Customs and ordering from abroad

I had to pay 20 EUR of taxes to the customs last year and I wrote this post to shed some light on customs regulations for our Slovenian readers.

I won’t be translating this post since it way to long and would just bore you, but I do have question for you.

In Slovenia – we don’t have to pay tax for things (excluded are perfumes, tobacco and alcohol) we order from abroad if the value of the products is not higher that 22 EUR (29 USD) … shipping is not included in the 22 EUR limit.

Do you have lower or higher limit for “tax free” import in your country? I wonder which country is “nicest” to live in if you’re ordering from abroad. :D

29 thoughts on “Customs and ordering from abroad”

  1. I know that in France we normally don’t have to pay taxes if the package’s value is up to 45€ (shipping not included).

    I have absolutely no clue about Ukraine because I never had to pay taxes before, but I guess there’s something like you said in your post.

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  2. In Bosnia, we have to pay customs for orders with price higher than 50 KM (25 Eur approximately). But this DOES include shipping (ridiculous)…
    Though I have heard stories that it depends on the size of the package or on the customs officer having a bad or a good day :)

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  3. Hvala za tole. Zdaj si mi pa dala misliti koliko mi bodo zaračunali carine za moja swapa, ku ju čakam (eden je precej več kot 45€) :scared: :nervous:

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  4. In Australia, we have to pay customs duties and taxes on things over $1000, but the business industry is currently running a campaign to try to get this lowered. It’s not going well for them though – there’s been a huge backlash against it, because everything here is way overpriced and has been for years. Now that we have near-parity with the US dollar it’s well worth buying from overseas and we’ve been taking advantage of it!

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  5. Here in Latvia there is a new limit 10 EUR, which is ridiculous. Though it’s only for the outside-EU packages as far as I know. Still, it sucks. :(

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  6. I live in the Netherlands and with import duties it’s the same here, we only have to pay them if the package’s value is more than 22euros.
    I only had to pay import duties once… Since then I’m more careful when I’m ordering :)

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  7. We have to pay 22% VAT for orders over 10 EUR since 1st January if they are send from place outside EU. :shock: I’m speaking about Latvia btw. Also there is custom duty if order is over 150 EUR and it is form place outside EU. But imposing VAT is EU directive actually and if something is more expensive than 22 EUR and if it commercial consignment, than VAT has to paid.

    But non-commercial packages are both tax free if cheaper than 45 EUR in Latvia. And consignor sometimes (read: often) process the oder as non-commercial.

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  8. Here in Italy it’s a little weird, that isn’t unusual, but it wasn’t like that before,

    In Italy you usually pay 19%VAT and 5.50€ duties for parcels over 22€ (incl shipping) coming from outside the EU, on top of that you get import taxes for any shipment over 45€.

    Makeup from outside the EU is also often stopped at customs and you get a not so nice letter asking you to declare that the items in the parcel are for your use only and take all responsibility for importing cosmetics not approved by the local law. You have to send all your papers and pay a 6€ fee and wait for the package to be inspected and delivered, sometimes it takes ages, and then usually you also need to pay VAT and duties to the postman. This is why many people here don’t buy makeup in the US anymore :(

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  9. u hrvatskoj se ne carini ništa ispod 160,00 kn… to bi bilo nekih 2o-ak eura i cijena shippinga ulazi u ovo… parfemi, cigarete i alkohol podliježu carini bez obzira na vrijednost :sorry:
    ali vam nitko ne brani da naručite par paketa jer se gleda pojedinačna vrijednost svakog :happy:

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  10. Gejba, res najlepša hvala za ta prispevek! :bow: Odgovarjaš na mnoga moja vprašanja ki so me matrala in za katera nikdar nisem bila prepričana kako in kaj. Samo še nekaj bi te vprašala … Kako pa ocenijo vrednost swap paketa? Glede na to, da se pošilja fizična oseba fizični osebi in kot darilo? Hvala za odgovor!

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    • Še kdaj drugič. :crown: :biggrin:
      Mislim, da te paketke ocenijo kar individualno. Računov itak nimamo, nekateri izdelki so rabljeni … Meni na srečo ponavadi pošljejo listek, če jim ni jasno kako in kaj, tako da jim v mejlu razložim zakaj se gre.

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  11. i am in the us -u get taxed for everythng – except internet orders(sallys beauty taxed) the other etailers dont yahooooooooooooooooo. :whistle:

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    • How about if you order from Europe? Do you ever order from outside of USA … you’re like holy grail country for polish freaks so I wonder if you ever have to order from other countries. :biggrin:

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  12. I live in Finland and taxing is fairly reasonable, I think generally the fee is added if the package is over 45€. We don’t have to pay “cosmetics tax”, but the GST is 23% which is quite high. However one doesn’t have to pay the tax if it’s under 10€ in total. It’s little bit complicated, so it’s safer to stay under 45€ in general. :)

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  13. In Poland we have 50$ limit (shipping included), but we don’t need to pay for every package with higher pice. Only if we have bad luck or package value is very high.

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  14. In Estonia the limit is 22 eur with shipping included! Best EU country so far I know is Finland, those guys figured that collecting the taxes would become feasible to the state starting from 11smth euros (otherwise the cost of collecting the tax is actually bigger then the actual gain) so their tax-free limit on purchases is 45 eur (incl shipping).

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  15. i’m in the US and we don’t pay to have items delivered. all of the fees are paid by the person who ships the item. it is pretty expensive to ship out of the Country. a small box can range from $10 to $15. once i shipped a huge box and didn’t realize it would be so expensive and paid $35. i was shocked!

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    • Do you ever order from outside of USA? How strict are your customs laws?

      I sent few packages to your country and recipients never had any problems so I just assumed your import law doesn’t wast time on small packages, but maybe they were just lucky :biggrin:

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