for me. They do not always send the letter, sometimes they just apply duty and send to post office... So there is nothing you can do.
 
There is one point that I forgot to mention which is rather crucial if one ever wants to contest a customs evaluation.

You need a customs receipt. There are services that do bulk clearances and do not give any receipt.

No customs receipt = no contest = nothing you can do bla bla..

If you have the receipt, you can always contest the evaluation. Thing is whether it really matters.

Now if they charge 7% on mrp vs what you actually paid, the difference might not be worth the hassle but if duty on the goods is higher say 30% and the amount larger, then i would opt for delivery service that provides a customs receipt, otherwise its a gamble.
 
Basically the item is at the post office which doesn't levy the duty so they can't do anything if you wish to contest the charges.

You have to first pay the charges and use the receipt to ask for refund. However that happens at the Foreign Post office and NOT at the local post office that keeps the item.

I got a notice only once for a $150 lens which the new one costs $800 but since the one I got had fungus it was sold cheap. I sent them the ebay listing which had the shipping address. So they released the lens to me and charged me duty only on the $150 part and not on $800 which I gladly paid.
 
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