Customs duties charged by DHL (scam?)
celineceline -
Indeed, this is my third online purchase this year with delivery by DHL from China (purchases of mobile phones and tablets).
During my first two deliveries, DHL charged me 14% in customs duties on the order price + shipping fees (after correctly converting US$ to €), and then 19.6% VAT on the total customs duties + order price + shipping fees.
After consulting the customs website (http://www.douane.gouv.fr/page.asp?id=18), it appears that the VAT rate is completely normal (no exemption applicable), however, the rate of customs duties charged by DHL seems excessive to me as this 14% rate corresponds to the customs duties for camcorders capable of recording external audio-visual signals and portable televisions, while the customs duties rate for mobile phones and tablets should be 0%. Furthermore, DHL does not apply an exemption for customs duties as is specified on the customs website.
If DHL charges me these 14% customs duties again, I will contest and ask for more details to see how they justify this. My questions are as follows:
Is it a common practice for DHL (or other carriers) to arbitrarily charge customs duties?
Perhaps they make money this way; do you know if they have to remit the entirety of what they collect as customs duties to the state?
Thank you in advance for your answers or comments.
PS: To the moderator who previously erased my question from "your rights on the internet," I find no more suitable category than "consumption and the internet," and moreover, in my question, I summarize quite well the calculation of customs duties and VAT, which might be useful to other internet users.
1 réponse
Hello,
My experience with DHL: DHL makes money on the backs of buyers who purchase products from abroad!
I bought a product from Japan via eBay and I paid 220 dollars in VAT to eBay in advance. Normally, I shouldn't have to pay anything more upon delivery of the package. However, when I picked up the package at the DHL Relay point, I wasn't told that I would be asked to pay additional fees... So I picked up my package from DHL and a week later, I received a letter demanding the sum of 45.50 euros. Customs fees and VAT, they explained to me over the phone. But I have already paid my VAT! DHL explains that they advanced money to customs. I contacted the customs service by email (by sending them DHL's invoice and all my VAT payment documents to eBay), then by phone: the customs services are adamant, they are not the ones demanding these fees and this payment of 45.50 euros. DHL, under the pretext of customs duties and VAT (which is false), is actually pocketing money for "processing fees" at the expense of buyers. Apparently, the scam is known since on the eBay forum and other internet forums, I found dozens of testimonies just like mine. And like them, I will inform the fraud prevention agency. But the story doesn't end there! DHL is not backing down, and in light of my refusal to pay, they send me a collection service (bailiff), the company Overland. Contacted by mail and by phone, they threaten to make me pay additional bailiff fees to force me to pay these 45.50 euros.
This story is absurd. eBay, contacted by me, refuses to lift a finger to help me get out of this deadlock. In short, do not buy any products from abroad on eBay (even if you're assured that you won't have to pay anything more than the VAT they charge you in advance), and above all, steer clear of DHL who unscrupulously extorts buyers!