# New Import Duties



## woodpecker9 (Jan 22, 2021)

I have been informed at the post office, Correos, that from July there are now new import duties being imposed by Spain and the EU. Even documents with a value £0 will be charged at €5.10 customs duty on the item. Is this true and will I have to pay €5.10 customs duty on every Christmas card I receive this year.


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

I think 5.10 euros is their handling charge, so even if your item carries no duty, you still have to pay the charge. Obvious documents like letters and cards are exempt from the charge.


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## woodpecker9 (Jan 22, 2021)

Joppa said:


> I think 5.10 euros is their handling charge, so even if your item carries no duty, you still have to pay the charge. Obvious documents like letters and cards are exempt from the charge.


Interesting, this Brit guy in front of me at Correos had to pay €5.10 for a letter from his solicitor. It might have had a document in it, probably a bill from his solicitor. Do customs open your mail to see what’s in it and then decide?


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

My guess is unless something is obviously a letter with no dutiable item enclosed, the presumptions are it is chargeable. I think from now on, people sending letters from UK should mark it clearly as a letter (la carta).


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## woodpecker9 (Jan 22, 2021)

Joppa said:


> My guess is unless something is obviously a letter with no dutiable item enclosed, the presumptions are it is chargeable. I think from now on, people sending letters from UK should mark it clearly as a letter (la carta).


Joppa that makes sense. The problem here is a lack of clarity. Let’s face it Spain is number one in the world of making it up as they go along. Maybe write on the envelope NO CUSTOMS DUTY, PRIVATE LOVE LETTER. Make sure the letter starts HELLO MY SEXY DARLING and finishes I LOVE YOU ALWAYS AND WANT TO BE WITH YOU. Could be a bit tricky with a job application.

I guess if this is a new EU duty ruling China will have made one billion redundant selling their cheap crap on Ebay.


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## Barriej (Jul 23, 2012)

woodpecker9 said:


> I have been informed at the post office, Correos, that from July there are now new import duties being imposed by Spain and the EU. Even documents with a value £0 will be charged at €5.10 customs duty on the item. Is this true and will I have to pay €5.10 customs duty on every Christmas card I receive this year.


Not sure its true, we had some books delivered the other day from Amazon via Correos shipped from the Uk. Free shipping and nothing else to pay. The Post Lady just asked for my NIE (as she always does) and handed them over.
I also had some art stuff shipped from the states and even with a declared value of $30 there was no tax or import duty either (they arrived Wednesday)

Cant see how normal letters will have any duty on them. I thought it was charged as a percentage of the value which the sender has to declare. As well as a code for the goods that gave them the %
Doesn't happen anywhere else in the world, can't see how the EU could make such a rule.

Do you get sackfuls of letters? Maybe they are fed up delivering your fan mail so they want to make come easy euros


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## woodpecker9 (Jan 22, 2021)

Barriej said:


> Not sure its true, we had some books delivered the other day from Amazon via Correos shipped from the Uk. Free shipping and nothing else to pay. The Post Lady just asked for my NIE (as she always does) and handed them over.
> I also had some art stuff shipped from the states and even with a declared value of $30 there was no tax or import duty either (they arrived Wednesday)
> 
> Cant see how normal letters will have any duty on them. I thought it was charged as a percentage of the value which the sender has to declare. As well as a code for the goods that gave them the %
> ...


Barriej

Postage is fully paid on the sack of fan mail I receive each day. This keeps the employees of Correos in a job.

Perhaps you could answer the original question and if I am asked for money on any delivery am I being scammed or not. Maybe this new so called duty has a transition period, or depends on what day of the week the delivery is, or if your address is an odd or even number.

Does anyone actually know the facts? Does customs staff know what’s what?


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## tardigrade (May 23, 2021)

A handling charge is not a duty... Someone has to be paid or a bigger machine has to be bought to sort these items coming from 3rd world countries.


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

I found this - as of 1 July IVA is payable on low-value items ordered online from outside the EU, paid either at the point of purchase or when it’s delivered. Can’t find anything about letters though.








IVA de importación en el Comercio Electrónico







www.correos.es


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## tardigrade (May 23, 2021)

tardigrade said:


> A handling charge is not a duty... Someone has to be paid or a bigger machine has to be bought to sort these items coming from 3rd world countries.


Sorry, I should have said from outside if the EU...

Spain is notorious for charging as most they can on all items being shipped into the country. I had my folks stop stending stuff here as I always had to pay for someone in Spain handling them. France is way better, 2 new pairs of Levis (with tags taken off) and some christmas candy no charge what so ever.


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## woodpecker9 (Jan 22, 2021)

tardigrade said:


> A handling charge is not a duty... Someone has to be paid or a bigger machine has to be bought to sort these items coming from 3rd world countries.





Alcalaina said:


> I found this - as of 1 July IVA is payable on low-value items ordered online from outside the EU, paid either at the point of purchase or when it’s delivered. Can’t find anything about letters though.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


How can you possibly pay a handling charge? Surely that must be included in the postage charge/cost.

VAT in Electronic Commerce. Surely that should also be charged and included in the postage/shipping costs.

This all a scam and we are being blinded by bull****.


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## tardigrade (May 23, 2021)

woodpecker9 said:


> How can you possibly pay a handling charge? Surely that must be included in the postage charge/cost.
> 
> VAT in Electronic Commerce. Surely that should also be charged and included in the postage/shipping costs.
> 
> This all a scam and we are being blinded by bull****.


Welcome to the EU..


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## woodpecker9 (Jan 22, 2021)

tardigrade said:


> Welcome to the EU..


Is this all down to Brexit. Having to pay €5.10 for a document from your UK solicitors that has no value and full postage has been paid is a scam. What about a UK credit card from your bank, do they charge you a duty on your credit limit? Of course a Spanish national is unlikely to receive documents from the UK. I think this has racist tones, and reminds me of 1939/45.

No doubt it will all end up tit for tat, but as usual Joe Public will have his/her pocket dipped.


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## tardigrade (May 23, 2021)

woodpecker9 said:


> Is this all down to Brexit. Having to pay €5.10 for a document from your UK solicitors that has no value and full postage has been paid is a scam. What about a UK credit card from your bank, do they charge you a duty on your credit limit? Of course a Spanish national is unlikely to receive documents from the UK. I think this has racist tones, and reminds me of 1939/45.
> 
> No doubt it will all end up tit for tat, but as usual Joe Public will have his/her pocket dipped.


Part of brexit because they are no longer part of the EU. 
As always you have to pay first before trying to get a refund.. Visit a post office and see if they realize their mistake and give you a refund. Might be hard to prove though.


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## Barriej (Jul 23, 2012)

woodpecker9 said:


> Barriej
> 
> Postage is fully paid on the sack of fan mail I receive each day. This keeps the employees of Correos in a job.
> 
> ...


I did answer the question and I was having a bit of fun. But being serious.

I spoke to a friend who runs a business in the local town (he was over for a beer) and he gets around 40 letters a day from various parts of the world and he has not been asked to pay anything. BUT his mail is delivered to him.
He is a large scale stamp collector and none of his mail has customs documents attached. All arrive in little plain brown envelopes (well he says they are stamps) 


From Correos website.

All shipments of goods that enter via Correos in Spain are subject to Customs controls*, unlike postal items that contain documents or personal messages sent by other people.*

So standard mail i.e. letters, postcards, bills, birthday cards are not subject to the customs and excise controls.
Unless the EU are changing the way the world works.
None of the above have EVER been subject to any restrictions ANTWHERE in the world before.

I doubt the national postal carrier would be scamming you (everyone maybe). I could be wrong here though

Letters etc DO NOT need customs declaration forms false stop as they usually carry no tangible goods. 
You will or should always be asked at point of posting (if in a post office) as to the contents. This will determine what happens. 

Everytime I post something here the lady always asks me what Im sending and I lie (and she knows) but they always go normal letter rate. (its artwork but I say worthless paper) 

We have had cards from Australia, the US and the UK over the past month (the wife birthday and her dads) none of these had any charges.

Im off now as I have a website to update.


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## MataMata (Nov 30, 2008)

woodpecker9 said:


> I think this has racist tones, and reminds me of 1939/45.


What a ridiculous comment.

If you have one scintilla of evidence that post from UK is being treated any differently to that from other non EU countries then please present it.


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## woodpecker9 (Jan 22, 2021)

MataMata said:


> What a ridiculous comment.
> 
> If you have one scintilla of evidence that post from UK is being treated any differently to that from other non EU countries then please present it.


My previous post, I was behind a Brit in the post office who was charge €5.10 for a letter with zero value. Yes that may now be happening to all non EU post, but strange how the new rules came in 1st July after BREXIT. The policy still has racist tones to all non EU countries.

I do not want any argument with foreigners who believe Spain is perfect and never does anything wrong or EU lovers.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

woodpecker9 said:


> My previous post, I was behind a Brit in the post office who was charge €5.10 for a letter with zero value. Yes that may now be happening to all non EU post, but strange how the new rules came in 1st July after BREXIT. The policy still has racist tones to all non EU countries.
> 
> I do not want any argument with foreigners who believe Spain is perfect and never does anything wrong or EU lovers.


Racist?

It's simply a charge made on some third country mail, and goes both ways - a direct result of Brexit!



https://www.royalmail.com/brexit


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

I've gone through the Correos tariffs and charges pages, and there is absolutely nothing that refers to handling charges or import duties on correspondence. It looks like someone has got the wrong end of the stick and is using it to stir up confusion. Maybe the sender didn't pay the full amount, and the recipient had to pay the difference?


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

xabiaxica said:


> Racist?
> 
> It's simply a charge made on some third country mail, and goes both ways - a direct result of Brexit!
> 
> ...


But this is IVA on goods, and doesn't apply to letters, birthday cards etc.



> When sending goods abroad, you now need to complete and attach a customs declaration (CN22 or CN23), available from the Post Office® or Royal Mail’s Click&Drop. This does not apply to customers sending items from Northern Ireland to the EU.* Letters, postcards and documents are usually exempt.*


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Alcalaina said:


> I've gone through the Correos tariffs and charges pages, and there is absolutely nothing that refers to handling charges or import duties on correspondence. It looks like someone has got the wrong end of the stick and is using it to stir up confusion. Maybe the sender didn't pay the full amount, and the recipient had to pay the difference?


That's entirely possible!


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Alcalaina said:


> But this is IVA on goods, and doesn't apply to letters, birthday cards etc.





> 'usually' exempt


 so presumably not always. 


Having not actually witnessed the conversation we'll never know for sure.


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

xabiaxica said:


> so presumably not always.
> 
> Having not actually witnessed the conversation we'll never know for sure.


True. I imagine this refers to letters that have commercial value e,g, if they are written or signed by someone famous, but they would require a customs declaration.


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