Import duty on guitar from Japan question

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Jeff Hitman

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Morning all... I am looking into purchasing a guitar from a Japanese dealer and have no idea how the import duty works. Can anyone tell me about the process, what the rate is and any other info you think I should know about such a transaction before I jump in?
Thanks!
-Jeff
 
?13.75 for parcelforce villager, dont forget that extra 25p the B????rds take off you, this sickens me more than the VAT, they have already been paid for the shipping and this fee is just an insult

Here is another example with a running total, as you can see the duty is applied to the cost of the guitar and the shipping, then the VAT is applied to that total followed by parcelforce fees

Price of Guitar e.g ?940
Add Shipping from Japan e.g ?60
Add 3.7% import Duty = ?1037
Add 17.5% VAT = ?1218
Add ?13.75 for Parcelforce in the UK to process the customs charges

some US buyers have reported paying no Duty or import taxes but this seems to depend where in the US you are
 
Do you really pay import duty for shipping? In Finland it goes like this ->

Price of guitar e.g. ?940
Add 3.7% import duty +?34,78
Add shipping from Japan e.g. ??60
total ?1034,78
Add 22% VAT +?227,65
Total ?1262,43

My choice to pick the guitar from customs or pay for postal worker to bring the guitar to my home door.

Here you have to pay VAT for shipping only if you purchase the guitar from a guitar shop or a company, not if it is purchased from a private person.
 
marcusnieman said:
No import duty here in the states. What you pay for the guitar plus shipping is what you pay - period.

I had to pay the delivery person about 9% on a Tokai that came from Ishibashi, via EMS. I live in the midwest USA.
 
I've purchased about a dozen guitars from Japan and have never paid a penny on delivery. Wonder if it is something that varies state by state.
 
West coast here, only 1 guitar purchase from Japan, no import fee. It arrived regular US Postal Mail.
 
I always ship insured postal service from Japan to North America. Written up as gifts, it takes a week door to door by air mail and there have never been any additional charges nor...so far...damage. Works for me.
 
You can't get a store to write "gift" on the customs form though, that would be fraud for them.

Don't know why I got stuck paying, but I did, and had to sign a rather official government form as well. -And it was my regular mailman (maillday, actually) who brought my guitar to the door. The box did say EMS on it though, so it should've gone through the same customs as the other forum members here, who got away without a fee.
 
As I've said before, the customs people here don't care if it's a gift or not; if its value (including shipping cost) exceeds the duty threshold (?35, I think) then it is eligible for tax. Occasionally things slip through but not often and if Parcelfarce is involved then forget it, you WILL get stung.
 
yes I know shops here will not write them up as gifts and I wasn`t suggesting any members commit fraud, just saying in my case they are gifts and thats why I do things that way.    
 
Hey Sneaky, didn't mean for anyone to interpet your shipping as fraud (despite your name here :wink: ). I was not posting as a response to your actions. It appears you are a personal collector, and not a store.

I have however, heard of people trying to get stores to help them avoid fees though, and while I understand thriftiness, that is asking more than is appropriate.

If I were in another country, and bought a guitar there, I assume having to pay that countries' tax, in which case I would consider shipping it to myself as a "gift". One should not have to pay tax in one country, and then pay tax to bring it home as well. That is "global village" thinking, but seems rational to me.

I don't think you can pay for an instrument in a store in person, even if they are shipping it to you abroad, and not pay tax. I suppose you could select an instrument in a store, walk outside, call them and place a phone/internet order, with shipping instructions to another country, and avoid paying tax to the store's country, yet pay shipping, and ultimately duty in the destination country. I am no expert on international law, but that would seem to make sense for record keeping, and taxes.

If taxes are fair or not in any given country is a huge can of worms that I hope no one will open replying to this otherwise innocent thread.
:)
 
when I came to Japan sales tax was 3%. They increased it to 5%... and the economy took a nose dive...people stopped spending. When I left Canada to come here, sales tax in Quebec was...7% provncial then the federal took 8% of that total... so I`m quite happy to pay 5%...however, after the current prime minister retires next month, whoever gets the job after him with have to face raising sales tax again...just as the economy is getting back on it`s feet...good thing we have those clever guys running countries eh?... and theres talk in the media of the sales tax going up to 10%. We shall see.
 
Well I bought several guitars and other stuff from all over the world
I live in Slovenia, part of EU and goes like this:

guitar price (let's say in states)= 1000 $
postage: 80 $
customs= guitar+postage=1080 * 3,75% =1120, 50
tax= all tohether*20%= 1344,60 USD

if you write gift, the customs don't care at all, you have to pay customs and tax. you need a proof how much this thing is worth - a receipt. otherwise they just look the price in catalog and they charge you.
 

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