Import duties calculation

[BGTMO]

Hi All,

Are import duties on a product calculated based off the price you paid for the product or based of the price that the product should be worth?

A practical example: I purchase a gold wedding band on an auction site in America for 20 dollars. When It arrives in SA will I pay import duties based of the 20 dollars or do they charge me based off a market related price in SA (which will be far greater than the 20 dollars)?

 

[mister]

Price you paid... which must be reflected on a commercial invoice.

 

[chrisc]

Customs use their own determined exchange rate
VAT is charged on the cost+duty total
There is an admin fee
You can import 3 shipments in a tax year
Beyond that you need to apply for an importers number

 

[Speedster]

Vat is calculated on 110% of the invoice price, and then potentially a customs fee based on the type of item.

 

[PPLdude]

Sorry to necro but...

Purchase value of item: R1880
Chargeable Weight
0.80 KGS

Import tax invoice total value: R1577.70

340 BROKERAGE ADMINISTRATION CHARG 150.00 22.50 172.50
405 DISBURSEMENT FEE 105.00 15.75 120.75
201 CUSTOMS DUTY 846.90 846.90
205 CUSTOMS VAT 437.55 437.55
TOTAL INV ZAR 1539.45 38.25 1577.70

How is the import duty almost the same value of the package...

Is this legit?

 

[Speedster]

Sorry to necro but...

Purchase value of item: R1880
Chargeable Weight
0.80 KGS

Import tax invoice total value: R1577.70

340 BROKERAGE ADMINISTRATION CHARG 150.00 22.50 172.50
405 DISBURSEMENT FEE 105.00 15.75 120.75
201 CUSTOMS DUTY 846.90 846.90
205 CUSTOMS VAT 437.55 437.55
TOTAL INV ZAR 1539.45 38.25 1577.70

How is the import duty almost the same value of the package...

Is this legit?

What did you buy?

 

[PPLdude]

What did you buy?

Textile - clothing item

 

[SauRoNZA]

Sorry to necro but...

Purchase value of item: R1880
Chargeable Weight
0.80 KGS

Import tax invoice total value: R1577.70

340 BROKERAGE ADMINISTRATION CHARG 150.00 22.50 172.50
405 DISBURSEMENT FEE 105.00 15.75 120.75
201 CUSTOMS DUTY 846.90 846.90
205 CUSTOMS VAT 437.55 437.55
TOTAL INV ZAR 1539.45 38.25 1577.70

How is the import duty almost the same value of the package...

Is this legit?

It can be. All depends what you bought and if it was coded correctly.

If it was clothing....well lesson learnt.

 

[SauRoNZA]

Textile - clothing item

There you go, just as I posted.

Yes clothing has the highest import duties and therefore it's quite correct.

 

[PoppieChoffel]

Textile - clothing item

Up to 45% depending on the textile used. You can have a look at the published SARS local tariffs here

 

[C4Cat]

Sorry to necro but...

Purchase value of item: R1880
Chargeable Weight
0.80 KGS

Import tax invoice total value: R1577.70

340 BROKERAGE ADMINISTRATION CHARG 150.00 22.50 172.50
405 DISBURSEMENT FEE 105.00 15.75 120.75
201 CUSTOMS DUTY 846.90 846.90
205 CUSTOMS VAT 437.55 437.55
TOTAL INV ZAR 1539.45 38.25 1577.70

How is the import duty almost the same value of the package...

Is this legit?

I've never seen BROKERAGE ADMINISTRATION or DISBURSEMENT FEE charged by customs though. Not that I import a lot but the few times I have I've only paid customs and vat.

 

[Jehosefat]

I've never seen BROKERAGE ADMINISTRATION or DISBURSEMENT FEE charged by customs though. Not that I import a lot but the few times I have I've only paid customs and vat.

Those are usually charged by the clearing agent/shipping company rather than SARS themselves in my experience.

 

[Sensorei]

I've never seen BROKERAGE ADMINISTRATION or DISBURSEMENT FEE charged by customs though. Not that I import a lot but the few times I have I've only paid customs and vat.

Some international couriers only charge a disbursement fee (DHL R200, Fedex R150), whereas others like Aramex and UPS will charge you a brokerage fee as well.

For small shipments around 1kg Aramex might seem cheaper but you're in for R400 clearance fees compared to only R150 with Fedex.