Oops… Philippines Customs did it again
Aarrghh! I still can’t believe the insane amount of tax that Customs asked me to pay for something that I didn’t buy. This time it’s not through Fedex or any of those external couriers but something that was shipped through the Post Office.
My aunt sent us some thermal underwear from Taiwan for us to use on our trip to Beijing. Last week, I got the claim card from our Post Office telling me that my package has arrived.
I went there this morning not knowing that I still have to pay for Customs Duty and Tax. There was no indication that I had to bring lots of money just to claim it. I had to pay an additional P1,435 for something that cost about P2,300. Insane I say!! So in short, I wasn’t able to get my package.
I got this summary of payment instead giving a breakdown of how they arrived with the amount that I have to pay. Hopefully, it will help you compute for your tax if you’re thinking of having something sent to you from overseas.
Rate of Duty will depend on what type of item you bring in. They said it was 15% for clothes but the electronic gadget that I bought a few months back was only 5%. Hmmm.
I am going back again next week since the customs official wasn’t around to explain the summary for me. What I would like to know is why should I pay for those fixed charges twice!
I don’t mind paying taxes but they should be reasonable. If the tax is going to be half or more than half of the total cost then it’s totally unreasonable. And where do they use the money? To pay for our president’s dinner party? Sigh.
Here’s what I suggest:
- Don’t tax items that:
- are second hand or clearly used already
- cost less than a set amount ($300 maybe?)
- Don’t include freight charges to the amount of customs duty. If I want to expedite shipment it’s going to cost me. That’s ok but if customs will hold it for a few days and charge me some more… [insert profanity if choice here]
- Tax less for items that are of personal use or sent as gifts
Maybe there are some flaws with some of my suggestions that I can’t see at this point but BOC should really do something about how they tax items sent from abroad. Clearly, a lot of Filipinos are displeased with our BOC.
Better think twice if you’re going to send something to your relatives in the Philippines via the post office.
Grrr.
You might also be interested in:
- FedEx and the insane Philippines Customs Taxes
- Where can I get Ben & Jerry’s in the Philippines?
- Pepper Lunch Philippines menu
- Apple Store finally arrived in the Philippines
Filed under: Grrrrr
now!ako may 2 phones na na won ko sa contest.n97 mini and n97 classic…the n97 mini was sent via ups and yung n97 via fedex.
4 days delayed na yung n97 ko..4x na ako tumawag sa fedex…sad to say weekend ngayun so leave it to monday. while my n97mini were charged 7k based on ups’ own calculations .i ask them why they have those high vat on the phone even it is a prize..dapat ung 12% ng phone is 4k lang. tangna nilang mga customs.
Now i should wait for the n97mini to be checked by customs…mga gago talaga customs. takot na sila kasi malapit na election dapat mangurakot na..
Si ralph recto diba yung pumasa ng bill ng 12%vat? si gloria naman at ang galamay nya ang nakikinabang sa pera..baka mapapatay na ako dito.alam nyu na kung sino dapat sisihin kung mawala ako sa mundo…si ralph or gloria or customs lang ang dapat sisihin.hahah….
dude! no-textspeak please. sakit sa mata basahin. kinorrect ko na lang.
kaya siguro mahal computation mo kasi baka walang nakalagay na value. so siguro nagsearch pa sila sa internet at yung pinakamataas na presyo ang ginamit nila. baka yung value pa nung bagong release hehehe.
kaya siguro sila sumisingil ng mataas dahil kaya inutusan ng pangulo na kelangan ma-reach nila quota ng collection? tsk tsk.
sorry i am using my phone. Di ko lang talaga matanggap na ganito ang nangyayari. Nang 2007 wala pang ganito kahit drum size na yung mga padala.
Gusto ko talagang sisihin ang fedex at ups dito nung una pero customs talaga ang may kasalanan.
Pa xxx kaya nating or pa gma? May nagreport na ba sa gma phonescoop baka suggestion lg yun.
talagang need na nating magunite lahat na bloggerz at pinoy na apektado!
Tama ka dyan bro.
http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/lifestyle/lifestyle/view/20090917-225689/Tale-of-greed-corruptionand-hot-pink-boots that is the story of Pam Pastor
Suc*er tlaga ung gobyerno! damn
So isa na lg ung ibig sabihin nito Noynoy or Manny?
Si Noynoy hindi nga kurakot pro walang paninindigan baka lang hindi nyang makayang washout lahat na corrupt. Si VillaR? ewan q…villar nga ako pro I dont see clean status for him and may progress nga cguru pro we will see.
BOC? F&#* All packages and items you have stolen. Pakain nyu sa mga pamilya nyu at mag receive nang tinatawag na Karma.
*Update tumawag ako kahapon sa fedex sabi hanapin q raw ngayon ( saturday ) si Anthony sa isang number. Damn! Pinasa pasa lg ako nila!
Hey tumawag rin ako sa fedex and they keep telling me to call anthony villanueva. Tinatawan ng mom ko ang number daw ni anthony and tinatawagan ko rin walang sumasagot. So si anthony ang maghahandle sa issue natin?!! Grabe naffrustrate na ako e.
I see over 100 comments here. CAN SOMEONE PLEASE REPORT THE OUTRAGEOUS FEES THAT ARE CHARGED BY THESE CORRUPT CUSTOMS OFFICERS ON ITEMS WE ORDER ONLINE — PLEASE REPORT THIS TO IMBESTIGADOR AND XXX! I ordered a feng shui item amounting to $20 and I had to pay P1,100!!! Mas mahal pa sa item na binili ko. I called Air21 and they told me na dapat hindi ko muna binayaran dahil they can arrange with the customs officer to lower the charges. Now the thing is, I vividly remember two customs officers I talked to at the QC Post Office telling me that THEY DO NOT CHARGE FOR ITEMS LESS THAN $50.00. Ever since learning that I have been ordering DVDs and books amounting to less than $50 and I DO NOT GET CHARGED except for around P35 fee. Kaya nga nagtataka ako why I was charged P1,100 for the feng shui item that only amounted to $20.00??? Can anybody explain how these customs officers compute the charges? WHERE CAN WE GET A BOOKLET THAT DISCUSSED HOW THESE CUSTOMS OFFICERS COMPUTE THE DUTIES AND TAXES FOR ITEMS BOUGHT ONLINE? THERE SHOULD BE A FIXED RATE OF CHARGES FOR ITEMS ORDERED FROM ABROAD ESPECIALLY IF IT’S LESS THAN $50 OR $100. PARA WALANG LOKOHAN.
I have written to some senators. Let us band together and write to the senators about our negative experiences with these customs officers. I’m sick and tired of them ripping us off!
You can get their email addresses from here:
http://www.senate.gov.ph/senators/sen14th.asp
Click their names and you’ll see their email addresses.
@flor tnx so much..report din ako.
Guys help, my mom sent me an hp laptop costing $799 and shipped it through fedex costing $200 and it was suppose to arrive here at home last wed (Jan.20) and unfortunately it didn’t arrive bec. of clearance delay (where else?) but from customs. I was shocked and saddened to know that we have to pay around 6,000 for duties& taxes and the fedex csr even said that the computation for the taxes isn’t final yet but we need to pay that 6,000 for the package to be released or something… I swear I want to scream and shout at this frustration and what’s worse is that they opened the box already, I’m scared bec. my ipod is also inside the laptop box and anyone can get it without me knowing it, with me being so helpless. Is that even possible that the customs people do anything nasty w/ the products they’re opening. I’m so scared, angry and frustrated right now bec. I really need a laptop now coz’ my exam is in a week and I don’t know if the fedex or customs people are ripping me off for 6,000 pesos. It’s not a small amount to begin with!!! Help me! Is this 6,000 pesos or anything higher than it (knowing that it’s a laptop and ipod in the package) even acceptable??!!??