I'm a German citizen which is currently staying in China (for 3 months), and I will return to Germany in October.

Well, my wife had told me that I wouldn't have to pay tax on products I ordered from other countries so I figured I could get me a nice electric guitar from Japan which will probably arrive on monday through EMS. The guitar has a value of 4000yuan and shipping is about 600.

Anyway, I just did some research when it hit me that I will most likely have to pay around 30% customs & 17% VAT. Would I have known that it's so much I would have ordered the guitar from Germany where I would have to pay around 24% (19% customs & 3,7 EU tax). Seems they want you to use Chinese products here only? She didn't know that I would have to pay that, neither did her parents ("nobody here pays tax")... Doesn't seem to be common knowledge.

When my wife is in Germany she can get those Tax Free declarations in many of the shops which she can show to customs handling at the airport there. She then will get refunded the 19% VAT (well not all, but most of it) she has to pay in my country.

Is the same possible here in China? Will I get the money back when I leave for Germany with the guitar? The shipping address is her office so she will receive it, but the billing address is my German one.

Money back? China??

You don't have to worry anyhow, since customs won't usually revise items brought in through the Postal Service.

underh20 wrote:Money back? China??

You don't have to worry anyhow, since customs won't usually revise items brought in through the Postal Service.

OK, forget the money back part then The item has a correct customs declaration so they will probably check that. I really have no clue though so I will find out tomorrow for sure.

Right. All packages coming through the Postal Service have customs declarations. But customs will not check.

Appears to be correct. It even has the value printed on the box, nobody cared

Yup.

Packages sent through DHL, FedEx, UPS & the likes will be held in customs if the declared value is over $50. Items coming in through EMS, on the other hand, can have declared values of $1k (maybe higher, but I haven't tested it) and are untouched by customs.

Don't ask me why.

There is probably no good explanation.

But they seem to record the traffic anyway, one of my wife's friends used to import make-up from Switzerland. The first 10 times she didn't have to pay anything and then they started to charge her big time.

underh20 wrote:Packages sent through DHL, FedEx, UPS & the likes will be held in customs if the declared value is over $50.

how much will i be taxed for an item that has a value of 800 USD?

ArKay wrote:There is probably no good explanation.

But they seem to record the traffic anyway, one of my wife's friends used to import make-up from Switzerland. The first 10 times she didn't have to pay anything and then they started to charge her big time.

That could very well be. Keeping a low profile is a good idea.

8lrr8 wrote:

underh20 wrote:Packages sent through DHL, FedEx, UPS & the likes will be held in customs if the declared value is over $50.

how much will i be taxed for an item that has a value of 800 USD?

If you have it send via EMS, probably you'll not have to pay anything.

If sent via FedEx and the likes, the duty rates depend on what the item is. It can range from about 10% to as high as 30%. Some items like books & DVDs are charged a flat rate per piece that might come out to about 5%, but then they've always added a 30 RMB handling fee. I'm not sure if the handling fee is from Customs or from the broker that FedEx and others use.

AFAIK you always have to pay the 17% VAT. Then you will have to pay the customs fee which depends on

a) the country of origin (there are "preferred countries" from which importing is cheaper?)
b) the kind of good

There are pages where you can check how much you will have to pay for what. On some stuff customs appear to be between 30-40%.

I signed up at fedex.com since they have a page where you can calculate how much you would have to pay. The quote for my guitar from Japan looked like this:

Shipment Details
Origin Country JAPAN
Destination Country CHINA
Currency of Transaction Japan Yen
Shipment Date 08/09/2007
Shipping Charges 10,000.00 Japan Yen
Insurance Charges 0.00 Japan Yen
Mode of Transport Air
Product 1 Electric Guitar
HS Code 92079000 (code for Electric guitar)
Description - Other
Units 1.00 PIECES
Customs Value 65,600.00 Japan Yen
Country of Manufacture JAPAN

Customs Value of Goods 65600.00 JPY
Freight/Transportation 10000.00 JPY
Insurance 0.00 JPY
Duty 22680.00 JPY
VAT 16707.60 JPY
Duty and Tax Estimate 39387.60 JPY
Landed Cost Estimate 114987.60 JPY

leidelaohu wrote:Roughly 40% of the cost laid on top for duty and tax. US duties average about 4%. Can you imagine the howling in China if the US and Europe charged equivalent taxes and duties on Chinese-made goods ?

There's no need for a renminbi revaluation. Just charge equivalent fees.

It's totally insane. In Germany import duties are about 4% + 19% VAT. I thought we had it really bad there. Guess I will have to re-evaluate my opinion.

They want you to use local goods, that's the only explanation I can come up with.

ArKay wrote:AFAIK you always have to pay the 17% VAT. Then you will have to pay the customs fee which depends on

a) the country of origin (there are "preferred countries" from which importing is cheaper?)
b) the kind of good

There are pages where you can check how much you will have to pay for what. On some stuff customs appear to be between 30-40%.

I signed up at fedex.com since they have a page where you can calculate how much you would have to pay. The quote for my guitar from Japan looked like this:

Shipment Details
Origin Country JAPAN
Destination Country CHINA
Currency of Transaction Japan Yen
Shipment Date 08/09/2007
Shipping Charges 10,000.00 Japan Yen
Insurance Charges 0.00 Japan Yen
Mode of Transport Air
Product 1 Electric Guitar
HS Code 92079000 (code for Electric guitar)
Description - Other
Units 1.00 PIECES
Customs Value 65,600.00 Japan Yen
Country of Manufacture JAPAN

Customs Value of Goods 65600.00 JPY
Freight/Transportation 10000.00 JPY
Insurance 0.00 JPY
Duty 22680.00 JPY
VAT 16707.60 JPY
Duty and Tax Estimate 39387.60 JPY
Landed Cost Estimate 114987.60 JPY

I bring a lot of things in through FedEx and DHL and never get charged VAT. As long as the items you bring in are for your own personal use, they usually only get you for whatever the customs duty is. I don't think they've ever charged me more than a total of 20%.

8lrr8 wrote:

underh20 wrote:Packages sent through DHL, FedEx, UPS & the likes will be held in customs if the declared value is over $50.

how much will i be taxed for an item that has a value of 800 USD?

Depends on what it is.

You can call FedEx or DHL and ask to speak to someone in their clearance department who can give you the exact (inasmuch as anything can be exact) rate.

underh20 wrote:I bring a lot of things in through FedEx and DHL and never get charged VAT. As long as the items you bring in are for your own personal use, they usually only get you for whatever the customs duty is. I don't think they've ever charged me more than a total of 20%.

I could live with 20%, but the quote I got looked more like 43 I told my wife that next time I would get it delivered to our apartment under my name, but then she said that I would most likely get charged since I'm a foreigner. I'm looking at a 8,000yuan purchase from Japan and at the moment I'm considering getting it when I'm back in Germany.

Even as a foreigner Chinese customs will get you.

The most accurate quote you'd get is from FedEx or DHL themselves if you talk to someone in their customs clearance section.

underh20 wrote:Even as a foreigner Chinese customs will get you.

The most accurate quote you'd get is from FedEx or DHL themselves if you talk to someone in their customs clearance section.

The point my wife made was that for a foreigner chances of being charged are a lot higher OK, thanks, I will try that. The quote I got was from the FedEx webpage.

The chances of getting charged if you ship via FedEx, DHL or UPS are the same no matter what your nationality. It's simple: Over $50 needs to pass through customs.

The quotes on the website aren't very reliable, IMO.

underh20 wrote:The chances of getting charged if you ship via FedEx, DHL or UPS are the same no matter what your nationality. It's simple: Over $50 needs to pass through customs.

The quotes on the website aren't very reliable, IMO.

The categories on the fedex page are difficult to decipher. I have no idea where they get their data from, but it looks like they get it in Chinese and run it through babelfish

leidelaohu wrote:From Japan, I think I'd watch out for some good air tickets then go pick it up myself. Guitar, right ? Bring it back in an old case, no one knows it isn't one you've had for years and they are very unlikely to hassle you over a guitar. Lots of people carry guitars, never heard of anyone having trouble with that. You'd come out just about even and have a nice weekend.

Oh yeah, visiting Japan would definitely be nice! My visa here is only good for 1 entrance though. Maybe next time