# Being asked for Import Tax by Fed Ex



## ericban (Oct 18, 2012)

Hi all,

I am hoping I may be able to get a quick answer from someone on here before the Fed Ex guy returnd around lunch time today.

I sponsored a new toy''s development in the USA last year via Kickstarter and paid $79 plus $15 International delivery for one of the first production models. They delivered it yesterday for my daughter but the Fed Ex Guy had an Import Tax Demand for 46.25 Euros.

He had a note in Spanish saying it had been opened by customs and they had assessed it as owing that amount in import tax.

His parting statement was "No Dinero, No Parcel". I really want it for her for Xmas so will pay it if need be when he returns today.

I have contacted the company but have not received a reply yet.

Does anyone know if this is normal or correct?

It seems ridiculous to me as it is about 75% of the cost of her gift again on top.

If I pay it and it is wrong, is there a way I can get the money back?

Sorry for the lateness of this post, but I just thought of asking on here.

TIA
Regards
Ericban


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

Unfortunately they are asking for more & more 'import tax' from stuff coming in from the states. 
Many people locally have been complaining & most now have stuff sent to the UK , where it is still possible that you'll have to pay but less likely. Then it is sent on from there to here. You are lucky the postman brought it . The main complaint here is that people just receive an email from Madrid stating the goods are there, tax due & to pay before theywill release them from customs.
As to getting it back if wrong ,I'd say you'd have a hard job.


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## NickZ (Jun 26, 2009)

It wouldn't surprise me if most of the money they want is various FedEX fees. FedEx (and UPS) normally tack on various brokerage fees to clear customs. On a low priced item these fees can end up being more then the tax and duty. 

You should ask for a breakdown of the cost. If it's mostly FedEX fees not much you can do about it now. 

If you know how it was shipped then try surfing over to the FedEX website and search for the fees. It may take a bit to find them but they should be on the website. Different shipping methods tend to have different fees for brokerage. The lower cost (slower) methods often have fairly high brokerage fees.


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## kalohi (May 6, 2012)

Unfortunately you'll have to pay up if you want the package. You'll owe 21% VAT tax to Spain and the rest will be fees paid to FedEx for dealing with customs for you. Yes, it's a rip off. No, there's nothing you can do about it. 

It is so totally not worth it to ship things in from the US (or from anywhere other than the EU).


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## Pazcat (Mar 24, 2010)

It can be worth it depending on what you get but in general it's just a pain. I have worked it out before and some items you would still make a significant saving by flying to the US, paying for extra luggage and VAT at customs.

But yeah, you have to pay it no if's or but's.
Still at least it doesn't sound as if it's as corrupt as Belgian post, often you would be paying more than the value of what it was as that was their assessment.

Knowing that some people despite my protestations have still sent thing from Australia to us for Christmas I make a point of having at least 100 euros cash on me this time of year.


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## ericban (Oct 18, 2012)

Hi All,

Thanks for your swift replies. I have just received it and paid as you assured me is was not a scam (not an illegal one anyway)!

It appears I have paid 79% import tax in total (after converting dollars to euros and working it out) as well as $15 Postage. Hopefully she will be happy with her present. Lesson Learned!

Thanks again for your responses.

Ericban


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## ericban (Oct 18, 2012)

Hi Again,

Having just looked through the factura he gave me and doing a rough translation, the have given the true value in one box on the sheet as $79, then further down the sheet they have a Value Adjustment of +84 euros ( is this their opinion of it being worth more than I paid? Surely not). Then a declared value of 140.40 euros, IVA 29.90 and Admin charge of 13.30. They should be flying the Jolley Rodger above Customs House. Feeling robbed!

Oh Well, it will soon be Christmas.

I hope you all have a good one.
Ericban


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## NickZ (Jun 26, 2009)

ericban said:


> ( is this their opinion of it being worth more than I paid?


Yes. It's the result of people under declaring. The broker can put a higher value on the item.

I guess you could try to challenge this but it might not be worth the time.


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## Aron (Apr 30, 2013)

kalohi said:


> Unfortunately you'll have to pay up if you want the package. You'll owe 21% VAT tax to Spain and the rest will be fees paid to FedEx for dealing with customs for you. Yes, it's a rip off. No, there's nothing you can do about it.
> 
> It is so totally not worth it to ship things in from the US (or from anywhere other than the EU).


It can be expensive when it comes to import duties and customs charges. This is nothing new either here or the UK. I was Postal manager in the UK and dealt with many queries on import duty. The forms that accompany the item should explain the duty owed and the customs charges. I had several people refuse to pay, because of that, the item was returned to sender.
Some US firms use European companies so to avoid import duty. Years ago a company in the US called CDnow, if you ordered and American CD or DVD, to get round the import duties, they would have the items sent through another EU company, so avoiding the import duty


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## 213979 (Apr 11, 2013)

I just had the same "value adjustment" done to my house. They didn't believe what I paid. This is such a crock, and it's what we get for being honest.


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

ericban , where they went wrong is in not sending it as a 'gift' without value/value below$150(?).


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## Pazcat (Mar 24, 2010)

According to Correos you still pay for gifts unless it's a used personal item.
I think it's pretty much only the UK that has this system.

That said I think it's hit and miss, I have had some things come in without having to pay.


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## ericban (Oct 18, 2012)

Wow,

It seems I should have done a bit of prior research before ordering. Lol

Never mind, we live and learn.

Thanks for all your advice.

Regards
Ericban


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## Aron (Apr 30, 2013)

Pazcat said:


> According to Correos you still pay for gifts unless it's a used personal item.
> I think it's pretty much only the UK that has this system.
> 
> That said I think it's hit and miss, I have had some things come in without having to pay.


Customs and excise in the UK will open anything they feel they should. If they open something, you will get a customs charge. The customs charge can be more than the import duty. That is the system employed years ago when I was in the postal business. Customs and excise have more powers than the police, especially when it comes to mail


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## Pazcat (Mar 24, 2010)

But that is separate from the VAT, here you still have to pay VAT if the item is a gift or not. In the UK you have a 40£ buffer before VAT is charged, no such thing in Spain.
It's not about opening the package, whether they do or don't is another matter.


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## Aron (Apr 30, 2013)

Pazcat said:


> But that is separate from the VAT, here you still have to pay VAT if the item is a gift or not. In the UK you have a 40£ buffer before VAT is charged, no such thing in Spain.
> It's not about opening the package, whether they do or don't is another matter.


Well, tax is different in Spain, we know that. However, the original question wasn't about a gift. There is a level in the UK of £36 and I'm not sure if that includes postage or not before VAT is charged. 
Quite a few people ordering stuff from outside the EU are unaware of the high import duties. In the UK it is easy to check beforehand by looking at the Royal Mail website.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

no-one escapes....


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## AngelesAngeles (Dec 6, 2013)

ericban said:


> Hi all,
> 
> I am hoping I may be able to get a quick answer from someone on here before the Fed Ex guy returnd around lunch time today.
> 
> ...


Unfortunately it is MONIES OR NOTHING with FEDEX!!!

Had the same problem!
Plus I got a replacement for a product they sent back because I wasn't prepared to pay the same amount twice.
Now the company sending the same replacement again made sure they added a special note about it,let's hope they will make the delivery without asking for CASH twice again.
In the future everything will have to be a gift *otherwise I will NOT use FEDEX.*


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## Pazcat (Mar 24, 2010)

I would of welcomed having to pay for our packages today, fedex are a delight to deal with in the sense that they at least attempt to deliver to you. We now have Christmas presents on the way back to the senders because of one particular company that wont even bother to deliver and are rude and repeatedly hung up on us simply because they can't do their job.

I'm fuming, never have I not been able to receive or pick up deliveries. Not once, this has happened 3 times now in six months.


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## kalohi (May 6, 2012)

AngelesAngeles said:


> In the future everything will have to be a gift *otherwise I will NOT use FEDEX.*


It doesn't matter if it's a gift, you still have to pay.


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## kalohi (May 6, 2012)

Pazcat said:


> I would of welcomed having to pay for our packages today


Me too. My mother's Christmas package to my family (sent via the postal service) has been sitting in customs in Madrid for 19 days. Oviously it hasn't been delivered so there are no presents from my mother on Christmas day.  I've received no word from the postal service but my mother can track the package and can see that it's in Madrid. At least we know it isn't lost... but I wonder how much ransom I'm going to end up paying to get my Christmas presents. And I wonder when.


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## kalohi (May 6, 2012)

Pazcat said:


> I'm fuming, never have I not been able to receive or pick up deliveries. Not once, this has happened 3 times now in six months.


We have this problem with MRW, which Amazon often uses. They don't leave a note if nobody is home when trying to make a delivery. They make two delivery attempts and then I'm supposed to go pick it up or else they return the delivery to the sender. Unless I can track the package (impossible if it's a gift, for instance) how am I supposed to know that there's a package there for me to pick up? So it get returned.

I've never had this problem with SEUR, or with FedEx either.


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

Here, MRW make no attempt to deliver,nor do they contact you, or return it to the sender ! :lol:
It just stacks up in the office to the extent that if there is one person in there it isn't possible for anyone else to get in. 
Once we found this out from going looking for a delivery the first time , all we do now if anything unfortunately comes via them, is go in 4 or 5 days after being sent & say " Oy got this ? " & the lad will kindly rummage for some hours & return with your delivery. 
you have to laugh. :lol:


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## Pazcat (Mar 24, 2010)

It was actually SEUR who gave us grief this time and their customer service about it is down right rude. They kept passing the phone around and hanging up on us and when finally someone did speak to us they somehow claimed it was our fault they didn't deliver.
They never bloody even attempted it, that's why you don't get tickets in the letter box because they never come in the first place. If you are lucky they will call you and claim that as an attempted delivery, they did that we told them were to go and they still didn't come.

Mind you their other drivers had no problems delivering other packages.

Ended with us asking for their Libro to which they hung up on us again. So we made sure to send another request for it by email. Either the parcel arrives tomorrow or they think we are bluffing, if that's the case what do you do when they refuse to give you their Libro?
OCIM? Denuncia?

Anyway, I'm not going to let it ruin our day, the kids are having a ball so....

MERRY CHRISTMAS ALL!
:xmastree:


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

Pazcat said:


> Ended with us asking for their Libro to which they hung up on us again. So we made sure to send another request for it by email. Either the parcel arrives tomorrow or they think we are bluffing, if that's the case what do you do when they refuse to give you their Libro?
> OCIM? Denuncia?
> 
> Anyway, I'm not going to let it ruin our day, the kids are having a ball so....
> ...


If you actually go to the office, ask for the libro/hojas & they refuse then call the Policia Local . Explain the problem & they will attend & if there is no libro, shut them down. It is a criminal offence to A) have no libro/hojas & B) refuse to hand them over. 
If you have a mobile that records make sure it is turned on when you ask for them as that way they cannot state that you didn't ask for them when the police turn up.


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## Aron (Apr 30, 2013)

gus-lopez said:


> Here, MRW make no attempt to deliver,nor do they contact you, or return it to the sender ! :lol:
> It just stacks up in the office to the extent that if there is one person in there it isn't possible for anyone else to get in.
> Once we found this out from going looking for a delivery the first time , all we do now if anything unfortunately comes via them, is go in 4 or 5 days after being sent & say " Oy got this ? " & the lad will kindly rummage for some hours & return with your delivery.
> you have to laugh. :lol:


We have never had that problem with MRW. They have always been first class. Before they knew where we lived, they used to phone and ask us. Everything we order to be delivered by courier, we give our phone number. I worked for Royal Mail for half my life and the way MRW work, they give everyone a great service.


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## Pazcat (Mar 24, 2010)

Aron said:


> they used to phone and ask us.


This is the problem though. I can understand the rare occasion when there is a genuine reason for ringing but they abuse this system.
A missed phone call is considered a delivery attempt, it's only used so a driver doesn't have to do his job. It is absolutely not a reasonable attempt at delivery by making a phone call.
There is no reason they should be phoning you unless there are special instructions given to do so.

That is of course if they even bother in the first place. 

If a courier company is so insecure about what it is a courier company should be doing and if drivers are so incompetent to not even own a map or gps it is no fault of the poor ******* sitting and waiting for their packages.


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## AngelesAngeles (Dec 6, 2013)

Aron said:


> We have never had that problem with MRW. They have always been first class. Before they knew where we lived, they used to phone and ask us. Everything we order to be delivered by courier, we give our phone number. I worked for Royal Mail for half my life and the way MRW work, they give everyone a great service.




MRW?


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

AngelesAngeles said:


> MRW?



MRW leading company in the express transport of packages of up to 80 kg from Andorra, Spain, Gibraltar, Portugal and Venezuela for national and international consignments


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## Aron (Apr 30, 2013)

Pazcat said:


> This is the problem though. I can understand the rare occasion when there is a genuine reason for ringing but they abuse this system.
> A missed phone call is considered a delivery attempt, it's only used so a driver doesn't have to do his job. It is absolutely not a reasonable attempt at delivery by making a phone call.
> There is no reason they should be phoning you unless there are special instructions given to do so.
> 
> ...


Well, having been a Royal Mail manager for 13 years I found many people quick to criticise, yet slow to compliment. We had many staff find the correct delivery point from badly addressed items, get no thanks only to get complaints from the same people of a late delivery when the weather was bad.
I live in a street in Spain that few locals know where it is. If the driver from another town has a problem, then phones to ask where I live, I think that is good customer service. I can only judge the system by the service I receive, which has always been excellent.

My address is not on any GPS system


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## Pazcat (Mar 24, 2010)

Well in your situation you are the rare occasion when it is genuinely needed. If you expect that then it's not a problem.

But they aren't looking for directions when they ring here, they just say in 10 minutes they'll be here or something. If you don't answer they call it a failed attempt at delivery. I'm not in the sticks, I am on maps, GPS and google so there is no excuse.
It's simply not how you do it. And it's so variable to, the same company can give great service one day and actively go out of their way to make both our lives harder the next.

I worked in the courier business both on the road and in the back room, I never once expected thanks for doing my job, just a pay cheque although it is nice when you get a compliment. If I repeatedly couldn't find and deliver my jobs I would of been fired so you take the criticism and do better next time. It's(was) my job, I deliver stuff not look for an excuse not too.
I have never experienced such ineptitude and rudeness from any courier company ever. We have used any number of companies from various countries all over the world which have had a 100% success rate with delivery.
Even Parcel Farce will eventually get to your door.


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## Aron (Apr 30, 2013)

Pazcat said:


> Well in your situation you are the rare occasion when it is genuinely needed. If you expect that then it's not a problem.
> 
> But they aren't looking for directions when they ring here, they just say in 10 minutes they'll be here or something. If you don't answer they call it a failed attempt at delivery. I'm not in the sticks, I am on maps, GPS and google so there is no excuse.
> It's simply not how you do it. And it's so variable to, the same company can give great service one day and actively go out of their way to make both our lives harder the next.
> ...


I am not the rare occasion because my neighbours all feel the same way. We prefer to get our packages by MRW than the normal post. I ordered a package three weeks ago from the UK. From the time I ordered it, it took three days to be delivered. I know the courier and we get on well. That is a good service, and I tell him. Perhaps we are lucky, perhaps the manager of the office is good at his job.


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

& as I said if the UPS, TNT & DHL drivers , who operate out of Alicante, can find me , & I'm not on gps either, then why can't MRW ? Because they make no attempt to leave the office. SEur & chrono-express & some other local ones all turn up ,no problems it is just MRW. 
You also have to bear in mind that A) they don't get paid a lot for delivering the stuff so if they take ages to find somewhere it is costing them money & B) they are all self-employed . 

With SEUR,MRW,Chrono-Express your self-employed & have to supply a new white only van that they then sign-write.
UPS the same +van has to be brown. Only DHL & TNT have ever delivered here using an employee & TNT collect using sub-contractors.

Personally I very rarely have a problem with deliveries as anything from the UK I'll ensure is coming through DPD who use SEUR for the Spanish end & they don't stand any nonsense & that's why many UK companies use them. they know the stuff will arrive.


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## Pazcat (Mar 24, 2010)

SEUR are great at nonsense here. If I can control it I'll never use them again but then that's the problem, I'm not the one with a contract with them.
Why they want us to hold their hand is beyond me.


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## Aron (Apr 30, 2013)

My main area of complaint is not courier service which in our area are very good. My main gripe is with the oficina de correo. I get one delivery a week if I'm lucky. The post personal do their best, but they lack the correct training. I do help out at our local sorting office occasionally. Having said that, much of the mail they have to deliver is ambiguously addressed. That at Christmas used to be the same in the UK, but experience is the key to good delivery personnel. There are no street names where we live and many streets have incorrect numbering. These days I never let it worry me. As my local neighbours say, it will come eventually. If I am expecting anything important I just go to the sorting office to collect it. It isn't far away, about 3 kilometres, so that is a good 90 minute walk including 30 minutes at a local bar. I quite enjoy that.


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## bob_bob (Jan 5, 2011)

Its about £35 limit in the UK but you pay 20% VAT on the total including postage plus import duty plus a post office charge for collecting the extra payment so it would have been no cheaper having it shipped to the UK.


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## AngelesAngeles (Dec 6, 2013)

xabiachica said:


> MRW leading company in the express transport of packages of up to 80 kg from Andorra, Spain, Gibraltar, Portugal and Venezuela for national and international consignments


Cheers for this info:thumb:


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## AngelesAngeles (Dec 6, 2013)

kalohi said:


> It doesn't matter if it's a gift, you still have to pay.


Just came about this comment!
Have you paid a gift item with FEDEX yourself?


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## kalohi (May 6, 2012)

It doesn't matter if the gift comes via FedEx because what you have to pay isn't a charge imposed by FedEx - it's a charge imposed by Spanish Customs. FedEx might charge you more or charge you less than other companies to deal with customs for you, but it's not their fault that you have to pay the fee in the first place.

But to answer your exact question: no, I have never paid duty/VAT on a gift item sent via FedEx but that's because I have never received a gift sent internationally using FedEx. My family in the US send their gifts using the US Postal Service. Sometimes those packages get through without being inspected (duty and VAT free) and other times they get pulled and I have to pay. It's the luck of the draw.


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