Post Brexit import duty

[mazandcol]

I'm writing to flag up a new problem with Customs Duty.  At least it is to us, totally bizarre.  Today I received a parcel for my birthday without any problem at all.  No extra charge.  At the same time the Post Lady delivered a card my daughter had made for me.  I was asked to pay 20€ !!!  Twenty euros for a small card which had been stopped [and searched 😊] at Customs.  When I asked why 20 euros was required, of course I received a Gallic shrug.  I realise it is not the fault of our very pleasant Post woman.  Whose fault is it?  Any ideas?  Also, can I complain?  Who makes these ridiculous decisions?  Last year I was asked for €10 for a small book [another present].  Soo, now double the price for a card?  Ridiculous.  I would be very interested to know of anyone with similar problems eg the inconsistency and if they did anything about it.  Thank you, Maz.

[DaveLister]

There have been items in the Press about the somewhat erratic application of fees but, for a Birthday card, that sounds ridiculous. And what made the Douanes so suspicious that they had to open it in the first place? I'd start with the sorting office and take it from there.

[mazandcol]

Thanks Dave exactly what I thought.  Helpful to have your feedback.  It looks as though there are problems at both sides of the Channel.  My daughter was advised to fill in a Custom Form?!*

[DaveLister]

Oh, that might be the issue. Whilst researching your situation I read the story of someone, living in the UK, who posted  his Christmas cards to Europe using the customs forms provided by Royal Mail. Of all the cards he sent it was the ones to France that had issues with some being opened and others being returned because said form had 'apparently' been incorrectly filled in. Sounds like you've had the double whammy of Royal Mail giving out incorrect information and French customs being "Jobsworth".

[menthe]

But, forgive my ignorance, why would you need a customs form to send a greetings card?

Don't you just stick on the correct denomination stamp for a foreign country and send it as per usual?

Over a year ago, I did have a parcel from the UK (item ordered on Amazon.fr) and the facteur asked for 9€.  As I understood that the amount I paid covered duties and taxes, I refused the parcel and chased the sender (via Amazon) for the money back.

I have since, occasionally, inadvertently, ordered UK stuff from Amazon but without any extra payment at delivery.  In fact, I seek to avoid British goods on Amazon but sometimes, it's not always clear where the goods come from.  I ordered some special energy bars from what I thought was a UK firm but the bars had in fact come from Belgium.

I agree that there does seem to be a random procedure whereby some parcels arrive with a note to say the contents had been searched and others without.

[DaveLister]

16 minutes ago, menthe said:

But, forgive my ignorance, why would you need a customs form to send a greetings card?

Exactly, you don't. However, apparently if you try to use the Royal Mail online service you get given one by default.

Sorry, did your Daughter actually fill out the customs form or not ?

[Loiseau]

Maybe the lovingly made card was bigger than a normal one, and packed in something more like a Jiffy bag than a standard envelope?

[Lehaut]

Forgive the long post, but I got this from the French customs site, google translation.  The bit about how they "value"  "free" goods (which the card would fall under) is of passing interest.  We to have been hit by this patently  arbitrary added tax.  They do tell you who to contact in case of questions!   

https://www.douane.gouv.fr/fiche/valeur-en-douane-de-votre-marchandise-limportation

Basis of customs duties and other ad valorem duties, due on the importation of goods into the European Union, the customs value is part, with the tariff type and the origin of the goods, of the elements constituting the basis the establishment of the customs debt, term designating the amount of duties to be paid.

The customs value of imported goods is determined according to Articles 69 et seq. of the Union Customs Code (UCC).

For any regulatory questions, we invite you to contact the economic action center of the regional customs department on which you depend.

General rules for determining customs value
The customs value of the goods is determined by applying one of the valuation methods provided for in Articles 70 to 74 of the UCC, specified by Articles 128 to 144 of the Implementing Regulation (REC).

In principle, the customs value is determined on the basis of the transaction value, i.e. the price actually paid or payable for the goods when they are sold for export to the customs territory of the Union (TDU).

If necessary, this transaction value may be increased or reduced to take account of certain costs listed exhaustively in Articles 71 and 72 of the UCC. Price supplements under Article 70§2 must also be included in the customs value of the goods.

In the absence of sale, or in the event of rejection of the transaction value, the customs value is determined by applying secondary methods defined in Article 74 of the UCC.

In case of sale of imported goods
When the goods have been sold at the time of importation, the customs valuation is carried out on the basis of the transaction value, that is to say on the basis of the price paid or to be paid, which may be increased or reduced according to the costs to be added or deducted from this value.

The elements to be added to the price (article 71 of the UCC)
These are the various costs, products or services related to the manufacture, use or transport of imported goods:

sales commissions;
container and packaging costs;
input costs;
amounts of royalties and license fees;
value of any part of the proceeds of any subsequent resale, disposal or use of the imported goods accruing directly or indirectly to the seller;
transport and insurance, handling and loading costs to the place of introduction on the TDU.
Any element that is added to the price actually paid or payable is exclusively based on objective and quantifiable data (article 71§2 UCC).

Elements to be deducted from the price (article 72 of the UCC)
Certain costs incurred after the importation of the goods should not be included in the price actually paid or payable:

costs relating to work subsequent to importation;
transport costs and related costs after the introduction of the goods on the TDU;
duties and taxes related to the importation or sale of goods;
reproduction rights;
purchase fees;
interest for deferred payment.
These payments are to be deducted from the price insofar as they are identifiable and quantifiable.

In the absence of sale or in the event of rejection of the transaction value
When the imported goods are not the subject of a sale (free goods, imported on consignment, rented or loaned goods, etc.), or when their transaction value is not acceptable (art. 70§3 of the UCC) or is rejected by the customs administration, the customs value is determined by applying one of the secondary methods provided for in Article 74 of the UCC:

Comparative methods: the customs value is established on the basis of an existing transaction value already accepted by the customs authorities concerning identical or similar goods, imported at the same time and of the same commercial level;
The deductive method: the value is established from the resale price of the highest quantity in the EU, after importation, from which are deducted the usual commissions or margins, transport, insurance or post-delivery handling costs ;
The calculated value method: the value is determined from the cost of raw materials and manufacturing operations, profits and transport costs;
The method of last resort: the value is determined by reasonable means based on objective and quantifiable data available to the importer. In practice, this method consists of applying one of the previous secondary methods more flexibly or using other reasonable means.
Authorization of Provisional Value (AVP)
Within the framework of the provisions relating to the simplified declaration provided for in Articles 166 and following, the UCC makes it possible to defer the

[ssomon]

Some time ago I had the same problem as Menthe with a book from Amazon UK. It was sent under Amazon's export scheme and I should not have been liable, so I also refused the delivery and phoned the third party vendor.

They told me they had had the problem with other shipments, that Amazon was sorting it out, and refunded my money.

I have had no problem since then, as I check carefully if there is any liability, and that any duty or TVA due is included in the price. Sometimes the price is even less then for the same item on Amazon France.

I bought a new laptop from Amazon UK on Jan 27 this year, and paid an Import Fee Deposit of £76.36.

I was happy with the price as I wanted a QWERTY keyboard and it was about the same price as on Amazon Fr.

Yesterday I was delighted to get an email from Amazon to inform me that the deposit was being refunded in full, and it appeared on my credit card account last night.

Edited July 14, 2023 by ssomon
spelling

[DaveLister]

It does appear, from what I've read, that it's almost become like the wild west getting stuff imported from the UK.

[ssomon]

3 minutes ago, DaveLister said:

It does appear, from what I've read, that it's almost become like the wild west getting stuff imported from the UK.

Not if you check the terms related to the purchase and make sure the vendor is using an appropriate export scheme to reduce the cost.

[DaveLister]

1 minute ago, ssomon said:

Not if you check the terms related to the purchase and make sure the vendor is using an appropriate export scheme to reduce the cost.

I was thinking more in line of the behaviour of French Customs.

[Judith]

And as we continue to say, Brexit .. which keeps on giving ..... actually I now watch where the goods are coming from it if I buy from Amazon UK which still usually turns out cheaper even with postage than Amazon France.    I now try to avoid third party sellers for that reason, having been stung once or twice, and not from Amazon, ever (so far!!).  As  a totally off post comment, I was searching recently for a hymn tune called Amzon (yes, honestly -  dates from the 18th century, and a Charles Wesley hymn, but could I get the search engine not to produce Amazon EVERY time.  Of course not!  Such is it's power.  PS I got there, eventually!!!

PPS been out of contact all day, power cut just after the Maire finished his speech (the loud speaker travels well across the park to our house in the next street) (note the day!), to muted applause .. turned out to be a transformer .. came back about 5.30 ... such is the power of local maires!!! Started off with about 4-6 houses in our street, ended up a whole sector because of what is was.  Happy Fête National everyone!

[mazandcol]

Hi all, we've been away for a few days, so we haven't been keeping up with online 'stuff'.

Just want to say thank you for all the replies/comments.  We think the problem is obviously at both sides of the Channel - our daughter was definitely given bad/wring advice at the Post Office (a customs form should never have been filled in for a card - a home-made card at that) and why on earth the Douanes thought it worthy of 'inspection' AND to impose import tax is anybody's guess.  We know all about the issues with products ordered online and choose suppliers accordingly, but this was never a 'product', it was never a 'purchase'. The point of the OP was just to highlight yet another variation in Post-Brexit beaurocracy.  Same delivery, two items, both with customs declarations - one saying chocolate, the other saaying hand-made birthday card.  Chocolate free, birthday card 20 euros?????