taxing civ3 shipment

[Fidel]

i was just wondering. do you guys have to pay VAT or any surcharges in your countries on software shipments?

it's about 5% duty here, plus 25 % VAT (god damn it!). how is it elsewhere? books are exempt (even pulp fiction and hard core porno publications)

[Grim Legacy]

Yeah 19% VAT at least. On music I think additional charges apply. Blah. I'm in the Netherlands BTW.

[Fidel]

i found some sheet here
http://infoserv2.ita.doc.gov/ocbe/Ta...25651a0068d5e5!OpenDocument
says that korea has it at 0%. yin, you bastard

[Provost Harrison]

UK's customs and excise will levy a charge if the value of the shipment is greater than £19, so if I am buying things from the US (generally CDs) I try and keep the order below this level (which is nearly 3 CDs, sometimes is 2, sometimes is 3). However this is not an option with civ3 though as it will be above this threshold. So prepare to be clobbered about £10-£15 on top...if they bother charging you, they may not notice and let it through...

[Fidel]

Originally posted by Provost Harrison
UK's customs and excise will levy a charge if the value of the shipment is greater than £19, so if I am buying things from the US (generally CDs) I try and keep the order below this level (which is nearly 3 CDs, sometimes is 2, sometimes is 3). However this is not an option with civ3 though as it will be above this threshold. So prepare to be clobbered about £10-£15 on top...if they bother charging you, they may not notice and let it through...

hm, there is always an option of arguing that the software represents only a portion of the price as the biscuit tin and manual are not subject to tarrif....

[Provost Harrison]

Originally posted by LaRusso


hm, there is always an option of arguing that the software represents only a portion of the price as the biscuit tin and manual are not subject to tarrif....

Good luck, with those miserable bastard in Customs and Excise, you will need it

[Grumbold]

The UK Customs get me every time. There is a £10 levy just for them processing your item (gee, thanks) then VAT and duty is charged on the cost of the item. Sometimes they even manage to include the shipping and handling when calculating VAT (doh!). A game is normally double the price by the time it has been shipped over via a courier firm like UPS and had import charges levied. I'm currently experimenting with the slower business shipping method (5+ days) - I should add that I'm doing that for Dark Ages of Camelot, not Civ III, because it has had a nice big public Beta and lots of trustworthy reviews are available as a result. It's also multiplayer

[Fidel]

damn i am ****ed. i simply had to do that, there is no way it would hit s****y budapest game market before february or march. it took them 6 months for smac. but another 50 bucks on top of this...sheesh, could have bought a jacket for that

[Fidel]

hm, you guys convinced me to try some shipping via my friend in nyc. while i could not bother her to go out and buy it for me, some repackaging in her office (in order to fool customs sharks) should be acceptable

[Grumbold]

Yes if you can get it packaged as a gift that should avoid a lot of hassle.

[campmajor!]

By the way, Larusso, the link you included states that in the Netherlands 17,5 % VAT apply. But 1/1/2001 it has been changed to 19% VAT, so don't count on it too much....

Perhaps in Korea they also changed it, and yin will not be that lucky after all!

[Rege]

Here in Portugal there is a tax (don't know the %) but usually customs do not make U pay. I've ordered about 200 Dvd's and only 5 or 6 got taxes.

I'm really worried about Civ III though, because it's a big box and they will problably check if it is a bomb or something and make me pay

I'm more worried about the time they take to process it, in your countries how long does it take to "process" the merchandise??

Here it can be almost a week!!!!!

[Fidel]

campmajor,
its a february link and i should have put a disclaimer. i am really worried the bastards will hold it at customs or put a 'processing fee' of some sorts. this is still eastern europe....

i am trying to redirect the shipment to our nyc offices where a friend of mine would repack it. at the moment, it is rather painful to exchange mails with CB, they send this silly autoreplies....


edit: finally managed to redirect shipment. we'll see now....

[yin26]

In over 5 years of ordering games delivered to me here, I have paid ZERO VAT! LOL!!!! Muuhahahahaha.

Of course, it costs some money to have it delivered (about $6).

[Fidel]

Originally posted by yin26
In over 5 years of ordering games delivered to me here, I have paid ZERO VAT! LOL!!!! Muuhahahahaha.

Of course, it costs some money to have it delivered (about $6).

i know. this country is no fun. there should be 0% tax like in korea on games. i mean, civ3 is simply essential
actually they might be protecting hungarian software gaming industry (they are not so crappy). AFAIK they made some pretty decent games, i only played 'reunion' a while ago...