RC Tank Warfare community hobby forum

Hi guys, sorry for the apocaliptic title, but this is how I feel it now. I am talking about the new taxes for everything we order from outside the EU.

As an example, I had a model kit that arrived short of one tire. I contacted the factory and they sent me the replacement tire for the price of one euro. Well, I got the envelope today, and now customs wants me to pay 6.04 euros for that 1 euro parcel. I thought we had to pay from now on a 20% tax, which is something that I could assume, struggling a bit though, so I investigated a bit about the import charges and it says there is now always a minimum which ranges from 6 till 36 euros, depending in the mood of the zoll clerk, and then, you add the 20% tax.

So that means I cannot afford anything from Aliexpress now. As an example, a packet of 200 leds costed me 90 cents free shipping. Now, it is going to be 7 euros.
Get the leds locally? I asked at the local shop and they wanted me to pay 1 euro for each led.
Get loads of other things I need? I cannot find almost anything here in Austria. It is completelly different to when I used to live in the UK or in Spain.
Ordering from Germany? Loads of sellers refuse to ship outside Germany and charge you 19 eur shipping with DHL even when I am 300km away.

So if it keeps like this, I'd better start looking for another hobby. Crossdressing with my wife's clothes or something like that I guess, because this is not sustainable now.

Sorry for the rant and hopefully you have heard better news somewhere...

Yes, that suck. Here in Poland is even worse with galloping inflation and expensive EUR or USD to PLN ratio. Now there is no point to buy i.e Mato part on Aliexpress, when the prices are almost the same as Forgebear or rctank.de...

I noticed this a little while ago when shopping on Aliexpress Rad, the price of the item changed when I placed it into my cart, it updated when it knew my location and added tax onto the item so something's that were initially reasonable became a little more expensive, I fear this is what it's going to be like now for buying outside of one's country

Cheers,Lee.

Kaczor: Woah, yes, with currency not as strong as the Euro, Pound or Dollar, definitelly everything is even worse. I know some Aussies who struggle with the changes too.

Model Builder 4: Yes, now when you are going to pay an extra 20ish % is added... And well, that is still more or less OK, but then to add from 5 to 36 euros depending of the mood of the clerk to the parcel, makes everything unpayable. I have currently 5 parcels on the way to me, I paid for all of them together about 5 euros. Now with the VAT I think it is reassonable to pay 6 in total, but not the minimum of 35 that the post services are going to ask me.

But even worse!: Currently, the local prices are outrageous, but the shops also buy outside, so of course they will have to pay more now, and will rise the local prices too, making everything unobtainable.

Be prepared, the hunger games are starting...

Hello Rad
It suck, but for years, Customs offices have known the "tricks" of Chinese sellers reducing the value of products in a customs declaration. I myself have received parcels from China several times with a value 4-5 times lower than the real one - even though I did not ask for it ...
As a result of the entry of new VAT regulations in the EU (although this principle has existed for a long time - for many years), the customs officer has the right to charge customs duties on the actual value ... And where does this value come from? It simply - compares the price of the item in the recipient's country and charges fees according to it. As I said. Such rules for calculating tax and duty have existed for a very long time. But so far, many parcels, mainly envelopes, have been cleared without verification of their value - because the scale of import is huge and they did not keep up with their verification ...
Therefore, now the customs officers simply decided that the easiest (and fastest) thing is to assume that nothing can be cheaper than, for example, 5 EURO. Simple and effective

Hi Rad,
the € 22 limit for duty exemption was always an exception ....
At the beginning of 2020, the eu commission decided
that the exception will be abolished by the end of 2020.
Since some EU countries could not implement this so quickly, the end postponed by 6 months.
The result is that all goods have been checked by customs since July 1st.
The recipient can decide to pick up the goods at the customs office and pay the duties there,
or the parcel service takes care of the customs formalities and collects an additional service fee.
This service fee is based on the value of the goods.
I don't know how that is regulated in the "Ostmark" ....
here in DE the recipient must be asked.

Yes, you pay local purchase tax when you make the online purchase, just as though you are a local, then the UK customs want another 20% vat and won't allow delivery until you've paid, then DHL want their £12 but Arcel Force take over in the UK and muck things up and deliver it anyway.

What this means is that you can no longer afford to buy from outside your country AND our specialist retailers like Forgebear find they are paying far more too to stock their shelves and have to pass the cost on.

Leaving the EU was a hobby disaster but at least we're not riddled with Covid because our politicians were free to buy up the world supply of vaccines. Well, they claim it was them who saved us! Now, what we need is RC Tank mules to get our bits into the country undetected. Problem is, hiding a King Tiger up your back passage is rather difficult and quite uncomfortable. I imagine!

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Abramsky: It is correct many of us received some parcels with a declared value lower than the real price, and I understand they can charge the VAT, but what I don't understand is the newer extra charge.

Jhamm: This is what I found today, probably you understand it much better than me: https://www.post.at/p/c/import But this image is pretty clear now:

So that means everything we get will be at least 5 euros more expensive now, plus the taxes.

That is a rip off.

It's easy Rad. And as i know - nothing new here:
- Value of goods = 3 EURO
- Postage = 3 EURO
- Assessment basis = 6 EURO ( value of goods + Postage ) - the same as before July 1
- VAT = 20% ( charged on a customs basis of 6 EURO = 1,20 EURO
- Import tariff = customs duty ( as I wrote earlier, they had to establish that the minimum import duty cannot be lower than: eg. 5 EURO ) = 5 EURO
- Total cost of the imported cell phone case = 12,20 EURO
So...Everything is correct for now

I am convinced that a 5 EURO customs duty is set for some range of prices for imported goods - for example, from 1 to 10 (20) EURO.
And above this value there are further thresholds.
I believe this is to limit (discourage) individual imports. This way it will be easier for them to control the influx of goods from China.
I don't like talks about politics on this forum, but duties and taxes are part of politics - I don't know if you know, but there is an "economic war" with China - for years ...

abramsky wrote:It's easy Rad. And as i know - nothing new here:
- Value of goods = 3 EURO
- Postage = 3 EURO
- Assessment basis = 6 EURO ( value of goods + Postage ) - the same as before July 1
- VAT = 20% ( charged on a customs basis of 6 EURO = 1,20 EURO
- Import tariff = customs duty ( as I wrote earlier, they had to establish that the minimum import duty cannot be lower than: eg. 5 EURO ) = 5 EURO
- Total cost of the imported cell phone case = 12,20 EURO
So...Everything is correct for now

I am convinced that a 5 EURO customs duty is set for some range of prices for imported goods - for example, from 1 to 10 (20) EURO.
And above this value there are further thresholds.
I believe this is to limit (discourage) individual imports. This way it will be easier for them to control the influx of goods from China.
I don't like talks about politics on this forum, but duties and taxes are part of politics - I don't know if you know, but there is an "economic war" with China - for years ...

Yep, that image was pretty clear to me, but still:
Why do the post charge me a VAT, if I am paying it now in aliexpress?
Why if I already paid the VAT not only once, but twice, they charge me another extra 5 euros for import tariff?

That is sick.

For sure they will discourage the individual imports, but that is the thing, what we do now? I have a hobbyshop nearby: For the same servos I buy for 60 cents, they charge me 18 euros. Now, the shop, who of course buys in china, is going to have to pay more and will rise the prices too. So nope, no alternative it seems. And I am now just talking about the hobby, but I buy everything but food in aliexpress, so this causes a serious issue to me.