custom charge on parcel from Germany

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kellyoreilly

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I bought some presents from a website for christmas. I thought the company was based in UK but it seems that they are in Germany.
They notified me that my order was dispatched on 18th Dec via DHL and shd be delivered by 21st Dec.
The parcel failed to arrive before christmas or up to 4th Jan.
I contacted the company who said that they would reissue the order at no cost to me.
This morning an An Post van arrived with the original parcel which it seems had been kept in customs. The postman said he could not deliver the parcel unless i paid almost €40. I asked why and he said because it must hv come from outside EU.
I told him that i thought it had come from UK but he said he didnt know.
I paid the money and he said i could take it up with Revenue. When i got the parcel it had clearly marked on it the senders name and address in Germany in several places. The parcel had also been opened.
Does anyone know if something changed in the budget as i thought once it was within EU there were no extra charges
 
You are correct that transit of goods within the EU is exempt from customs duty - this includes Germany.

Did you get a receipt from An Post for the €40? What did it say?

Perhaps the merchant is a reseller for a supplier outside the EU? Sometimes merchants "drop ship" direct from their supplier to the customer. The address in Germany might be the merchant's business address, but not where the goods came from.
 
There is a yellow sticker on the package that the postman said was a receipt.
There is nothing on the parcel 2say that it came from anywhere else other than Germany.
The postman did remove the white sheet that comes in a lil clear plastic envelope on the front of the parcel, it usually gives info on whats in the parcel and the address it is going to. I did not get to see this as the postman said he needed that and removed it before he handed over the parcel.
Would the company i purchased from not be obliged to inform you that the item was coming from outside the EU if it was going to alter the price you expected to pay?
 
kellyoreilly said:
...
Would the company i purchased from not be obliged to inform you that the item was coming from outside the EU if it was going to alter the price you expected to pay?
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I think you''l find that the amongst the various T&Cs you agreed when purchasing there was a statement something like "local taxes or delivery charges are the responsibility of the purchaser". These are fairly standard on e-commerce web-sites.

Check with your local EU office /Citizens' Information outlet to see if it's legal.
 
This all seems a bit "iffy":

I use DHL a lot for both sending and receiving parcels and in all cases I am given a tracking number, which I can use to find out what happened to the parcel. Did you have such a number, if not can you get it from the vendor? It would be interesting to see what DHL show as the routing information...

How come if it was sent via DHL that a postman is delivering it... do DHL not do their own deliveries in Ireland (sorry I'm in Switzerland and have only ever send parcels to Ireland).

The paper inside the plastic on the parcel is for the receiver of the parcel, it does not make sense for him to take it away.... and how come he had a receipt already printed and stuck on the box even before he knew he was getting paid???

If I was you I would start by contacting the vendor to confirm the source of the goods and to get the DHL tracking number, if you don't already have it.

I would also have a word with the postman and demand to get a copy of the document he took a way, tell him you're making a complaint to an Post about the parcel, just to see his reaction....
 
Thanks everyone.There was no tracking on the parcel which they did tell me when they emailed to say the parcel had been dispatched. This is why I contacted the company rather than than DHL when it did not arrive.
The sticker on the parcel(receipt) said vat was €31 and post office clearance was €6. The postman said he knew nothing and we shd get on to An Post and they would give the number to contact Revenue. I did not get a chance to ring An Post on friday.
The parcel also seems to hv been in Athlone.
DHL would normal deliver parcels but i assume customs took over from DHL.
I think no matter what the reason for the charge or why they felt the need to open the parcel (which tore some of the stickers that were on it ) I think the customer deserves a letter of explanation as to why these things were done. The parcel only contained tshirts !
 
Imports from EU are not charged custom duties but are liable to VAT at point of entry.
 
DHL will handle any customs due themselves, they will not hand over a package to An Post for delivery.

What company did you buy this from?
 
The Company was Cafe press.
Im sure it was a .co.uk site I bought from as prices were given in euro but cant check now until credit card bill arrives.
They do t shirt printing. I think the t shirts were made in China but that shdnt make a difference when they are printing and selling on surely.
Couldnt get thru to Revenue today
 
Shirts made in China printed in the USA, drop-shipped from the US to Germany / UK for onward shipment to Ireland?

From the web-site - "The Website and CafePress Service are provided by CafePress.com, Inc., a Delaware, USA corporation ("CafePress") with a place of business at 1850 Gateway Drive, Suite 300, San Mateo, California 94404, USA. Use of the Website constitutes your acceptance of and agreement to this TOS. If you do not agree with this TOS you may not use the Website or the CafePress Service."

They claim that contractually the laws of England & Wales apply but the bulk of the T&Cs seem to me to be American.
 
I think someone is confusing DHL with Deutsche Post.
It it was posted in Germany no taxes or VAT apply.
 
Time said:
I think someone is confusing DHL with Deutsche Post.
It it was posted in Germany no taxes or VAT apply.
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There is a (very cost effective) small parcels service in Germany operated by DHL in conjunction with Deutsche Post.
 
Mystic Oil said:
There is a (very cost effective) small parcels service in Germany operated by DHL in conjunction with Deutsche Post.
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DHL is in fact owned by Deutsche Post - the group is now called "Deutsche Post DHL", but they are still using both brands; DHL more or less for package services.

If the package was sold and shipped from Germany (or the UK), no Customs duty needs to be paid. However, if the origin of the goods is the US, and the stuff has not been customs cleared before being shipped via Germany, duty needs to be paid. The web site you ordered it from should (at least in theory) have some information about this. If it is a co.uk website and the T&C don't clearly state that the stuff originates from the US I would try to discuss with the seller on getting the custom duty back.
Not saying that it will be of any use to contact them, but you can always try.

EDIT: just had a look at the website. They have a .co.uk which says all duties included on their orders - but it is really easy to end up on the .com web site. bit of a PITA.
 
kellyoreilly said:
The Company was Cafe press.
Im sure it was a .co.uk site I bought from as prices were given in euro but cant check now until credit card bill arrives.
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A domain search shows cafe press to be US registered. I'm no expert but I don't think that the .co.uk address necessarily means they are based in the Uk or anywhere else in Europe for that matter. I know of several people who have bought contact lenses from www.eurolens.ie thinking that they were based in Ireland whereas they are , in fact, US based resulting in additional charges being applied as you would be importing from outside the EU.
 
jpd said:
Imports from EU are not charged custom duties but are liable to VAT at point of entry.
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You will not be charged any extra duty or VAT on purchases where the duty and VAT has been paid (for example, goods bought in shops, supermarkets, etc.) in another EU country, provided the goods are for your personal use. Limits may apply to some products.
 
Perhaps relevant?

http://www.cafepress.co.uk/cp/info/help/index.aspx?page=shipping.aspx

Duties and Taxes:
Items shipped internationally may incur customs duties and import tax. Please note that additional charges for customs clearance may be collected and are the responsibility of the recipient.
Click to expand...
Even if the goods were posted in Germany it may be, as mentioned earlier, a drop shipment actually originating in the US. Although in that case I wonder why charges were not levied in Germany?
 
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