Quote:
Originally Posted by CoombellKid
still the link posted
only suggests on postal items "you may be subject to Customs duty and Goods
and Services Tax". In which case I assume it is up to the post office to police.
I also think your better off pre-paying freight as you seem to avoid the dodgy
$140.00 customs clearance  fee.
regards,CS |
COURIER COMPANY
If you use a
courier company for your transport, you will always be charged the Customs Clearance Fee. It is not a Customs charge, it is a service fee for the courier company presenting the item/s to AU Customs. If the items are deemed to be Dutyable, then you will pay the duty & GST over & above the clearance fee.
A clearance fee is usually around AU$100 to AU$140 regardless of the item.
eg; It costs me the same clearance fee whether I'm clearing a 20' container contents value of AU$50k or a shoe-box size item of $1200 value.
If you pre-pay a
courier company, you will still receive another Customs Clearance bill when your items arrives in AU & you will need to pay this amount BEFORE the courier will release your item for delivery, regardless of your item being dutyable or not.
POST OFFICE
When an item is sent via the post you are not charged a Customs Clearance Fee for the PO to present the item to Customs.
You will however be liable for Duty & GST if the item value is over $1000 as has been stated here several times.
If your item is over AU$1000 value & you pre-pay your postage, again, this will not bypass any of the charges.
If the item is dutyable you will receive a notification to pay the outstanding duty & GST before the item is delivered.
Another alternative is;
If your item is over $1000 value & able to be sent in multiple pieces, ask your retailer if they will send it in seperate packages with seperate invoices showing a value of that portion only. (under AU$1000)
Also ask them to send the packages on seperate days.
Some sellers will refuse, but some are very accomodating.
I did this with a motor focuser to suit my SCT & I saved AU$285.