Bernard Frangoulis wrote:
>> I regularly ship completed repairs to Europe, occasionally I hear
>> occasional stories regarding VAT taxes.
>>
>
>
> The first time I sent an OM-4 to John (that was in 2003), I had to pay USD 96
> in taxes (mainly VAT) to the French customs to get the camera back!
>
> I did send them a copy of the original invoice (showing that I had paid the
> bloody VAT when buying the body new in 1990), explained that this was only a
> _repair_ etc. etc. - to no avail.
>
> If a package is intercepted by Customs, and its content is considered of
> commercial value, you will pay unfortunately. Ticking the "Gift" box on the
> customs form usually works though, but I am not sure it is 100% reliable.
>
Once again original intention is lost to greed. Value Added Tax was
originally intended to be just that. Yes, I studied international trade
and economics and was later the home office connection for real estate
for the UK and Germany so very long ago. Been there, done VAT back then.
Under the original theory, the only taxable portion of an overseas
repair would be the repair itself. I suppose they could argue for the
shipping costs as well, but certainly not the value of the camera before
repair.
Moose
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