Up to 150 euro commercial goods to the EU are free of import tax

I am in Europe, will I pay taxes, how does taxation work in practice ?

Effective since 1 Decembe 2008 commercial goods sent by mail to the EU are free of import duty up to 150 euro ( raised from 22 ). However the VAT should theoretically still apply.

From our buyers' information rarely taxes are to be paid for small amounts of plants in postal shipments. Obviously there are many parcels and they can't be opened all for checking. Envelopes are also a very safe way of shipping satisfactorily fast, registered or not.

Below a tax payer in France deemed that there were three situations on a forum in 2006, at a time when import duty was levied under 22 euro ( instead of 150 since December 2008 ):

1) Seller declares a value above 60€ and parcel is EMS, taxation has a 80% chance of being applied.
2) Seller declares a value above 60€ and parcel is Small Air Parcel, taxation has a 40% to 50% chance of being applied.
3) Seller declares " Gift " on the parcel, value is above 60€ and parcel is sal or Small Air Parcel, taxation has a 0% to 10% chance of being applied.

http://forum.hardware.fr/hfr/Discussions/Viepratique/frais-comment-determiner-sujet_44139_1.htm

Si ton vendeur écrit le prix réel sur le colis et que tu prends en EMS, c'est à quasi 80% DTC surtout si le prix dépasse 60€.
Si ton vendeur écrit le prix réel sur le colis et que tu prends en SAL/air mail, c'est à quasi 40 à 50% DTC surtout si le prix dépasse 60€.
Si ton vendeur écrit "gift" sur le colis et que tu prends en SAL/air mail, c'est à quasi 0 à 10% DTC si le prix dépasse 60€.

Hoya and other plant collections are for sale on aleyagarden.com Plant care is available in various posts of this blog. Contact : aleyagarden@hotmail.com

Find all Aleyagarden posts on http://aleyagarden-blog.blogspot.com

Weights of hydrated freshly cut flowers of Hoya : carnosa and lacunosa

back to the making of soap and Hoya fragrance




Three carnosa and three lacunosa flowers : they are freshly cut and fully hydrated.






The fresh lacunosa flower above, still fully hydrated weighs only 0.63 grams.




The carnosa flower, much bigger is also 10 times heavier : 7 grams

Hoya and other plant collections are for sale on aleyagarden.com Plant care is available in various posts of this blog. Contact : aleyagarden@hotmail.com

Find all Aleyagarden posts on http://aleyagarden-blog.blogspot.com

Italian customs : the low value of an EMS parcel content is suspect and consignee should contact ??

Invoice and phytosanitary certificate were inside the parcel. The cost of transport by EMS was about 43 $ . The price of the plant content, 5 Dischidia non rooted cuttings, was much lower : only 9 $.
This value was on the invoice and on the EMS slip too. Did the Italian customs officer deem the value too small to be right ? Maybe; they informed on the track and trace site that the invoice was missing and then that the consignee should contact the customs at a number ( CONTATTARE 803.160 ), probably to confirm this value; the message was posted 3 times. As a result the shipment was delayed and finally ready to be delivered but consignee was absent. All this mess of time and money, just for 5 small cuts of plants, legally sent with a phytosanitary certificate. Thumbs up. If you wish to order in Italy please contact us so we can arrange safer and cheaper method of transport and if the mail is EMS please follow up on the tracking site of the Italian post for important messages from the Customs for you... Note that you cannot count on Paypal to decide in your favor if you declined to answer - or if you genuinely did not see - the message from your customs. Paypal considers that Customs formalities, including contact of consignee for confirmation of content or value can't be ignored by the receiver. Here are issues with the Italian customs in a few threads : http://community.ebay.it/topic/Fare-Affari-Nel/Pacchi-Dagli-Usa/600080269?&#msg1900107036

http://forums.ebay.com/db2/topic/International-Trading/Italian-Customs-Requesting/510296488?messageID=524535134

http://www.mtb-forum.it/community/forum/archive/index.php/t-112983-p-6.html

http://www.tfpforum.it/index.php?action=printpage;topic=14508.0

In the EU countries since 2008 goods up to 150 euro are free of import duty. Only would be levied the VAT, which is not likely to occur given the cost incurred by the operation.Hoya, Hoya seeds, Orchid seeds, Ferns, Fern spores and other plant collections are for sale on aleyagarden.com Plant care is available in various posts of this blog. Contact : aleyagarden@hotmail.com

Find all Aleyagarden posts on http://aleyagarden-blog.blogspot.com