Running shoes VAT

Post by **konba** » December 27, 2012, 3:52 am

Hi,
I'm planning to ship a new pair of running shoes from Australia to Thailand from a webshop.
According to the taxcalculator it's 30% duties and 7% VAT. The package would be send to a Thai name and address, what are the chances they would really charge me? Anyone has experience with that?

Post by **jackspratt** » December 27, 2012, 8:17 pm

I have imported a couple of items (value A$25 & 15) from Australia via the post to a Thai PO Box in the past few months - neither were charged duty.

However, it is impossible to predict what will happen with any single import. It really is a game of chance.

Post by **konba** » December 27, 2012, 11:01 pm

jackspratt wrote:I have imported a couple of items (value A$25 & 15) from Australia via the post to a Thai PO Box in the past few months - neither were charged duty.

However, it is impossible to predict what will happen with any single import. It really is a game of chance.

Thanks Jack, note that my total amount will be higher then yours and we are talking about sport shoes. Maybe they scan on that hence my specific question...

Post by **fdimike** » December 28, 2012, 5:43 pm

I've ordered numerous items from AU, USA, UK, HK & TW over the past 7 years. The ordered items include things for my bicycle which I can't get here, vitamins, cycling clothing, food spices, prescription cycling sunglasses etc. Some packages make it through without a problem some get tagged by customs. I received a pair of cycling shorts from the USA today. The declared value was $40 and it came through customs duty free. On the other hand I had a pair of bicycle handlebar grips sent to me from the USA declared value $50 and customs hit me for 200Baht in tax. It's a real crap shoot at best. However, I believe you can improve your chances by keeping the package small and the contents valued at under $25USD.

Post by **konba** » December 29, 2012, 7:12 am

fdimike wrote:I've ordered numerous items from AU, USA, UK, HK & TW over the past 7 years. The ordered items include things for my bicycle which I can't get here, vitamins, cycling clothing, food spices, prescription cycling sunglasses etc. Some packages make it through without a problem some get tagged by customs. I received a pair of cycling shorts from the USA today. The declared value was $40 and it came through customs duty free. On the other hand I had a pair of bicycle handlebar grips sent to me from the USA declared value $50 and customs hit me for 200Baht in tax. It's a real crap shoot at best. However, I believe you can improve your chances by keeping the package small and the contents valued at under $25USD.

Yes but that's kinda hard when you ordering from a webshop, anyway i will take my chances and see what will happen...
Total amount is around 140 AU$

Post by **fdimike** » December 29, 2012, 7:53 am

Everything I've mentioned has been ordered from either Ebay or Amazon. I just keep the orders small which saves on postage as well because the package can be sent by First Class International mail which is still reasonably priced and gets here nearly as fast as Express Mail or Priority Mail. The one time I had a problem with customs was when I had ordered multiple jars of various vitamins. Customs included a note saying if I continued like this I would need an import license. Good luck

Post by **konba** » January 14, 2013, 10:18 pm

Just want to let you know that the shoes arrived without any problem, no duties or anything. Love it!