Buying stuff from ebay, will there be any tax?

[ianbr26]

i am thinking of getting some stuff from ebay. it's not that the stuff i need cant be bought locally but its very much cheaper to buy from ebay. even with the delivery charges, they are still cheaper. however, i am not sure whether i will be charged for tax, i.e. import tax. if yes, how much will the tax be? there must be a certain percentage for imported goods i believe.

anyone with experience, please share. thanks

 

[zul_bds4366]

Anything more than RM 500.00, will be taxed. Better check with Kastam Diraja Malaysia before commit to buy from ebay. You can email them what type of stuff you want to buy from ebay. They will reply shortly about percentage of tax that will apply to the stuff. From my experience, piston set = tax 43%. Meaning (piston price + delivery charges) + 43% tax..

Hope this will help..

 

[ianbr26]

will the tax be charged up front by the seller or whom would i need to pay the tax to? and how to go about paying the tax if it wasnt charged up front by the seller?

---------- Post added at 02:09 AM ---------- 6 hour anti-bump limit - Previous post was at 02:07 AM ----------

Anything more than RM 500.00, will be taxed. Better check with Kastam Diraja Malaysia before commit to buy from ebay. You can email them what type of stuff you want to buy from ebay. They will reply shortly about percentage of tax that will apply to the stuff. From my experience, piston set = tax 43%. Meaning (piston price + delivery charges) + 43% tax..

Hope this will help..

43% tax for the price of the item only or for the price of the item plus delivery charges? should be just for the item, i suppose? thanks.

 

[autocrosser]

You will definitely be charged import duty. The total will be the item cost and delivery cost combined. That's right, they charge you on the postage involved. The last time i did anything like this, the duty was 25 per cent of the cost of the item. If i remember correctly.

 

[ianbr26]

ok. you are suggesting that it's best that i check with our customs first by telling them all the items i want to buy. list them one by one and ask how much is the tax for each item. right?

 

[autocrosser]

You pay the duty when you receive the items. You don't pay, you don't get the stuff. Simple as that. If you use UPS, FedEx or DHL, you might have to pay brokerage charges too. It would be best to first ask the courier company you intend to use.

 

[ianbr26]

as for the courier company, i thought that it will be arranged by the seller?

so now the seller ships the stuff to malaysia and goes to kastam. i will have to go to kastam and pay them whatever is needed first and then i bring back the item with me?

 

[autocrosser]

The courier is chosen by the seller. I am talking about the brokerage charges, which is the cost they charge to clear the item past Customs. Unless you can do it yourself. After the item is cleared through Customs, they will deliver it to you or you can pick it up. You pay them the duty and the brokerage charges, if any. If you are lucky, maybe no brokerage charges. If not, be prepared to shell out.

If you can clear the item yourself, then just pay the duty and pick up the stuff. Depending where you live, you might be better off letting the courier guys do it for you and pay them the brokerage. My two cents.

Like i said, find out from the courier company first. You don't want a nasty surprise after the fact.

 

[ianbr26]

thanks a lot. you have been very helpful. i have mailed the customs and should be getting a reply in 3 days. upon receiving their reply i will post it here if it is any help to others.

 

[autocrosser]

Glad to be of help. Hope to see what Customs have to say. It should be helpful to the rest of us. Good luck on your purchases. Cheers!

 

[l2s_turbo]

I remember my fren bought a front bumper from yahoo japan and he sent by DHL, upon arriving to the airport, the customs called him to go and pay the taxes.. i remember clearly he paid RM 800++ for the taxes, and the bumper itself cost RM400++ including delivery charges, so total around RM1200 he paid for that bumper.. but he said it was worth it as the new original bumper if order here will cost around RM 2k..

 

[G221]

You will most probably have to pay tax if the delivery address is your home. The trick is to put the delivery address to your office. Better if you work in Government sector. For sure won't get tax.
Maybe there's a limit of the total cost of the item that won't get tax. The most expensive item I bought in ebay was around 1k++. not sure if more than that or heavy items have to pay tax, but I have never paid tax when shopping in ebay.

 

[basikal_pancit]

Based on my experience:-

1. Many sellers will shipped as "gift" or "sample" and it will be exempted from tax. (Most of it will get through, mine did several times)

2. If the item is hard to value, they will just stated there low price (usually less than RM500) so that the Custom wont bother taxing it.

 

[bera]

hi... you can check the tariff and duty over here

JKDM HS - Explorer

it is pretty comprehensive and mind boggling...so please double check where your item bought and ship from...as it differ from nation to nation...

 

[ae101rulez]

i thought the easiest would be shipped the item by asking the seller to tagged it as a gift. I recently purchased a full set of SuperPro bushes from Aussie, tagged as a gift which then delivered to my doorstep without any problem. Purchased some things from Yahoo Japan site through middle man which arrived to the house without any problem also.