People send Cement through the post????!!!
Oh, OK. Got it. Sorry I was genuinely confused there for a minute, thinking "Who the **** would send a bag of concrete through the mail?"
Its been a long day!.
Anyway. So far the usually reliable Post Office has sent me incomplete formage. Customs helpfully chimed in with the missing stuff in PDF over the interweb.
In addition to your Post Office 'V' form that states the value of the goods, delivery date and where they are, you get another form telling you how to fill out the forms you DON'T have and a schedule of tarrifs that applies to everything
except telescopes.
FYI: Refractor Telescopes, Astronomy, for the use of., are:
Section 18. Ch 90/7
Reference No.9005800, Statistical code: 54
They are "0" rated for duty, but still attract GST of course.
What I do now apparently is print & fill out the forms then fax or post them back to the number provided. One of these forms registers you on the ICS, and if nothing else, means the whole exercise should go smoother next time.
Once the forms are delivered to them, Customs issue an invoice by post and email, which you can pay on-line or by post, and they send your gear on.
Apparently this sytem was bought in to stop people like me rocking-up with cakes and pies to bribe officials into filling out their forms.
Well. Fair enough I suppose. Thats a reason I can actually accept as reasonable.
Tomorrow should be payday, so I'll let you know how it goes.
Peter