EU Customs Duties on inks from North America

mikling

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Can someone from Europe explain why so many potential purchasers of inks from North America are always afraid of the high duties imposed on inks from North America? I am curious about this situation because I do not know the reason why? Is there an industry that the EU is trying to protect?

Again I know nothing of the reason why?

Does it vary by country? or is it all EU based?
 

Ink stained Fingers

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It's not a special duty on inks , you need to pay the equivalent of the VAT as a tax at the time you are importing the goods into the EU, you pay this tax on the landed cost - the value of the goods + freight. And since you are filling out the customs declaration correctly the correct value of the shipment is directly visible. Chinese people and companies may 'err' on the customs declaration and enter lower values and the wrong description e.g. gift or similar.
Does it vary by country?
Yes, the local VAT applies.
People always speculate that customs would wave inspection and handling so that they can save that import tax surcharge and that they get a foreign shipment delivered without further processing.
 
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Ink stained Fingers

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I may add that this applies only to a sale to a private end user, not to any commercial business, duties are typically imposed for a combination of political and economical reasons e.g. protection of local businesses, prevention of dumping from countries subsidizing particular industries , for claimed reasons of national security etc. Such duty rates are equal across the EU member states. And customs is doing another job via inspection - preventing imports of goods which are blocked - e.g. food products from other areas of the world, or even the neighbour state , weapons and a whole lot more tourists can tell.
The standard EU VAT rate may vary by country between 17% to 25%
https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_custo...tion/vat/how_vat_works/rates/vat_rates_en.pdf
 
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The Hat

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Chinese people and companies may 'err' on the customs declaration and enter lower values and the wrong description e.g. gift or similar. :thumbsup:thumbsup
I can also add, if the items are below $20 US, then no duty/VAT will apply, but I’ve never experienced any problems getting ink in from Canada or the US, as long as it comes in by POST, all EU customs policies are the same, but VAT will vary. (Ours are 21%)

But as and from today all bets are off for anything coming in from the US, so I’m stocking up on my Kentucky Bourbon today......;)
 

Artur5

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Adding to what Ink Stained Fingers and The Hat correctly said, when the cost of the article is more than 20-25 euros, apart from the VAT. European buyers have to pay a fixed fee for Customs clearance (the infamous DUA paper). Usually this task is performed by the Courier (Post Office, Fedex, UPS, etc). For instance, the Spanish Post charges about 22€ for the DUA. On high value parcels 22 euro isn’t much, but if the goods cost only 50 Euro, this is an increase of 40%. Last, but non least, some products are taxed with an additional duty, as defined in the TARIC, which is a huge document containing detailed information on every kind of merchandise and the different duties applied. If I recall correctly, electronic components don’t pay any duty when entering the UE but other articles like lenses for photography pay as much as 6%. Right now, I wouldn’t know about ink.

Say you buy a photo lens from the USA costing 500 Euros (once converted from US dollars) plus 40 euros for shipping. Assuming a VAT of 20%, when the lens arrives to your country you pay 20% of VAT over 500+40 plus the duty corresponding to photo lenses ( 6% over 500+40) plus the Customs clearance fee (22 euro). You end up paying a total of aprox. 700 euro.

Another instance more suited to this forum: purchasing bulk ink. In all likelihood they won’t charge any extra duty if the value of the goods are less than 150 euro, but you’ll have to pay the corresponding VAT plus the Customs clearance fee.
For a parcel of ink costing 80 euro plus 20 euro shipping, an European customer pays (80+20) x 1.20 +22 =142 euro. ( it will be a bit more or less than that, depending on the % of VAT)
An American customer purchasing the same article pays a lot less for shipping within the USA (say 5 instead of 20) and, if buying from a different State, the parcel won’t be charged any tax either. So, he’ll pay a total of 80 + 5 = 85, while the same article costs 142 to an European customer.

You see why buying ink from reputed US dealers is not a cheap affair for people living in Europe.
 

stratman

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Thank goodness for politicians looking after their constituents well being by "adding value" to their purchases AND freight.
 

Ink stained Fingers

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European buyers have to pay a fixed fee for Customs clearance (the infamous DUA paper).
I don't in Germany - that's local rules by country.
I can also add, if the items are below $20 US, then no duty/VAT will apply
again that's local rules - German customs does not collect import taxes below 5€ but you still have the nuisance to go to the customs office in the first place since they typically don't go by the customs declaration attached to the shipment, bag, box etc, but you have to show them evidence how much you actually paid - by a Paypal or credit card charge printout or similar.
Another instance more suited to this forum: purchasing bulk ink. In all likelihood they won’t charge any extra duty if the value of the goods are less than 150 euro, but you’ll have to pay the corresponding VAT plus the Customs clearance fee.
That's by local country rules - it's judgment by customs whether they consider you as an end user or importing stuff
for business. If you import 100 items of the same type you may be an Ebay reseller taxable with your business. I once had some discussion of this kind with an ink shipment - 8 litres of CMYKLMLC - inks , the customs officer didn't want to believe I just ordered that much for private use. I think everybody can tell some stories of this type.
 

Ink stained Fingers

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and there can be more reasons for additional charges - e.g. by the forwarding company - Fedex and such - I once got an e-mail by Fedex - 'Your shipment is held in customs for processing - we can do it for you - 20€ handling fee + 25€ for the import tax - or we ship to your local customs office - for an add. 30€ - and you do the import handling on your own'........So there can be various reasons why you may pay much more at the end than expected for some foreign stuff.
 

stratman

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Thanks to ISF for illuminating the complexities. VAT and customs are more labyrinth than I had anticipated.
 

Ink stained Fingers

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oh well - that's just the easiest parts - the first steps into that labyrinth.......no wonder that recipients of such shipments can get quite excited about all that
 
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