What can you guys tell me about import duties? I made a swap with a Numista member from the USA and yesterday I received the package, but they want me to pay €33 on import duties.
It’s a swap, not a purchase, the value of the coins isn’t even €33 so I don’t know why so much import duties or why at all, I had packages before coming from the USA without any import sutiea. What do you folks suggest I do? Was it bad luck my package was checked? Can I send it back and we try again? Idk!
In the past, I have been caught with import duty, but only from the USA.
I eventually found out it was due the the value written on the export certificate. I now ask the sender to put a very low value against them, and have never lost a package or been charged import duty.
I would try and contact the relevant people and explain the situation.
When filling out the CN22 customs declaration American collectors are put between a rock and a hard place. Nobody likes paying import duties especially as it's a swap, where no actual money has changed hands. The exact value at which the contents become liable varies according to destination but $20 should be trouble free. I usually opt for $10 to remove any doubt.
But there's a catch to doing this, apart from the obvious one that's it's technically illegal. International Parcel Post includes insurance of up to $50 in the event of loss or damage. For a modest premium you can add extra by $50 increments. So for a parcel worth say $250 it would cost $14 for the basic shipping cost plus less than $5 to bring the insurance up to $250. However if you already stated the value as $10 on the CN22 they are not going to entertain a claim for 25x that amount!
It's never been an issue for me because I don't trade with anyone who has a history of "lost mail" sob stories. But I firmly believe that any US collector dealing with a lost parcel would be perfectly justified in refusing any compensation. We are giving up our insurance safety net for the benefit of the other party. Sorry guys it's all on you, unless of course you'd prefer to pay the import duties.
There are some things that you can do if your parcel does get held for ransom by customs according to what I've been told by friends overseas. First print off the screenshot of the swap page so you can make it clear that it's an exchange between collectors and not a purchase. Also the value is a catalog price and has little relation to actual market price. Based on what I'm told this approach seems to be a winner. I do wonder though what would happen if you were in one of those unfortunate countries which prohibits the import of coins and banknotes?
Best of luck to you.
Non illegitimis carborundum est. Excellent advice for all coins.
Make Numismatics Great Again!
When considering a Morgan dollar swap from USA to Finland, I contacted Finnish customs. In this case the will consider swap similarly than purchase, so it would mean 24% tax.
I have made about 800 swaps without import duties. I have also managed to buy coins many times without import duties. Only if I won a lot from an auction like Baldwins or Stacks Bowers I need to pay import tax. But that is not 24 %, it is 12 %, and I live in Finland too.
Quote: "Ollisaarinen"I have made about 800 swaps without import duties. I have also managed to buy coins many times without import duties. Only if I won a lot from an auction like Baldwins or Stacks Bowers I need to pay import tax. But that is not 24 %, it is 12 %, and I live in Finland too.
You shouldn't be paying import tax from other EU countries.
Quote: "Ollisaarinen"I have made about 800 swaps without import duties. I have also managed to buy coins many times without import duties. Only if I won a lot from an auction like Baldwins or Stacks Bowers I need to pay import tax. But that is not 24 %, it is 12 %, and I live in Finland too.
Yes, sorry about the terminology, its VAT. Here's the reply from customs, unfortunately in Finnish:
"Mikäli kyseessä on numismaattiset kokoelmat eli rahat ja setelit, jotka eivät enää ole laillisia maksuvälineitä kuuluvat tullinimikkeeseen 9705000090, jolloin yleinen tulli on 0% eli tullia ei kanneta, mutta arvonlisävero on 24 %, Tullausarvo perustuu tavaran kauppa-arvoon eli hintaan joka tavarasta on tosiasiallisesti maksettu tai on maksettava, kun se myydään vietäväksi EU:n tullialueelle. Jos kauppahinta maahantuoduista tavaroista maksetaan kokonaan tai osittain muilla tavaroilla, vaihtokauppana, tulee tullausarvoon sisällyttää vaihdossa annettujen tavaroiden arvo."
Loose short translation->if you are dealing with class 9705000090, numismatic coins & banknotes->no import duty, but 24 % VAT.
I just paid one import invoice to FedEX who took care of the transportation and customs. Total cost was 10 % of the value of the auction price I paid (or few euros more because they charge also their own fee). I didn't check what was the custom code, probably something else.
Quote: "oggy"Just a quick correction - Harm code for non gold numismatic coins is 9705000060.
The incorrect harm code probably resulted in your higher vat payment.
9705000090 is 'Other' items of zoological/numismatic/etc interest
Thanks for the correction. However, there's still 24% VAT in Finland. This is our national curiosity I believe, not directly related to EU. And the main message was anyhow, that swap is considered similarly than purchase, so with Morgans it could be considerable amount in addition to shipping. We had a swap consideration (Finland-USA) with amount of app. 250€->app.30-40€ postage (maybe)+60€vat->total amount 350€->app. 1/3 of additional payments. So it was easier to abort the swap.
