# taxed on books from Amazon? recently?



## Newforestcat (Mar 14, 2012)

Hello

I am wondering if any of you had to pay import tax on your Amazon books. I know that Amazon do let buyers from Thailand pay for import tax, calculated by their automated system, at the same time as the order is placed and paid for. Amazon also will not ask you to reimburse them if the tax amount originally quoted was too low (only applied on goods bought directly from Amazon, not Amazon private sellers). But can anyone tell me, from their experience or their friends', that I should stop worrying because Customs have left Amazon parcels well alone since they started collecting tax beforehand? 

Do you know if this policy is world-wide or is it only for USA and the UK? What about amazon.co.jp? And is it 0% VAT on books? What about import tax? I did try to check but gave up! Thanks a lot in advance. :eyebrows::eyebrows:


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## Glen10 (Jul 24, 2012)

*tax*

The last time I bought from Amazon when I was in another country a few years back, Amazon didn't charge any tax(just as if I had bought it in the U.S) but when it entered the country i was in the customs man add ad a tax and it was collected from me when I picked it up from the post office.


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## Newforestcat (Mar 14, 2012)

Thanks Glen10. Thai Customs are a bit of a mystery to me. I had one bad experience which has put me off dealing with them forever. But I need some books and shall share my experience on this post as and when that comes in case it is useful to any desperate readers like me. There should be a service that legally sends any books you need in electronic form. I have an old iPad, despite having both iBooks and Kindle app, I still occasionally need real books desperately. Maybe I should open an online bookstore in Thailand. LOL


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## Song_Si (Jun 11, 2010)

Glen10 said:


> The last time I bought from Amazon when I was in another country a few years back, Amazon didn't charge any tax(just as if I had bought it in the U.S) but when it entered the country i was in the customs man add ad a tax and it was collected from me when I picked it up from the post office.


Hi
When in NZ I was a big Amazon fan/user, as was a friend of mine; he got caught out by making a $600 order for dvd/cd and that's when we found this out:



> Most items bought on overseas websites can be imported free of charges if they are valued at less than NZ$400 (approx US$310), including freight and insurance costs.


- result was he was charged an extra 12.5% tax. 

Unsure if there is any similar 'limit' for Thailand?


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## Glen10 (Jul 24, 2012)

Newforestcat said:


> Thanks Glen10. Thai Customs are a bit of a mystery to me. I had one bad experience which has put me off dealing with them forever. But I need some books and shall share my experience on this post as and when that comes in case it is useful to any desperate readers like me. There should be a service that legally sends any books you need in electronic form. I have an old iPad, despite having both iBooks and Kindle app, I still occasionally need real books desperately. Maybe I should open an online bookstore in Thailand. LOL


I guess you know that you can get many for the Kindle, and maybe other e-readers from Amazon. There are many offered for free from google books, I think.


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## Newforestcat (Mar 14, 2012)

Song_Si said:


> Hi
> When in NZ I was a big Amazon fan/user, as was a friend of mine; he got caught out by making a $600 order for dvd/cd and that's when we found this out:
> 
> 
> ...


The NZ allowance is VERY generous! I think it is £100-120 in UK. Imagine 20% UK VAT tax! It is 1000 Baht including delivery in Thailand, not so many books. I know there is an online bookstore in the UK that ships worldwide for free, so in theory you can send a book to each house in your village to avoid paying. Lots of people have been saying that Thai Customs have recorded each household's imported parcels, as I have heard. Strangely, if you come to Thailand from abroad, the limit is something strange like 20,000 Bath. I have seen this figure being used regarding this a few times but I cannot yet really confirm. 

BTW, I think the store is Book Depository, they could be an Amazon company. Sadly they don't do obscure hobby books I have on my list


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## Newforestcat (Mar 14, 2012)

Glen10

Sadly they possibly don't have much demand for the books I need for my hobbies. For everything else, I am very thankful to have been born in this electronic age. The Amazon and iBooks bills sometimes add up quickly though. I am now hiding them by paying for them myself. LOL 
This kind of secrets keeps my hubby's heart from a sudden failure!

I love the American open library, too! What a wonderful service!


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## Glen10 (Jul 24, 2012)

What are your hobbies? Hope you don't mind me asking


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## Newforestcat (Mar 14, 2012)

Ball-jointed dolls, dollhouse, sewing, antiques, baking, sugarcrafts, architectural styles, old buildings, collecting various objects. I tend to move on after I think I know about how to make and like but not love something enough. I caught the bug from emigrating to England 12 years ago as I had to learn how to cook for the first time then it went from one extreme to the other. But England is always dear to me ultimately because it has taught me that I had taken my life for granted. It is way too easy to get everything done for you pretty cheaply in Thailand! 

I just love to learn new crafts and things and how to make things, trying not to be bored is very important to me. I like all forms of art, handmade stuff and colours which encaurage me to keep working to afford my own mad hobbies. I haven't found myself to be good at anything apart from sugarcrafts yet. Also baking and making cakes, etc stop me from wanting to eat them! But soft freshly baked bread or pizza whose smell should be bottled and sold in supermarkets is very tempting! LOL


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## Glen10 (Jul 24, 2012)

Yeah, I can see where you would have a hard time finding e-books for those hobbies.
I had heard of sugar craft, but didn't know or think much of it. I just watched a video on youtube called The Art of Sugar Craft and see that it could be a fun hobby.
I like to bake breads on occasion, and I agree there is nothing like a fresh, homemade pizza.
Especially if you use fresh homemade veggies and your own goat cheese.
I have several hobbies that I engage in from time to time. Such as: gardening and canning; making herbal medicines; beer, whisky, and wine making; making cheese. I use to be involved in leather craft and have thought about starting again, but the cost of leather has gotten so high that I've been a little slow. I have chickens, and have been thinking about goats, and bee keeping, but those are more of a commitment than I'm ready for at the moment. Oh well, my typing skills are so bad, guess I'll bring it to an end. Ha ha! Should make that (typing) my new hobby.


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## Glen10 (Jul 24, 2012)

Hey, you think a good hobby would be training my chickens to type for me?


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## Dumbo (Feb 24, 2009)

Talking about hobbies. Does anyone know where to buy a small woodlathe in Thailand. As for books I download from Amazon on to my Kindle.


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## Newforestcat (Mar 14, 2012)

It is quite good that now you can get most things for baking in Thailand. Maybe except proper chees outside big cities. I do miss them occasionally. 

Wow! I would love to be able to do leathercrafts and cheese-making! If you are going to teach your crafts in Thailand, if I am here, I will be tempted to enroll. Not keen on fresh goatcheese but once it is cooked slightly, it is lovely. I love very strong chedda and most soft cheese! Totally shocked by the prices of leather, I thought about getting a book and leather scraps to make some stuff but put the plan on hold..

I used to be very weary of bee-keeping but I think we all need more bees, I might take it up when I go back to England. I have seen no bee and just one butterfly in my tiny garden in Thailand in the past eight months and we don't use any pesticide or nasty chemical in our house. That is so worrying!

I do cheat with bread-making though. I let the machine do the proving and kneading most of the times. Having said that, baking manually is very therapeutic. But I love technology, too. I very occasionally buy some reliable kichen machines. 

I used to have hens in England. They survived my playful labradors chasing them through the field when they first arrived only to be killed by fox. My hubby had goats, hoping that they would eat grass. Instead, they ate the fence. He then swapped them for three shetland ponies who have been permanent residents at a petting farm so I never meet them. Horses seem to like our fence so much, too. We had to replace a few fence posts this year. 

We grew veg ourselves one year and could not keep up with eating them. The following year, the whole greenhouse was completely a write-off and my trumpoline was lifted up by strong winds only to fall down on our little apple tree and my hubby's work van. It was a nightmare shopping for our house insurance afterwards!

I fancy alpacas but they are very expensive and you need more than one to keep them happy. all animal-keeping plan is on as my hubby wants to emigrate to Thailand. I have seen some goat farms near our town in Thailand, assuming we start to eat goats in Thailand now, but not very sure.


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## Newforestcat (Mar 14, 2012)

Dumbo said:


> Talking about hobbies. Does anyone know where to buy a small woodlathe in Thailand. As for books I download from Amazon on to my Kindle.


I am not sure if you can in Thailand. I saw a few on ebay.co.uk My brother said you could sure find regular-sized ones but possibly not little ones. As a result, he is making one from scratch for my miniature stuff. He makes machines to order on a regular basis. They are not as cheap as Chinese imports due to the handmade/bespoke nature, but they sure work properly or he went bust 13-15 years ago. If you want me to ask if he can make one for you, let me know. He is a mechanic and miller by trade and is quite well-known in our areas for quality and honesty. We are never interested in taking customers for a ride, our garage still bears our dad's name. Most works come from repeated customers. If you know what rural garages are like, you may know that it is rare. LOL

Anyway, I am not comfy blowing my own trumpet. But if you have nowhere else to get what you need, let me know through PM. I don't want to get in trouble being seen as advertising here. I can do eBay so you get all your payment security.


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## Newforestcat (Mar 14, 2012)

Glen10 said:


> Hey, you think a good hobby would be training my chickens to type for me?


What a good idea! I have your problem when I type Thai! There is more of everything to find on the keyboard!

Practice makes perfect, my friend! LOL


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## Glen10 (Jul 24, 2012)

Hi NFC,

Going back to the leathercraft, I ran across this: tandyleatherfactory dotcom. 
Lot's of stuff on sale. Prices don't seem too bad compared to the last time I checked at Hobby Lobby.

This is the same company that use to have a small shop in the little town I grew up in. They have some kits for beginners which may be OK--all depends on your preference. They look to me to have much of the work already done for you. I usually like to do as much as possible at least once. 
I think maybe a kit, and then throw in a few items to beef it up a bit, may be good. The kits certainly save money, as opposed to buying individually--as always.
As you will see, they have free "how to" videos on the website. If you would like some pointers, just give me a shout


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## Newforestcat (Mar 14, 2012)

Hiya,

Love the initial, I sound like a football club. You call it soccer, right? LOL 

Thanks for the idea. I would love to do leathercraft. My mum is keen as well. I need to give her lots of new things to do she is finding her retirement very tiresome. I cannot see why. It should have been like having another life. 

I am having REAL nightmare with retailers I want to buy anything from at the moment as I have deliver address that differs from my billing address. It appears I cannot buy anthing maybe except from eBay or shops at the moment.

This is Catch 22, I am told that I am not supposed to use UK credit cards as I have been abroad for over six months and I cannot have a Thai credit card, as I am not a resident of Thailand, although I am a Thai and British citizen. No UK retailers seem to want my cheques or money transfers. I thought all shops need money! LOL

Hope this is not going to be an issue when I move to Thailand permanently!

Anyway, wish me luck. Once I have worked out my credit card issues, I will have a look at the site.

Good night


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