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Valued Member
41 Posts |
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Hi everybody, I am in Chicago and I want to buy some stamp album collection which is about 10-20 lbs from an ebay store in Germany. The price for this lot is about 250-350$. Can anybody let me know if I have to pay any tax for the US Customs? Thank you |
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Pillar Of The Community
United States
6661 Posts |
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United States
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United States
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Note that you only get 10 free "duty" calculations as a guest to the site - not sure what comes later, merely registration, or perhaps fees. |
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Pillar Of The Community
United States
2779 Posts |
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Huh, I didn't even see that part of the site. I found the link from a USPS webpage. |
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Valued Member
41 Posts |
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Pillar Of The Community
United States
898 Posts |
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What I understood from a few years ago is that a package marked "postage stamps for collectors", inbound to the US, is duty-free. |
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Pillar Of The Community
Canada
2277 Posts |
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Have to be careful if being sent by courier like fed ex or the like. Even though no duties payable they sometimes levy a brokering charge regardless. Most inbound to US under $200 are pretty exempt where as inbound to CAN can get hammered with values of $20 and more. For your above mentioned approximate total it would be safe to value at say $150 to be safe but also note that if sender undervalues and item is insured it can not be for more than the value stated. Even if you buy $1000 item for $10 if you want it insured for $1000 you can be hit for charges based on value not purchase price. All that said I have had nothing but great dealings with germany, netherlands and others . |
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Pillar Of The Community
United States
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Quote:
What I understood from a few years ago is that a package marked "postage stamps for collectors", inbound to the US, is duty-free. I think similarly but if I remember correctly (most times I don't) I read somewhere that "Philatelic material " marked on the package made it duty free. |
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| Edited by stallzer - 01/16/2013 4:12 pm |
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Pillar Of The Community
United States
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It is taxable. The following is imported from another board and may be of interest: Quote:
An unpleasant development with regard to the little-known State of Illinois 'Use Tax' …
On behalf of a client, a substantial amount of material was purchased from the 22nd November 2010 (yes, 2010) Christoph Gaertner (Germany) Auction No. 16. Gaertner properly and dutifully posted the package via FedEx, the package arrived safely, the material was accepted, the invoice was paid and, it was believed that the transaction was completed to the satisfaction of all the parties involved — but, …
… Between the shipping of the parcel and its receipt by the client, several other logistical matters took place. When the parcel arrived at the U.S. port-of-entry, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) required that the client fill out an 'IMPORTER ID INPUT RECORD — 19 CFR 24.5.' Form, the Form requiring a Social Security No., and a valid signature.
The DHS Form was completed, scanned, and returned as a PDF file to FedEx. FedEx then filed the form with the DHS and, in due course, the parcel was delivered to the client.
In the meantime, apparently the DHS and/or FedEx communicated with the Illinois Department of Revenue. This past Friday (30th November 2012, two years after the auction transaction), the client received a letter from the Illinois Department of Revenue (I have a copy of that correspondence) stating that his purchase was subject to a State of Illinois '6.25% Use Tax' (stamps are not subject to federal import taxes, or so I believe).
The client, a well-known attorney, was not aware that a 'Use Tax' existed in Illinois, and after a couple of phone calls, he's decided that he'll be paying that tax without contest (an 'ugly' $625 tax / $10,000 in purchases).
Legal research revealed the following for this little-known tax: In 1955, the Illinois General Assembly passed the Use Tax Act. 'Use Tax' is a sales tax the purchaser owes on items that were purchased 'for use in Illinois'. If the seller does not collect at least 6.25% percent sales tax, then the buyer must pay the difference to the Illinois Department of Revenue. Apparently, the Illinois Department of Revenue correlates this data using their documented Social Security Nos. data base.
The lesson learned is that should your State have a 'Use Tax', and out-of country philatelic purchases are forwarded by courier services, assure that the sender's declarations of value are handled in a manner advantageous to your interests.
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Valued Member
United States
440 Posts |
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Russ is correct. The tax is paid when you do your state income taxes. There is a little nasty line on the form stating in general if you made any purchases of items out of state pay up. Illinois will make an exception on the 6.25% if you paid some of the sales tax in the other state. Then you would only have to pay the difference in percentages. Basicly if the other state was 4% sales tax then you would only have to pay Illinois the other 2.25%. I think there is also a specific line for internet purchases out of state. Basicly it is a grey area because for most mail order there is no tax calculated / paid at the time of purchase. But I think Illinois can go back to the big guys ebay Paypal Amazon or larger retailers and look at what was bought then demand payment. The trick is not to use it in Illinois. My dad purchased a camper here in Illinois and took it to Wisconsin. The City of Chicago came after him for "USE Taxes" because they are higher in Chicago than the rest of the state. But because my dad could prove that it was not used in Illinois or Chicago they had to forgo the collection of the tax on the camper. But I would not put it past Illinois to come after the tax for any purchases because the state is essentially broke and they need the money. But the way I see it is that, the more expensive the item is the more diligent they are at collecting. |
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Valued Member
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Hi Russ and Vacuum man, thank you for your information. It is tough here in Illinois, especially when the state is about to broke. I buy stuff from Amazon without charged tax from the state but may be because these items are not expensive and they just try to collect tax for the expensive ones. I'll buy stamps from Germany and let see how it go. I collect Germany stamps and I think that it would be cheaper if we buy directly from stamp store in Germany |
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Pillar Of The Community
United States
2952 Posts |
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If I read all the posts correctly, there may be taxes due based on the laws of your respective US state, but not federal taxes?
I live in Oregon where there is no sales tax, so am not concerned about that. It's the Federal government I worry about - especially as it pertains to import duties from out of country.
Can someone confirm this with a URL to an authoritative source? Do I have to declare my stamps to the US government for import duties?
Brian |
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Valued Member
United States
440 Posts |
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What I am not certain about is there may be a VAT tax from Germany.
That is a tax that has been charged and included in the price you pay for the stamps. |
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Pillar Of The Community
United States
4106 Posts |
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Interesting that a state that is "broke" will also spend huge sums of money to collect taxes. |
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Replies: 18 / Views: 3,758 |
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Posted 01/16/2013 12:15 pm
k
